Fresh peach pie in the middle of winter

Peach Crumble Tart
Better Homes and Gardens New Diabetic Cookbook Copyright 1999

1 recipe Lower-Fat Oil Pastry*
½ cup rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 medium peaches (2 pounds), peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
¼ buttermilk

1. Prepare Lower-Fat Oil Pastry*. On a lightly floured surface, flatten pastry. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Wrap pastry circle around the rolling pin; unroll pastry into a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Ease pastry into pan, being careful not to stretch pastry. Press the pastry into fluted sides of tart pan and trim edges. Do not prick pastry.
2. For crumble topping, combine the oats, the 1/3 cup flour, the brown sugar, and the ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Stir in the butter or margarine. Set aside.
3. For filling, in a large bowl stir together the granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons of flour, and the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the peaches and buttermilk. Gently toss until coated.
4. Spread the filling evenly into pastry shell. Top with crumble topping. Bake in 375 degree oven 45 to 50 minutes, or until center of filling is bubbly. (My peaches never made enough juice to get 'bubbly'.) If necessary, to prevent overbrowning, cover loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*Lower-Fat Oil Pastry
In a medium bowl stir together 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Combine ¼ cup fat-free milk and 3 tablespoons cooking oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until dough forms. If necessary, add 1 to 2 teaspoons additional milk. Shape the dough into a ball.


Makes 10 servings. Per serving: 210 calories, 7 g fat (2 g sat fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 87 mg sodium, 35 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein (This is without the ice cream, of course!)

While shopping this weekend, I came across some surprisingly good peaches for this time of year. I would have liked to have made a peaches-and-cream pie or something equally decadent but my expanding waistline told me to look for something a little lighter. Even though this cookbook burned me with the strata recipe last time (partially my fault), I gave it another chance.

While I doubt this crust would win any blue ribbons at the county fair, it was passable. It did it's job of holding in the peaches. It was easy to work with. (I think - I don't remember the last time I made my own crust - I usually use the one in the red box - so I don't have much to compare it to but I had no problems rolling this out.) I don't think you could really expect a lower-fat pastry to be as good as a full-fat one since fat is what makes pastry tastes so good, after all.

Overall, this was a good pie, something I would make again. Maybe it wasn't as rich as a full-fat pie with more sugar but it didn't leave you with the guilt that a richer dessert would. It had just enough fat and sugar to make it work.

Oh, and BTW, I used my tart pan for this. That means that my Culinary New Year's Resolution #2 has been satisfied.