Peach Crostata (or Peach Galette)

So you went to a farmers market and you loaded up on fresh peaches. Now they’re ripe and need a fresh peach dessert recipe to use them up. You’re in luck because this Peach Crostata recipe is perfect for this situation!

A Peach Crostata is basically a peach galette or a rustic free-form peach tart. It’s a great summer recipe because for one, it’s filled with fresh delicious ripe peaches, flavored with just a light hint of cinnamon, and two it’s super easy to make with all those farmer’s market peaches calling to you. 

Why you’ll love this recipe

• This Peach Crostata uses no pie dish and can be made in a pinch.
• It’s forgiving – there’s no right or wrong way to arrange the peaches and it’s super easy to make. 
• It’s a great base to use for other seasonal fruits such as apples, pears, strawberries, or berries. 

Ingredients and substitutions 

As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:

1. Flour – all-purpose flour is all you need for the crust. However, you could also use pastry flour.

2. Granulated sugar – I use granulated sugar to sweeten the crust a bit, though brown sugar will work too. 

3. Butter – I always use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. But in a pinch you can use salted butter; be sure to omit the salt called for separately or the pie crust will be too salty.

4. Salt – I use kosher salt as that is typically what I have in my pantry. If using table salt, use one half to two thirds as much.

5. Water – I use iced water to hydrate the pie dough and to bring it all together. You want to make sure it is cold so the butter doesn’t melt. You could use some type of alcohol, such as vodka, to replace some or all of the water. Alcohol inhibits gluten formation and will create a flakier crust in the end. 

6. Turbinado sugar – this is sprinkled on the crust after the egg wash is applied, it’s optional but highly recommended. It adds a sweet finish to the crust and a satisfying crunch.  

7. Egg – one egg is used for an egg wash to give the crust shine and a golden brown appearance once baked. 

8. Cream – is mixed with the egg to make egg wash. If you don’t have cream, milk or water can be used in a pinch.

9. Fresh peaches – it’s best to use fresh peaches for the filling as frozen peaches will release a lot more juice and may make the crust soggy. However, you could use frozen peaches in a pinch, see my notes on frozen peaches in the FAQs.

10. Light brown sugar – I highly recommend brown sugar because it adds more depth of flavor for the filling, light or dark will do. Granulated sugar will work if that’s what you have.

11. Cinnamon – cinnamon is a classic combo with peaches, it really enhances that peach flavor.

12. Cornstarch – this is mixed in with the peaches to help thicken the juices from the peaches and helps to keep the crust from getting soggy.

Tools you’ll need

• A food processor or stand mixer to make the pie dough. If you have neither, you can still make the pie dough by hand.
• A rolling pin to roll out the pie dough.
• A baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to bake the galette on.
• A pastry brush to apply egg wash to the crust.

How to make a peach crostata

The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

First, make the pie dough. I have a whole post showing how to make pie dough three different ways, with video. Check it out if you want to make your pie dough from scratch.

Tip: you can use refrigerated pie dough to save time! However, I still think homemade tastes better.

Once you make the pie dough, you need to refrigerate it for at least one hour before rolling it out. Roll the dough out on top of a piece of parchment paper so that it’s about 12” in diameter. Slide it on a baking sheet and place back in the refrigerator while preparing the filling. 

Tip: if you refrigerate the dough too long, it will be difficult to roll. This is okay, just let it sit at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes to soften. Or if you’re in a hurry, just beat it with the rolling pin to flatten it, making it easier to roll. 

Peel and slice the peaches, then toss with sugar, salt, cornstarch and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Immediately arrange the fruit on top of the prepared crust leaving 1”-1.5” border, pour any juice that may have come out of the fruits over them too.

Tip: You can make the pie very rustic by simply laying out the fruit in your crust randomly or get fancy and arrange the fruit in a radiating pattern or some other pattern that you’d like. It’s up to you, get creative!

Fold the extra crust over the fruits. Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle turbinado sugar over it generously. Bake until golden brown.

Tip: if you don’t have turbinado sugar you can use sanding sugar for sparkles.

Picking fresh peaches for peach galette

It is best to use “just” ripe peaches or nectarines for this recipe. Not hard, but not overly ripe. Peaches that are ripe enough to eat as is will probably be too ripe for baking and will release too much juice while baking, and may turn to mush. 

When you go to buy peaches, smell the stem end and find some that are very fragrant. Press on the flesh and find ones that have a little give but don’t indent. 

If the peaches aren’t ripe at all, it’s best to lay them out on a dish towel on the stem end until the stem end becomes fragrant and the flesh gives a little when pressed. 

How to peel peaches

You’ll want to peel the peaches or nectarines for this recipe. The skin will fall off when baked up so peeling the skin before will keep your crostata nice and neat. 

Score the bottoms of your fruit with an “X” deep enough to break the skin. Bring a pot of water, with enough water to cover the fruit, to a boil. Dunk each fruit for 30 seconds and then immediately drop it in an ice bath for 10 seconds. 

The skin should start peeling away after the boiling water and the ice bath, if not, you can use a paring knife to help peel the skin where you made the “X” score on the bottoms of the fruit. 

More baker’s tips

• Refrigerate or freeze the dough – Refrigerating or freezing the prepared galettes before baking will help the butter in the pie crust from melting, yielding a more tender flaky crust in the end. 
• Make ahead – you can make the pie dough a few days ahead and keep it refrigerated or freeze it for months ahead of time.
• Use either peaches or nectarines – I’ve made this peach galette with both peaches and nectarines and they tasted exactly the same. So if you are shopping and found ripe nectarines instead of ripe peaches, feel free to substitute so you can use the best fruits for your enjoyment.
• Make smaller individual galettes – If you want to make smaller individual sized mini peach tarts or galettes, check out how to make the mini version in this Strawberry Galettes recipe. 

Storage

This fresh peach dessert is best the day it’s made, but if you have leftovers you can cover it in plastic wrap and store it on your counter. If you’re planning on keeping it for longer, store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

Freezing

This peach crostata freezes great! You can keep it in an airtight container for up to 2 months in your freezer. To thaw, leave it in the fridge overnight or heat in the oven straight from the freezer.

Reheating

Here’s the best way to reheat this peach crostata:

• Preheat your oven to 300°F. 
• Place peach galette on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 mins until the peaches are bubbling hot. 
• If you’re reheating it from frozen it’s best to add an extra 5 minutes to heat thoroughly.

Making ahead

If you’re short on time you can make the dough a few days ahead. Just wrap the dough in plastic wrap and you can keep it in your fridge for up to 3 days or freeze the galette dough for up to three months. 

To freeze this crostata dough I highly recommend tightly wrapping it in plastic wrap and placing it in a freezer bag to keep any funky freezer smells permeating the dough. 

To defrost you can either place it in the fridge the night before you intend to bake or on the counter for an hour prior to baking. Once it’s malleable to the point you can press on it, it’s ready to be rolled out.

Then roll out the dough and prepare the peach filling the day you plan to bake and serve. Or bake it the day before you plan to serve.

FAQs

More fresh peach desserts

• Fresh Peach Shortcake with Basil
• Peaches and cream pie
• Peach Coffee Cake
• Peach Cobbler with Almond Streusel
• Tropical Peach Mango Coconut Cake

5 from 6 votes

Peach Crostata

By Trang

This Peach Crostata is filled with fresh delicious ripe peaches, flavored with just a light hint of cinnamon, and it’s super easy to make with all those farmer’s market peaches calling to you. 

Servings: 8 slices

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Resting Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

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Equipment

• Food Processor
• Stand Mixer
• French Rolling Pin
• Baking Sheet
• Pastry Brush

Ingredients 

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For pie crust

• ▢ 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 200 g
• ▢ 2 rounded tablespoon granulated sugar, 31 g
• ▢ ¼ rounded teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 5 ounce unsalted butter, cubed and cold, 142 g
• ▢ 3 tablespoon cold water
• ▢ Extra flour for rolling

For fruit filling

• ▢ 3 large yellow peaches, about 2 lbs, 907 g
• ▢ ¼ cup light brown sugar, 50 g
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ A pinch of kosher salt
• ▢ 3 tablespoon cornstarch, 24 g
• ▢ Egg wash
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 tablespoon of milk
• ▢ Extra Turbinado sugar

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Instructions 

Make the dough

• Add flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Then transfer to a food processor fitted with the dough blade.
• Cube the cold butter and add to the flour mixture. Pulse several times until butter is about pea and bean size, variation in size is okay, but no smaller than a pea.
• Turn the food processor to “on” position and drizzle cold water over the dough mixture through the water hole, as soon as the dough starts to pull together turn the food processor off. You may need to stop the food processor in between and get a spatula to get the flour at the bottom to mix up.
• Turn the dough out on the counter or cutting board and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for an hour.

Assemble and bake

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Take pie dough out of the fridge and roll into a circle about 12” in diameter, transfer dough on to a parchment line baking sheet.
• Separate the egg yolk and egg white in two separate bowls, beat the egg white and brush egg white over the surface of the dough leaving 1 – 1.5” border. Refrigerate pie dough.
• Peel and slice peaches into ½” wedges. Toss peaches with sugar, salt, cornstarch and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
• Take the pie dough out of the refrigerator and assemble the slices in concentric circles leaving 1 – 1.5” border. Pour any juice that may have come out over the fruits.
• Fold the extra dough to cover the fruit on the outer edge.
• Add the egg yolk to the egg white along with a splash of milk, beat together to make egg wash. Brush egg wash on the outer crust and sprinkle turbinado generously over the crust.
• Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.

Notes

• A trick to keep the bottom of the pie crust from getting soggy is brushing a beaten egg white on top of the crust before adding the filling. Use the same egg you’re going to use for the egg wash, just separate the yolk, after you’re done with the egg white, just add the yolk back in and use it for the egg wash.
• Freezing the crostata before baking for at least 15 minutes, while the oven preheats, will help the crust turn out more flaky.
• This crostata is best the day it’s made, when slightly warm. But it will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• You can opt to make mini galettes instead of a large one

Nutrition

Serving: 174g, Calories: 310kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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