I couldn’t decide whether to call these cookies or pies, so I made a compromise. They’re about the size of cookies, but they taste like little peach crumble pies. The base is tender like shortbread or pie crust and the filling is made with fresh peaches. I’ve seen people make something similar with jam and call them cookies, but since I used fresh fruit for these, they deserve to be elevated to pie status.
The peaches are macerated to draw out the excess juices, to help avoid making your cookies soggy. If you’re impatient, don’t be tempted to skip this step. It’ll go by fast as you prep the crumb topping and the remaining ingredients.
When I first made these, I used cupcake liners because I was worried that they might stick to the pan. It turns out that they stick to the cupcake liners more than the pan. So the next time I made them, I opted to lightly spray the pan with nonstick spray instead of using liners. I ran a small thin offset spatula around the perimeter of the cookies to loosen them from the pan and they popped out nicely.
I love topping these little peach delights with caramel sauce. Salted caramel is also a delicious addition. Or you can simply sprinkle them with powdered sugar if you prefer.
Peach Crumble Pie Cookies
Ingredients
Macerated Peaches
- 1 ¼ cups (213g) chopped peaches
- ¾ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cornstarch
Crumble Topping
- ½ cup (64g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 ½ tablespoons (35g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
Cookies
- 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
- 7 tablespoons ( 99g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup (28g) powdered sugar
Topping
- 3-4 tablespoons caramel sauce, purchased or homemade
Instructions
Macerated Peaches
- In a medium-sized bowl, toss the peaches with lemon juice. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine. Let stand 30 minutes.
- Drain the peaches, reserving 1 tablespoon of the juices. In a small bowl, whisk together the reserved peach juice with the corn starch. Mix with the drained peaches.
Crumble Topping
- In a medium bowl-sized, whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it looks sandy. Press the mixture together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly spray a 12-serving muffin pan with nonstick spray. (Do not use muffin liners. If you're concerned about the cookies sticking to the pan, see notes below.*)
- In a medium_sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until pale and fluffy. Stir in the flour mixture on low speed or by hand, just until combined.
- Press generous tablespoon-sized portions of dough (about 20g each) into the bottoms of the muffin pan cups with a pastry tamper dipped in flour. You can also use the bottom of a flat shot glass.
- Top with the peaches, then the crumble topping mixture. Bake until the cookies are set and the topping is golden brown, about 15-17 minutes.
- Cool the cookies completely in the pan. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan by running a small offset spatula or paring knife around the inside perimeter of the muffin cups to loosen them. Drizzle with caramel sauce.