This Mini Rustic Peach Custard Pies recipe is my all time favorite peach pie recipe. Featuring sweet fresh peaches, a super simple creamy custard and an easy press-in crust, this is the kind of recipe anyone can make, even aspiring bakers!
With summer in full swing, now is the time to take advantage of ripe and fresh produce. And this recipe relies heavily on the flavors of the ripest, juiciest peaches. While you could make this recipe with frozen (and thawed) or canned (and drained) peaches, the best flavor will surely come from fresh peaches. This recipe is a combination of a fruit pie with a custard pie, and the result is decadent deliciousness.
Be sure to check out other summer produce recipes, like our Peach and Goat Cheese Salad, our Skillet Street Corn Dip and Charred Broccolini with Chili and Garlic.
This recipe is inspired by a pie my mom made when I was growing up. It was a Custard Peach Pie recipe she picked up from an old food magazine. That recipe used a basic pie crust, a custard made with sour cream, lots of fresh peaches and a streusel topping. My recipe for these mini peach custard pies is inspired by that recipe my mom made on so many special occasions.
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Ingredients that Matter
These rustic mini pies use basic ingredients. And while there are not many ingredients, just about all of them are used in different components of the recipe. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Peaches. Use fresh and ripe peaches for this recipe. Peel them for the best texture, though you can leave the skins on if you’d prefer. While you could make this recipe with frozen or canned peaches, you’ll get the best peach flavor from fresh and ripe peaches. Choose either yellow or white peaches, but I recommend using freestone peaches as the pits are easy to remove.
- Sour Cream. The custard component of this recipe starts with sour cream. It provides the creamy texture, a bit of tang and plenty of body. I recommend using full fat, though you could use a low fat sour cream if desired.
- All-Purpose Flour. As mentioned above, several of the ingredients are used in multiple components of the mini pies. All-purpose flour is used in the crust, the custard and the streusel topping.
- Sugar. Like the flour, granulated sugar is used in the crust, custard and the topping.
- Unsalted Butter. Use room temperature butter for the crust and the streusel topping.
- Eggs. Adding an egg yolk to the sour cream mixture creates a luscious custard, while the egg white (and another whole egg) go into the crust.
- Vanilla Extract. Adding a splash of vanilla extract gives the simple crust and custard filling a bit of flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
These pies have a good amount of steps, but it’s quite simple! The recipe is designed for beginner bakers who want to make a special dessert for a summer dinner party. With that in mind, here is how the recipe comes together.
Start by making a basic cookie-style pie crust. Cream together room temperature butter with sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using a handheld electric mixer. Once this mixture is lightly and fluffy, add an egg and egg white, along with vanilla extract, and beat until well incorporated (at this point, the mixture may look slightly chunky or even broken, but just follow along and it’ll come together). Now whisk together flour and salt and slowly add this mixture to the sugar and butter and mix just until a cohesive dough is formed. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and refrigerate while prepping out the other components (at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day).
Next, make the custard filling by stirring together in a medium bowl the sour cream, sugar, vanilla, egg yolk and flour until smooth. Transfer to the refrigerator while you prep the rest of the components. This mixture may be made a day ahead of time.
Make the streusel topping by “cutting” butter into flour and sugar. You can use a fork or your hands to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse cornmeal. Set this mixture aside in the refrigerator.
Peel the peaches then cut into thin slices.
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Divide the cookie crust into 8 portions, about 2.2 ounces (about ¼ cup) each then press into 4- to 5-inch mini tart or pie pans. I recommend using non-stick pans if possible. If not, simply spray lightly with cooking spray. When pressing the dough in the pan, it should come up the sides of the pan but not over the edge. That means you’ll have just a little lip to help unmold the pies after they cool slightly. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to fill.
Spoon the sour cream mixture into the crusts, about 1 ½ tablespoons of cream mixture per mini pie.
Add peaches on top of the custard, shingling the peach slices to completely cover the custard.
Sprinkle the streusel topping over the peaches. The pies are ready to bake now or refrigerate until ready to cook, up to 1 hour. When ready to bake, cook in a 375F oven until the custard is set and the edge of the crust is lightly browned, about 20-23 minutes. Remove from the oven and chill at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove the pies from the pans using an offset spatula or a flexible plastic knife. Cool at room temperature on a wire rack and serve slightly warm, room temperature or cold (store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days).
These pies are pretty forgiving, so don’t worry if you feel like you messed up any of these steps. The most important part is ensuring the crust is pressed into the pan well without any holes and ensure the dough comes up the edges and creates a small lip. The custard may cook up over the edge of the pan, but it should still unmold without any problems.
How to Pick a Peach
Peaches are at the peak ripeness in summer (depending on where you live). Many peaches sold in the United States come from Georgia and Pennsylvania, but they can grow in pretty much any state (maybe not all varieties, but we can get local peaches here in Vermont and could find them when we lived in Alabama, too).
So how do you pick the right peach? Use your senses! Here’s how to tell a peach is perfect:
- Smell. A peach should smell, well, like a peach! If it doesn’t have much aroma, chances are it won’t have much flavor, either. Smell the peach around its stem.
- Feel. A peach is ripe when it is slightly firm and gives just barely when pressed around the stem. Here’s a tip on buying peaches: A good grocer or farm stand will discourage its customers from pressing on peaches as this can bruise ripe peaches. That same grocer asking you not to press on their peaches has also likely only put out RIPE peaches! I tend to trust a grocer who puts out signs like “Don’t squeeze our peaches, they are ripe”.
- Taste. Speaking of finding a good grocer, the best way to tell if a peach is ripe is by tasting it! And a good grocer will cut into one for you if you are planning to buy lots of their peaches.
- Look. While you can’t necessarily tell a lot about how a peach will taste just by how it looks, you should avoid buying peaches that are clearly bruised or have lots of spots. Their color can range from yellow to red or even a deep reddish purple.
Variations
No peaches? No problem! I recognize not everyone loves peaches as much as I do, or perhaps you are making these mini rustic pies when peaches aren’t so ripe. Here are some fruit variations you could try:
- Apples (pick a cooking apple, like Macintosh)
- Plums
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Pears
Equipment
You will need to have a set (or two) of mini pie or tart pans. You can use a non-stick one like this Cuisinart 4 Piece Round Dish Set, Mini or even these disposable 4-Inch Mini Aluminum Pie Pans. And, yes, you can absolutely use a ceramic mini pie dish like this Aunt Shannon’s Kitchen Ceramic Mini Pie Pans
Storage
These pies can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Here is how:
- The cookie pie crust may be made a day ahead of time. You can even press the crust into the pie pans a day ahead. Do not fill until ready to bake.
- The custard filling may be made up to one day ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Also, the streusel topping may be made up to one day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.
- Pies may be assembled and stored in the refrigerator, uncooked, up to 1 hour before you are ready to bake them.
Once cooked and cooled, store the pies in an airtight container or simply covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Serve cold or room temperature.
Top tip
Custard pies are done when the custard is just set. You can test this by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center of the custard filling, being careful not to pierce the crust below, and the toothpick or skewer should come out clean.
FAQ
Removing the skins from the peaches makes for a more pleasant texture as the skins can get chewy.
You can peel peaches simply by using a vegetable peeler. Be sure the peach is ripe first. You can also peel the peaches using a paring knife or peel peaches by giving them a dip in boiling water for about 10-30 seconds, then transferring to an ice bath. The skin will rub off easily.
In general, a pie has an upper crust or topping while a tart has an exposed top. Also a pie crust is generally thinner than a tart crust.
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PrintRecipe
Mini Rustic Peach Custard Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 mini pies 1x
Description
This Mini Rustic Peach Custard Pies recipe is my all time favorite peach pie recipe. Featuring sweet fresh peaches, a super simple creamy custard and an easy press-in crust, this is the kind of recipe anyone can make, even aspiring bakers!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 6 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white (reserve yolk)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoon. all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. table salt
Streusel Topping
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
Pie Filling
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 medium peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
Pie Crust
- To assemble the pie crust, cream together the sugar and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using a handheld electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy then add the egg, egg white and vanilla and beat until incorporated (at this point the mixture may look chunky or separated, but stick with the recipe and the dough will come together). Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl then slowly add to the sugar mixture and mix just until the dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day ahead of time.
Streusel Topping
- To make the streusel topping, mix together the flour and sugar in a small bowl and cut in the butter using your hands or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Set aside (mixture may be made a day ahead of time and stored covered in the refrigerator).
Pie Filling
- To assemble the pie, stir together the sour cream, sugar, flour, egg yolk and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. The mixture may be made a day ahead of time. Store covered in the refrigerator.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F and place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- Divide the cookie pie dough evenly among 8 4- to 5-inch mini pie pans. That should be about 2.2 ounces or ¼ cup per mini pie. Press the dough into the pan, being sure the dough comes up the edges, but not over the top edge, of each pie pan. Divide the custard evenly into the prepared pie pans, about 1 ½ tablespoons per mini pie. Now divide the peach slices evenly over the custard, shingling the peach slices. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over each pie.
- Divide the mini pies evenly between two baking sheets and place one on each oven rack. Bake in preheated oven until the custard is set and the crust is golden brown, about 20-23 minutes, rotating and turning the pans halfway through cooking.
- Remove from the oven and cool at room temperature for 10 minutes in the pans. Gently remove the pies from the mini pans using an offset spatula or a flexible plastic knife. Cool on the wire rack until warm or room temperature, another 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Do not leave the mini pies out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Notes
- Each component of these mini pies can be made up to one day ahead of time. The cookie dough can be pressed into the pans and refrigerated; the custard filling should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and the streusel topping can be stored in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.
- The pies may be assembled and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour before baking.
- Serve leftovers cold out of the refrigerator or set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 30 min.
- Cook Time: 20 min.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Jon
These worked great and my kids loved them. I didn’t bother peeling the peaches and they were still good. Great recipe!
Ruth G.
Yum! I had all of the ingredients on hand and made these right when I saw the recipe on Facebook. So easy to make and so delicious! Love the tip about using other fruits and will try that next time!
Karla
I have more of a question than a comment-can this be made in a pie dish? I don’t have tart pans and really don’t want to spend the money on buying some.
Adam Dolge
Yes, you can make this in a regular pie pan, though you’ll want to bake it for longer. Try starting with 30 minutes and test for doneness. The edges of the crust should be just golden brown and a knife inserted into the custard filling should come out clean. And final tip: Consider baking the pie in the bottom third of the oven to help the crust set. Let me know how it turns out!
Dan Grauman
Clear and easy-to-follow recipe! I made them last night. I was going to wait until this morning to taste one, but that didn’t happen – YUMMMM! Peach season is coming to an end in Maryland, so I will try the next batch with raspberries & blueberries. Keep your wonderful recipes coming! 😊
J Minton
Made it in a spring form pan and it cane out wonderful! Thank you for the recipe.
J Minton
I took a pic of it but not sure how to add a pic on here.
Anne C. Marsh
Thanks for asking this — I had the same question!
Destinee
I’m planning to make these today can I use jumbo cup cake pans instead of mini pie pans?
Adam Dolge
Yes, that should work, but there won’t be enough dough to go up the entire sides of the cup cake pan. I would press the dough in up to about 1-inch on all sides. Let me know if that worked out!