Live... Bake... Love...: Peach Pie Cookies #thecreativecookieexchange

Monday, August 15, 2016

Peach Pie Cookies #thecreativecookieexchange

One of the best things about Summer is definitely the fresh fruit, especially peaches! I love, love, love me some peaches. Peach Cobbler is my absolute favorite dessert (although at certain times of the month, it might be a tie with Chocolate Chip Cookies).

The theme for this month's Creative Cookie Exchange is "Celebrating the End of Summer" and while I'm all about doing a happy dance to celebrate the end of hot Summer days, I am always sad to say goodbye to my beloved peach so of course I just had to pay homage to my favorite fruit.

Peach Pie "Cookies" is just my creative way of saying "peach pie that you can shove in your mouth without looking like an insane person" because that is absolutely what you'll want to do when you bite into one of these babies. I literally almost swooned when I took my first bite. I felt my knees start to buckle and everything, and you know when that happens, you're onto something good.

If heaven were a flavor, this would be it. Who's with me?

Peach Pie Cookies
Makes 12 large cookies or 14-15 small muffin size cookies

Note: For this recipe I used my Whoopie Pie pan but standard size muffin/cupcake pans will work also, you'll just get more cookies

Ingredients:
1 9" pie crust (use premade or your favorite homemade recipe)
2 large yellow peaches, peeled and diced (approx. 1/4" in size)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons golden or light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
zest of one small lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Approx 1/4 cup water

Streusel Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

Directions:

Spray your whoopie pie pan (or cupcake/muffin pan if using) generously with non-stick cooking spray.

Make the streusel by combining all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and cutting in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry cutter. Set aside.

Place the diced peaches, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch and lemon zest in a small saucepan and toss with a rubber spatula to coat. Add the lemon juice and water and stir. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the peaches start to become tender (approx. 5 minutes). Note: If the mixture becomes too dry/thickened while you're cooking it, add a little more water.

Remove from heat, place filling in a bowl and allow to cool to room temp.

Cut the pie dough into 12 circles (if using a whoopie pie pan) using a cookie cutter or approx. 14-15 if using standard muffin/cupcake pans. The dough should fit into the bottom of each well without any gaps. Tip: You don't want the pie dough to be too thin because it is the "base" of your cookie. I cheated and used a premade dough and just unrolled it without rolling it out any further. Keep this in mind if using homemade pie dough.

Place the cut circles of dough into the bottom of each greased well. Evenly divide the cooled pie filling into each well and top with the streusel. Then spray the tops with canola oil spray.

Bake at 350 for approx. 20 minutes or until the streusel is set and browned. Tip: You want to make sure the crust is nice and crispy so the cookies are easy to remove and the bottom is a sturdy base for the filling.

Remove from oven and place the pan(s) on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Gently run a thin/sharp knife around the edges to loosen the pies and remove to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

These cookies are best enjoyed the day they are made.

Summer is almost over, and we have cookies to remember it by! Hint: a lot of these cookies could be made and frozen, to pull out a slice of summer in February! You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made: