Peach-Pie Pudding: It’s Peach Pie Without the Crust

Hooray for summer shortcuts! Who else is happy to save both time and calories? Yes? I thought maybe so. That means Peach-Pie Pudding (say that three times!) is for you. It's all the glory that is summer’s very best peach pie, except without the crust. (Added benefit? And without turning on the oven.)

Memorable Homestyle Whole Food, Simply Prepared with Just Ripe Peaches and Five Pantry Ingredients. Little Effort, Big Reward. Beautiful Color! Extra Welcome When "Supper's a Little Skimpy". Not just easy, Summer Easy. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Easy DIY. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian, Easily Converted to Vegan. Naturally Gluten Free. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

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What's the "State of Pie" in America?

SPOILER ALERT. It won't surprise you.

Years back now, we crossed six states in a pickup on a pie odyssey, seeking out fresh homemade pie in small-town cafes, roadside truckstops and local dives.

I’m sad to report, we found the true state of pie in America. ABYSMAL.

We stuck our forks into one forgettable pie after another. It was only the last night, at a pricey white-tablecloth place, where the pastry was worth every single calorie.

Now I make a mean pie crust (à la How to Make Flaky Tender Pie Crust) – and I do, for special occasions – but mostly, really, it is better to avoid the carbs and the calories that come with crusts. Still, my Midwestern heart longs for pie, especially in summer when the fruit is so heady and sweet.

So last summer this idea struck me: why not skip the crust entirely and convert pie filling to pie pudding? We’d just devoured a Fresh Peach Pie and a few ripe peaches sat on the counter. Perfect! Guinea-pig peaches!

My first experiment was a hit, soft peachy peaches while both firmness and structure.

I can’t speak for America but here in my kitchen, let the Pie to Pudding Odyssey begin.

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Recipe Overview: Peach-Pie Pudding

• This recipe is for anyone with a yen for peach pie who's short on time, inclination, ingredients or sure, even skill, for a pie crust. Instead, skip the crust entirely. (After all, everybody loves a good chocolate pie but does chocolate pudding need a pie crust?) Just cut some ripe peaches or nectarines into chunks and gently cook with the bright zest and juice of an orange. That's it! It's almost the same filling that makes my Fresh Peach Pie such a summer staple.

• When to Serve = This is a lovely dessert all on its own but it's not too sweet to use as a compote over vanilla pudding or a slice of pound cake or ...
• Diet Needs & Choices = As written, the recipe is Vegetarian but it's easily converted to Vegan with a single ingredient change, a plant-based butter, that also converts it to Dairy Free. Egg Free. Nut Free. It's also naturally Gluten Free but please, if you're cooking for someone with celiac or a gluten sensitivity, be extra cautious about both reading ingredient labels and cross kitchen contamination (your hands, your fridge environment, your counters, your knives, your bowls, your stirring spoons, your serving plates and utensils).
• Distinctive Ingredients = Peaches + Orange + Almond Extract
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + sugar + cornstarch + 1 tablespoon butter
• For Garnish = My favorite garnish is a spoonful of Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of toasted almonds, both optional but making it all special.
• Kitchen Tools = A saucepan and wooden spoon, that's it!
• Hands-On Time = Allow about 20 minutes to cook the pudding.
• Time-to-Tummy = Do allow some time to chill the pudding and the flavors to meld.
• Tasting with our Eyes = So pretty, this!
• Texture = The trick here is to only gently warm the peach chunks, we want them slightly soft but still retaining their structure and fresh taste. Think something softer than canned peaches but definitely not soft or mushy.
• Taste = The orange flavor definitely comes through, as does that touch of magical almond extract, but really, every single spoonful is about the ripe peaches.
• Techniques = To remove the peach skins, the recipe calls for a process called "blanching". It's simple, just briefly dropping a couple of peaches at a time into a pot of boiling water. Once you pull them out, let them cool, the skins will slip right off, leaving the flesh.
• Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly recipe, just 20 minutes hands-on time.
• Watching Our Waistlines = This is a calorie-friendly recipe, especially compared to a piece of peach pie!
• Staying Cost Conscious = This is a budget-friendly recipe, just a handful of ingredients, all easily found at a grocery store. I'm willing to bet, most of us will need to only buy juicy peaches and maybe an orange or two for juicing.
• Makes = enough to serve six, it's the equivalent of one peach per person.
• Small Households = This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two, it's easy to scale the recipe down to just one or two peaches.
• So good! I hope you love it!


• If you like this recipe, you're sure to love my Naked Peach Cobbler too. Who says a topping is essential for peach cobbler? It's another way to really let the peaches themselves really shine.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other recipes calling for peaches & nectarines.

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FROM PIE to PUDDING: PEACH-PIE PUDDING

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 2 hours
Serves 6

PEACHES
• Water to cover
• 6 ripe peaches or nectarines

ORANGE SAUCE
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar (Splenda works great)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• Zest of an orange
• 1 cup orange juice, preferably fresh-squeezed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

TO SERVE
• Greek yogurt and toasted almonds, optional

BLANCH THE PEACHES Bring a pot of water to a boil. A couple of peaches at a time, drop peaches into the boiling water for 1 minute. Lift out the peaches with a slotted spoon and repeat with remaining peaches. When the peaches are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off with your hands, then dice the peaches.

COOK THE ORANGE SAUCE In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and orange zest, then slowly stir in the orange juice. Set the heat to medium and cook slowly, stirring often, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter and almond extract.

COMBINE Stir the peaches into sauce, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.

TO SERVE Top with a little Greek yogurt and a few slivers of toasted almonds.

ALANNA's TIPS Here's how to dice whole peaches. After the peaches are blanched to remove the skins, I like to dice them whole, holding a peach in my left hand, cutting each half into six slices right to the pit, then inserting the knife around the circumference, cutting each slice in to three pieces. But take care: no trips to the emergency room if you cut through a peach into your own hand, yikes.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2013/07/peach-pie-pudding-recipe.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving, assumes 6 servings, with Splenda/sugar: 129/186 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 5mg Cholesterol; 14mg Sodium; 25/42g Carb; 3g Fiber; 18/35g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 2/3 & PointsPlus 3/5 & WW SmartPoints 5/6 & Freestyle 3 & myWW green 3 & blue 3 & purple 3 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS for 100-calorie servings, divide into 8 servings. This recipe has been "Alanna-sized".

Adapted from Fresh Peach Pie, my "first" peach pie recipe. And ha! I didn’t realize until just now but this is not the first simplification of a classic peach recipe: just take a look at Naked Peach Cobbler, it’s Peach Cobbler without the "cobble" on top (or with, should you prefer).

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Seasonal Cooking & Eating During Mid-Summer

KITCHEN PARADE
Asian Chicken Salad Peach, Cherry & Blueberry Fruit Sauce or Fruit Soup Fruity Gazpacho Herbed Ricotta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Pita Crisps Homemade Frozen Yogurt with Homemade Blackberry Sauce Zucchini Bread with Carrot & Candied Ginger (<< this week's reader favorite) Homemade Peach Syrup with Fresh Peaches Baked Chicken with Fresh Peaches Peach-Pie Pudding Zucchini Spiral "Noodle" Salad (Pinterest loves this!) Homemade Basil Pesto Blueberry Cheesecake Pie
~ more Recent Recipes ~

A VEGGIE VENTURE
No-Cook Tabbouleh (a summer staple in my kitchen) Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus Summer Orzo with Radicchio Chipotle Chickpea Salad (reader favorite!) Avocado Salad with Hearts of Palm Homemade Creamed Corn King Hill Farms Simple & Sublime Beets (for beet lovers) Amaranth Greens Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup Romano Beans in Butter-Braised Garlic (watch for romano beans at the farmers market) Seared Radicchio Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Tomato & Onion Salad Stacked Ratatouille (totally versatile!) Sautéed Cucumbers How to Cut Corn Off the Cob: Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk" Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries Succotash Salad with Green Beans, Lima Beans, Corn & Tomatoes Raw Tomatillo Salad with Blueberries (lovin' this year's blueberries!) Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes Loaded Iceberg Steaks with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing Quick Summer Squash & Tomato Saute Mexican Scrambled Eggs (Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana) Raw Mexican Street Corn Salad with Cauliflower Rice
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If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, you'll love A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables with more from-scratch recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, home to the famous Alphabet of Vegetables and vegetables in every course, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

This Week, Elsewhere

~ Lemon Mango Curry Sauce ~
from Hot Pot (sorry, now closed)
~ more St. Louis Restaurant Recipes ~
My Weekly Column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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More Recipes for Summer’s Best Peaches

• THE RECIPE Savory Peach Appetizer Fruity with a spike of heat.
• ANOTHER TAKE Peach & Cantaloupe Soup A tantalizing combination, served cold.

• THE RECIPE Simple Sliced Peaches Just four ingredients, turns tables to silent. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Peach Syrup with Fresh Peaches Thick, caramel-y peach syrup. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Naked Peach Cobbler Peaches so good, who needs a topping? (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Roasted Peaches A simple yet unexpected and stunning dessert.

• THE COLLECTION Peaches & Nectarines, Kitchen Parade's sweet & savory recipes, from peach muffins to peach pie and so much more.
• SO ORGANIZED! By Ingredient, Kitchen Parade recipes listed ingredient by ingredient, so much easier than search.

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ peach recipes ~
~ orange recipes ~

All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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