Velvety peaches in a bourbon-spiked caramel-like sauce fill a crisp pie crust and get topped with a smokey bacon crumble in this recipe for homemade summer pie.
I have mentioned before that August is where I would live forever if we could stop time and continue repeating just one month of the calendar year. The produce in my neck of the woods is at its peak. Raspberry season arrives at the beginning of the month, melons are finally ready to be released from their vines, and the peaches have made their way from the middle of the country to our climate zone where they don’t often grow.
It’s late enough in the year that the mosquito population is in a lull, and the pesky Japanese beetles that plagued my garden and fruit trees in July have gone into larval stages until next year. If there is ever a time for me to find that elusive moment of idyllic summer, August is the time.
This final week of August, however, is forcing me to question my August adoration. The past week has been filled with multiple orientations and first days for swim meets or religion and school supply runs crammed in between final trips to the community water park, the river, the lake, the neighborhood block party, the fair in my backyard, one last summer dinner hosted on the patio for friends.
Then I made pie. Pie is the answer to all of life’s stressful days, exciting and fun-filled as they may be. Problems become smaller as butter is cut into flour, and by the time you’re ready to roll, they seem to spread across the counter from a giant blob to a smooth sheet, ever so thin.
The brightest bits of summer go inside, from sun-ripened berries to golden peaches to blushing apple beauties. By the time the oven timer dings, the worries have all melted into the butter, creating a crisp, flaky exterior encasing something beautiful.
Of course, being me, there’s plenty of room for a bit of salty on top and spice tucked inside. I am sending off summer with one final hurrah. Flaky crust, summer’s pride peaches with a bit of bourbon, and bacon and brown sugar topping the whole thing off. Three days until school starts. Enjoy the long weekend.
For the filling:
6 cups sliced peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca (not pearls)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crumble:
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean, scraped
4 tablespoons softened butter
Preheat oven to 375º F. Roll out the pie dough and fit in a 9″ pie plate, crimping the edges as desired. Place in the refrigerator to stay cool while you prepare the filling and crumble.
Place the peaches in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, bourbon, tapioca, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to coat the peaches thoroughly.
Cook the bacon over medium heat in a skillet until crisp. Remove the strips from the pan and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Reserve the grease. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, vanilla bean seeds, butter, and the bacon grease. Cut together with a fork until crumbly. Break the bacon slices into small pieces and add it to the crumble.
Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator. Pour in the peach filling, and then spread the crumble topping evenly across the top of the pie.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375º F, then reduce the heat to 350º F and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes or until the top and edges of the crust are golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.
Makes 8-10 servings.
You make the most delicious, perfect looking pies and the fact that you added bacon to the crumble topping makes you my hero. Seriously.
I’ve always wanted to play the hero! Thank you for the kind words!
Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous and just incredible!! I love the bourbon peaches and the bacon crumble? Wow! I agree, pie is the cure to all stress, especially this pie. Seriously Incredible!
Oh wow, you have my mouth watering. Peach and borurbon are so classicly yummy. Photos are beautiful too!
Officially. Smitten.
If I hadn’t made and consumed a peach pie this summer, I’d be seriously chagrined right now, although yours is far superior to my simple version.
Bringing pear pies to the family dinner tomorrow. But you’ve inspired me with this bacon business.
Oh my gosh — peaches, brown sugar, and bacon?!? I totally want a huge slice of this for breakfast right now!
I might have to go hunt down some peaches to make this. The sooner the better!
I just love peach season. The peaches have been amazing this year!
Now that is a thing of beauty. Pass me a slice please.
THAT is a pie. I must admit August is not my favorite month, I’m more of a late September, early October kinda gal but if August is the only month I could eat this delicious concoction then jot me down as an August lover 🙂
You had me at bacon, Shaina!
I love everything about this pie, but most of all that you use tapioca for thickening, just like my mom. 😉
I am all kinds of obsessed with this pie! I may have to make it… like, tonight!!!
I am totally rethinking not being much of a pie person at the moment. holy badwords that is delicious! Pinning immediately! Also, saying hi as a future fellow attendee of Livewell 2013 in Chicago. See you in October!
i want a bite!
Hmmm, not sure why my topping turned mushy rather than crumbly after I added the bacon grease. I only added 1 Tbs because I was concerned about overpowering the flavor. It’s cooking right now so I guess I’ll find out how it turns out! My bacon ‘n books book club is going to be impressed.
Hi, Claire. It’s possible that the type of bacon you used had more grease than what I had used, which would definitely change the mix a bit. I use a rather thick, meaty bacon. I am going to make a note in the recipe to specify about the right amount. Hopefully it crisped up nicely for you. I LOVE that you have a bacon ‘n books club.
I’ve made this pie twice now and it is AMAZING! That’s all I’ve got to say about it. Thank you for this gem.