Peach Galette Recipe

If you find yourself unable to resist the magnetic pull of summer's fresh peaches and end up buying a few too many, this peach galette is here to save the day. Jammy, caramelized peaches scented with cinnamon in a flaky, buttery, homemade crust — what's better than that?

Making pastry dough at home is not difficult, but it does take a bit of practice to get it right. If this is your first time and it does not work out perfectly, don't worry: Even an imperfect homemade crust is still ridiculously delicious (especially if it's warm from the oven) and better than store-bought.

This galette is all about the sweet, floral aroma of fresh stone fruit, so try to get the juiciest, ripest peaches you can get your hands on, preferably from a farmers market or local farm stand. If your peaches are too firm to the touch, you should probably wait for them to soften up a bit, even if you'll be baking them anyway.

This peach galette requires just a handful of ingredients. You'll need flour, salt, butter, and ice water for the crust. And for the filling, you'll need a few peaches, a bit of cinnamon, and sugar. Here, we use raw sugar, which helps give the pastry a crunchy-sweet crust. But standard, granulated white sugar works well, too. You could even use coconut or maple sugar for a different spin.

What makes homemade dough super flaky are the bits of cold butter that punctuate the flour and then melt in the oven, which creates steam and, subsequently, those signature layers. To get the butter into even-sized bits, we recommend freezing a stick and grating it before tossing into the flour. Once the butter's incorporated, sprinkle in ice water while continually tossing the dough with a rubber spatula.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and quickly gather into a disc. Don't worry if the dough seems a little dry at this stage; it will hydrate fully in the fridge. Wrap the dough in the plastic and chill for at least an hour, or up to several days. In the meantime, prep the filling by slicing up the peaches and tossing them with sugar and cinnamon.

Unwrap the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and roll it out to a ¼-inch thick circle. If the dough feels sticky, feel free to sprinkle it with a bit of flour (just don't go overboard).

Working quickly to avoid melting the butter in the dough, arrange the peaches from the center outward, leaving a 2-inch border. Then fold the border over the peaches. It doesn't need to look perfect; rustic can still be beautiful!

Bake in an oven preheated to 400 F until the dough is golden brown, about 40 minutes. At this point, all you have to do is let it cool before slicing and serving.