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This custard peach pie is creamy underneath, full of soft sliced peaches, and finished with a buttery crumble that gets golden around the edges. The Greek yogurt custard adds a little tang to keep the sweetness in balance, making it like peach pie and peaches-and-cream in one easy dessert. You’re going to love that it starts with a ready-made pie shell and comes together without fuss.
Why You’ll Love It
- Easy shortcut — a ready-made unbaked pie shell saves time without sacrificing the homemade feel.
- One-bowl filling — the Greek yogurt custard comes together in one bowl after the peaches are peeled and sliced.
- Creamy, sliceable center — the custard bakes around the fruit for a soft center that sets nicely after resting.
- Golden crumble topping — buttery streusel adds a crisp, sweet finish to the tender peaches.
- Perfect with or without ice cream — it’s lovely served plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredient Notes
Fresh peaches are really what make this pie sing. You’ll need about five or six, depending on their size, for a pound and a half. I peel mine because the skin can curl up in the custard and get a little distracting. Some folks don’t mind it, and good for them, but I do. A vegetable peeler works fine if your peaches aren’t too soft; otherwise, a quick blanching trick is easier, though that’s another saucepan and I’m generally against creating extra dishes before dessert.
Use plain Greek yogurt—not vanilla, not honey-flavored, not one of those little fruit-on-the-bottom cups that makes the lid look like it belongs in a kindergarten lunchbox. Plain yogurt gives the custard body and that nice tangy balance.
The nutmeg is optional, and I mean that. I like it, but only a small amount. Nutmeg has a way of barging into a recipe and taking over the whole story louder than necessary. Cinnamon is the main warm spice here.
For the topping, use unsalted butter. You’re adding a pinch of salt yourself, and it’s easier to control that way. The butter should be cut into the flour mixture until crumbly—not melted. We are making streusel, not accidentally inventing peach glue.
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie shell, store-bought is perfectly fine and no, I will not hear a word against it
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh peaches (about 5-6 peaches), peeled and sliced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, optional, though I usually add it
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Gently place the unbaked pie crust into the bottom of a pie dish and crimp the edges however you like. Mine are rarely identical all the way around, despite having watched approximately eight hundred baking shows over the years. It will be fine.
Arrange the peeled, sliced peaches in circles across the bottom of the crust, filling the pie dish. You don’t need to make it look like a magazine photo, but try to spread them fairly evenly so the slices are balanced.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg if you’re using it. Whisk until it’s smooth and combined, then pour the custard mixture over the peaches. It will settle down among the slices. That’s exactly what you want.
Cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil. Do not skip this unless you enjoy aggressively dark crust edges. I skipped it once because I was trying to answer a phone call and locate a missing library book at the same time. The pie was still edible, but the crust had the general color and texture of a shingle.
Bake the pie for 30 to 32 minutes, until the center is almost set. It should not slosh around like a cup of coffee in the car, but a slight softness in the middle is fine because it will continue setting as it finishes baking and then cools.
While the pie bakes, make the topping. Whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, and pinch of salt. Cut the butter into the mixture until it becomes crumbly. I use a pastry cutter if I can find it, but two forks work, and clean fingers work too.
Take the pie out of the oven after those first 30 to 32 minutes. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top—again, “evenly” is a flexible word in my kitchen—and return the pie to the oven for 15 minutes, until the streusel is lightly browned and the pie is cooked through.
Let the pie cool for 15 minutes before serving. Longer is fine, even better if you want cleaner slices, but 15 minutes is the official bare minimum.
Variations
A little extra cinnamon can be added, though technically that changes the recipe. A heavier layer of crumble sounds delicious but means you’d need to alter the topping amounts, so I save that sort of thing for another day.
Sliced almonds can be added to the topping, but they toast faster than the streusel and can distract from the peaches. Not every pantry clean-out needs to become innovation, folks. Sometimes a bag of almonds can simply remain a bag of almonds until it goes stale behind the cereal boxes.
You could leave out the nutmeg if it isn’t your thing. The pie is still warm and lovely with cinnamon and vanilla alone. Serve it with vanilla ice cream if the day is hot, or softly whipped cream if you’re feeling slightly more civilized. Around here, the ice cream usually wins.
Storage & Reheating
Cover leftover pie and keep it in the refrigerator. It will hold well for a few days, though the crumb topping softens some after the first day.
For a warm slice, reheat it gently in the microwave. It won’t bring the topping back to its original crispness, but it does make the custard creamy again, and that’s a fair trade. If you have more patience than I do, warm a slice in a low oven instead.
A pie can get lost behind a container of leftover spaghetti sauce for a couple of days. Still good, thankfully. I would not make a habit of that system.
Final Notes
There’s something about peaches that gets me every time. Maybe it’s because they only really feel perfect for such a short stretch—then suddenly the produce bins are full of apples and everybody starts talking about sweaters, even though it’s still ninety degrees outside and the car seat burns your legs.
This pie belongs in that in-between time, I think. Late summer. The cicadas going full blast. A kitchen that’s too warm from the oven. Dessert still cooling on the counter.
Make it when the peaches are good. Make it when they’re merely decent, too. Put a scoop of ice cream on it, or don’t. Save one slice for tomorrow if you can manage it. I rarely can, but that’s life, isn’t it—some things are better while they’re still a little warm.
Custard Peach Pie
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie shell store-bought is fine
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh peaches about 5 to 6 peaches, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg optional
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F, then gently place the unbaked pie crust into the bottom of a pie dish and crimp the edges as desired.
- Arrange the peeled, sliced peaches in circles across the bottom of the crust, spreading them fairly evenly to fill the pie dish.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg if using until smooth and combined.
- Pour the custard mixture over the peaches, letting it settle down among the slices.
- Cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent them from getting too dark.
- Bake the pie for 30 to 32 minutes, until the center is almost set with only a slight softness in the middle.
- While the pie bakes, whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, and pinch of salt, then cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Remove the pie from the oven after the first bake, sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top, and return the pie to the oven for 15 minutes, until the streusel is lightly browned and the pie is cooked through.
- Let the pie cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, or longer for cleaner slices.