Homemade Peach Pie Filling
With fresh peaches, brown sugar and cinnamon, this Homemade Peach Pie Filling is super flavorful and is ready for your next baking adventure!
A TASTY PIE FILLING RECIPE
Peaches are one of my go-to fruits, I absolutely cannot get enough of any and all things peach related. One recipe that I think that everyone needs in their food arsenal is a Homemade Peach Pie Filling. This recipe is super easy to make and oh so flavorful with the fresh peaches, brown sugar and cinnamon as the main stand out ingredients. This is great for more than just pies. You can use it in other desserts (like my Peaches and Cream Bars), as ice cream toppings in oatmeal and more. If you are a peach lover like I am then you absolutely have to make this Homemade Peach Pie Filling recipe!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
This makes about 4 cups depending on how much you cook it down. To make a standard size pie, you will want about 4 cups of pie filling.
The best way that I have found to peel peaches is by first placing them into boiling water for about 20 seconds, removing and then immediately placing in an ice bath until they are cool to the touch. Then you can use a paring knife to easily remove the skin off or use a vegetable peeler. It should slide right off though.
With cornstarch! Cornstarch is a great thickener or you can use arrowroot as well. The goal is to make sure to continuously stir so the cornstarch gets totally incorporated and to give the heat time to help it thicken.
Yes. If using frozen, it will take longer for them to soften so keep that in mind because you are cooking them down from a frozen state. Canned peaches should be in 100% juice (not syrup) and the juice should be drained well. I don’t think you get the same flavor from canned peaches and they tend to break down too much.
I don’t recommend it for this particular recipe because it has cornstarch in it. However, this pie filling can be frozen for up to 3 months if that is an option for you.
You can still preserve this pie filling by substituting ClearJel (not a paid affiliate link) for the cornstarch. ClearJel is just a modified cornstarch that makes it safe for canning. You would use a little less than double the amount of ClearJel for cornstarch then follow proper canning procedures. Pectin cannot act as a substitute in pie fillings.
Let the filling cool and then place in an airtight container and this will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. This can also be frozen in a freezer container where it will keep for up to 3 months. To defrost, remove to the refrigerator overnight until thawed.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- butter – you can use unsalted or salted here. It is such a small amount of butter that the salt in salted butter won’t make much of a difference in overall taste.
- granulated sugar and light brown sugar – I really like the combination of the two sugars. A lot of recipes just use one or the other but I think using both really makes a difference in overall flavor.
- pure vanilla extract – this is just meant to give the pie filling a subtle background flavor that really brings out the natural flavor of the peaches.
- ground cinnamon – Use a cinnamon brand that you really enjoy here. I tend to lean towards stronger cinnamon like Saigon cinnamon (when you look for it in stores it will usually say “Cinnamon” and then underneath that “Saigon”) but as always, use what you enjoy or have on hand.
- peaches – see my FAQ above on how to best peel peaches. This recipe works best with fresh peaches.
- cornstarch – as I stated above, you can use arrowroot as well. I don’t recommend flour.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PEACH PIE FILLING:
Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add vanilla extract and cornstarch and whisk. Stir in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and stir once again.
Let the sugar melt down for about 5 minutes, stirring.
Add the peaches. Stir and cook for about 10-12 minutes or so until the peaches cook down, soften and filling has thickened. Be patient here. If the peaches have fully softened and you haven’t noticed it thicken up yet, turn the heat on high. This will activate that cornstarch to get it to thicken.
Remove the pan from the heat and bake in a crust or let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
Homemade Peach Pie Flling
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds peaches (about 6), peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add vanilla extract and cornstarch and whisk.
- Stir in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and stir once again.
- Let the sugar melt down for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Then add the peaches.
- Stir and cook for 10-12 minutes or until the peaches become cook down, become soft and the filling has thickened. Be patient here, it just takes time and you can't rush it. Don't walk away from the pot since it needs to be stirred regularly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and bake in a crust or let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- If the peaches have fully softened and you haven’t noticed it thicken up yet, turn the heat on high. This will activate that cornstarch to get it to thicken.
- You can use this is other desserts or toppings, see above for ideas.
- This can be frozen, see how to do that above.
- This uses about 6 peaches (maybe only 5 if they are very large peaches) and produces about 4 cups worth of filling. Weighing the peaches will give you better accuracy.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
This is a great recipe. I did use frozen peaches, I just removed most of the water off them when they thawed. However, my issue was the remainder did not freeze well. I had to throw it out.
That’s why I suggest to only use fresh peaches if you are wanting to freeze them for later use (see my FAQ above about freezing) 🙂
Made a peach pie yeterday using this recipe! Is delicious and easy to make. Next time, as I am not fan of cinnamon, I will only use 1/2 tsp. Question, as I like my pie a bit more tart, should I cut back on the sugar or will that ruin the consistancy?
This recipe has good flavor
First time try!
Tastes great, now to bake it in a pie!
Thank you !
I used this recipe for the first time last weekend and it is phenomenal. I made a peach pie that day and pie filling and put those in the freezer for the holidays! Thanks for sharing the recipe:)
Has anyone tried canning this, if so how’d it do?
Rhonda, this can be preserved with some changes. Please see my FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) above on how to do that. 🙂
Great filling recipe very tasty.
This stuff is AMAZING!! Had my doubts while making it..but…YUMMY!
Turned out perfectly!!!! I recommend making it…TODAY!
I’m so glad you gave it a try! Thank you so much Basha!
I was a little concerned when my sugars turned to hard crumbles after I added the vanilla but I kept on and had faith because I have never had one of your recipes fail. I added the peaches and magically the hard sugar pieces melted and then when I added the cornstarch it turned into a lovely thick glaze. My only fail is my Arizona peaches are hard as rocks and tasteless like most fruit here. Next time I will use frozen peaches!
Oh…. I topped it with a Dutch Butter Crumble and served with vanilla ice cream. Delicious!!.
Don’t feel bad about yucky peaches, they seem to be bad in most places. I picked up Georgia peaches last week and even they were tasteless. It must’ve been a rough season for peach farmers!
I have had a couple of good boxes of peaches from Costco. I just bought some last week and within a day they were perfect for making peach pies. They were $10.99 for a 4 lb. box. I got some from Kroger before, but they weren’t flavorful. I am not sure how long Costco will have the peaches, but I just bought some on 9/7/23. They were big and so tasty!
I am about 3 hours from the nearest Costco. I’m crying! I’d love to get my hands on some good peaches!
This was exceptionally great!
Thanks so much Matt!