I prefer cobbler. I would rather have a cobbler over a pie any day. I like my dough mixed into my fruit. My wife however would rather have a pie. So what is one to do. Can we have our pie and eat it too? I found a solution that pleased the two of us. I made a peach pie but instead of the standard pie top, I used a streusel topping. This brought a cobbler like feeling to the pie which made it much more pleasing to me and made my wife happy too.

For the pie crust, I use Alton Brown's recipe from the Good Eats episode "I Pie". This crust uses both butter and lard, giving you the best of both fats. The only change I made in the recipe was I use pastry flour instead of just the standard AP. I really like the tenderness you get when using pastry flour.

The peach filing contains the best fresh peaches I could find along with a combo of white and brown sugar along with some cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. I got the recipe from this site. For the brown sugar I made my very own brown sugar combining pure cane sugar and Molasses - creating a dark brown sugar.

For the streusel topping you use an equal part brown sugar and flour along with some cold butter. I also add a sprinkling of demerara sugar. This type of sugar doesn't melt when baked, so it adds a bit of extra crunch to the topping.

Zyliss Soft Skin Peeler
9-inch pie pan
Microplane Grater

Streusel Topped Peach Pie

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Author: Eric Samuelson (Eat Like No One Else)

Ingredients

For the pie crust

3 ounces butter chilled
1 ounce lard chilled
8 ounces about 1 cup pastry flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup ice water

For the peach filling

¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup potato or tapioca flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
8 medium peaches or 6 large peaches peeled and sliced

For the streusel topping

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
sprinkling demerara sugar optional
4 tablespoons cold butter cut into cubes

Instructions

Making the pie crust

Combine the flour and salt in your favorite mixing bowl.
Cut in the butter and lard. I just use my hands to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles corn meal.
Then add the ice cold water. Cold water will keep the butter from melting. You just want enough water to bring the dough together. Add more a little a time if you need to.
Form the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.
Place in the fridge for 1 hour. This gives the flour time to hydrate as well as making sure the fat is cold.

Making the filing

While the crust is in the fridge, peel and slice your peaches for your filling. Place the sliced peaches in a bowl and add both sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Taste and add more sugar or spices if needed.
Then add potato or tapioca flour. Mix to combine.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Making the topping

Make the topping using the same method you did to make the pie crust. First combine flour and sugar.
Then work in the butter. Set aside.

Getting the dough in the pan

Take the dough out of the fridge. Roll out the dough into a circle. I place my pie pan over top the dough to see if my circle is big enough if not, I keep going until it is.
Lay the pie pan back on top of the dough. Flip over. Straighten the dough out if need to be to make it fit.
Then using a fork, dock the dough.
Blind bake in the oven for 10 mintues at 400 degrees. Remove from oven.

Add the filling and topping

Now just dump your filling into the pie shell. Make sure the filling is distributed evenly.
Now sprinkle on evenly your topping. The pieces should be small so if you have a big chunks, make sure to break them down before sprinkling on top.
Then add a few pinches of demerara sugar if you have it right on top.

Baking

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until the topping and crust has started to brown.
Check the pie after 20 minutes to see how it's progressing.

Cooling

Never cut into a hot pie.
The filing needs time to cool and set up or you will end up with a soupy mess. So just wait until the pie cool completely before enjoying. Resist the urge. Leave the house or lock the pie into a safe if you need to. If you having trouble waiting you can always read all of my 1000 plus posts!

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It's a pie, but it still has some character of a cobbler. I loved it way more than any other fruit pie I have made. For me having a top and bottom crust is just too much. This is just perfect. It's the way I am going to do fruit pies from now on. The debate between whether to make a pie or a cobbler is now RESOLVED!!!!!