Peach Galette

This peach galette recipe is spectacular! It stars juicy ripe peaches and browned butter filling encased in a flaky pastry…

This peach galette recipe is spectacular! It stars juicy ripe peaches and browned butter filling encased in a flaky pastry crust. It’s gotten loads of rave reviews from readers!

Peach Galette

Why we love this recipe

Here’s our ultimate summer treat: a peach galette! Imagine, a filling of tender fruit flavored with brown sugar, nutty browned butter and a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. It’s all encased in a flaky, buttery pastry crust.

A galette is a rustic tart: the perfect easy alternative to a pie. This one was a huge hit in our house and with our readers. We had dozens of recipe testers try this one out before sharing it with you. The overall opinion? Fantastic.

Readers on Instagram volunteered in droves to test this recipe! Here’s what a few of them had to say:

  • “This peach galette is very good, simple to make, and looks impressive!” -Natalia
  • “This galette was delicious. The recipe was very simple to follow. Hubby thought it was perfect!” -Mary
  • “I don’t typically like to bake, but this recipe was very easy to follow and the dough came together beautifully!” -Vonda
  • “Overall, really easy: a simple recipe that wasn’t too sugary and really focused on the crust and the peach flavor!” -Bart

Ingredients for a peach galette

A galette is a rustic French tart: a round pie made without a pie plate using a folded pastry crust. This peach galette is visually stunning: perfect for impressing at a dinner party or just enjoying on the patio on a summer evening. In fact, we’ve almost sworn off pies altogether: galettes are so much easier and even more fun! The most important ingredient to get ahold of for this one? Ripe peaches. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Ripe fresh peaches: don’t compromise on ripeness! See the notes below. We don’t recommend using frozen here, though unsweetened canned peaches could work as a substitute. You can make this dessert with unpeeled peaches as we did, or peel the peaches using the boiling water method.
  • Brown sugar, granulated sugar, and turbinado sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Cornstarch
  • Cinnamon
  • Butter
  • Flour
  • Salt
  • Baking powder
  • Egg
Peach Galette Recipe

Tips on how to ripen peaches

Ripe peaches are key to this peach galette and any peach recipe! You might buy them rock hard, or so juicy they’re almost bruising. Gently squeeze the peaches to see if the flesh feels soft: if so, they are ripe. If there is any firmness, you’ll need to ripen them. Here are a few notes on ripening peaches and the sweetness of this recipe:

  • Here’s how to ripen peaches: If the peaches are almost ripe, simply place them on the counter for 1 day. If they are hard, place the peaches in a paper bag. Add a banana or apple inside, which emits ethylene gas and helps the peaches ripen faster. Gently close the top of the bag and wait 1 to 3 days, depending on the ripeness of the peaches.
  • Taste test the peaches: Taste test a peach when you’re ready to make the recipe. If it doesn’t taste tender and sweet, it’s not ready.

Vary the sugar to taste

Feel like your peaches aren’t quite there but you’re making the galette for an occasion? You can add a bit more sugar to compensate. Or if you like sweet desserts, you can use a little more sugar than specified.

This peach galette is perfect with ripe peaches and 6 tablespoons sugar. But if your peaches might be on the edge, use ½ cup sugar.

Peach Galette

Tips for galette dough

The other important part of this peach galette? The galette dough! Overall, this dough is very easy to work with: and you don’t need to shape it like you would for a pie. Here are a few notes to keep in mind when working with this dough:

  • Spoon and level the flour (or weigh it in grams). This provides the most accurate measurement: or you can weigh it! Scooping flour right out of the container packs it in, which can result in more flour in a cup.
  • Add just enough water for the dough to come together. Usually it takes us about 5 tablespoons, though this depends on the exact flour amount (again; grams is more accurate).
  • Chill 1 hour. This is important for the dough to set.
  • Roll into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. You can pick up the dough and add more flour to the surface as necessary if it’s sticking.
  • Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. This is important to get a nice golden sheen on the crust! We like using chunky turbinado sugar on the crust, but granulated sugar works too.
Peach Galette

Serving and storage info

This peach galette is incredible on its own, but we prefer it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream! The creaminess compliments it perfectly. We like to serve it with our own homemade ice cream (a fun project if you’ve never tried it!), but of course it works with any store-bought variety.

Want to store leftovers of this galette? Place it in a storage container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If you’re making it the day before, leave it out on the counter for an hour or so before serving to let it come to room temperature.

More peach recipes

When it’s the season, make all the peach recipes and peach desserts! Here are some favorites you’ll love:

Dietary notes

This peach galette recipe is vegetarian. For vegan, use vegan butter.

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Peach Galette

Peach Galette


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 2 hours (including chill time)
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8
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Description

This peach galette recipe is a triumph! It stars juicy ripe peaches and browned butter filling encased in a flaky pastry crust.


Ingredients

For the galette dough: 

  • 1 ½ cups [210 grams] all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (or vegan butter)
  • 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water
  • 1 egg, for the egg wash
  • Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

For the filling: 

  • 3 cups (about 1 pound; 3 to 4 medium) ripe yellow peaches, cut into 1/4-inch slices, skin on* 
  • 6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed**
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or vegan butter)

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, kosher salt, and baking powder. Slice the butter into small pieces, then use a pastry blender or fork to cut it into the flour mixture until mostly incorporated and a pebbly texture forms (with pea-sized or smaller pieces).
  2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the cool water over the flour, mixing gradually with a fork until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of water until all the flour is incorporated, kneading with your fingers until the dough comes together. (Resist the urge to add more water; it should come together!) Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a thick disk. Wrap it in plastic or place it in a covered container and chill the dough for 1 hour. (To make in advance, you can refrigerate the dough up to 3 days; allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling. Or, wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze up to 3 months, then defrost overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.)
  3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  4. Mix the thinly sliced peaches with the sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Brown the 2 tablespoons butter by heating it in a small skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until it just turns brown, stirring occasionally. (Keep an eye on it as it starts to brown; it can go from brown to burnt pretty quickly.) Immediately remove from the heat and pour the butter into the bowl with the peaches, then mix gently to combine.
  5. On a floured surface, roll the dough into an even 12” circle, leaving the edges rough (if needed, move the dough around and add a bit more flour underneath to keep it from sticking). Carefully transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet. 
  6. Arrange the peaches on the dough in a spiral pattern, saving the juices at the bottom of the bowl. Leave at least 2 inches of dough around the outside edge. The pattern can be precise or more free-form: whatever you feel like! Leave out any peaches that you think might overfill the galette. Fold in the outside edges of the dough over the filling to form an approximately 2-inch crust, overlapping the folds as shown in the photos. Gently pour the remaining juices from the bowl over the peaches.
  7. Whisk the egg and use a pastry brush to brush it onto the crust. Sprinkle the crust liberally with turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar). 
  8. Bake the galette for 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer the parchment paper to a baking rack to cool. Cool to room temperature (about 1 hour) before slicing into pieces and serving. It’s divine with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Store leftovers for up to 4 days refrigerated; bring to room temperature or warm in the oven before serving.

Notes

*Make sure the peaches are ripe and sweet (give one a taste): this can make or break the recipe! You can leave the skins on for this recipe, but if you prefer without, peel the peaches using this method

**If you like a sweeter dessert or your peaches aren’t fully sweet, use ½ cup brown sugar. Avoid using dark brown sugar as it makes the filling very dark.

  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: French Inspired
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

There’s a certain ease and simplicity to free-form tarts like this. Sometimes they’re called a crostata, sometimes a galette. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a fast way to use great fruit when it’s in season, without a lot of fuss. At the beginning of summer, when rhubarb is still lingering around, and strawberries are elbowing their way forward, it’s a…

There’s a certain ease and simplicity to free-form tarts like this. Sometimes they’re called a crostata, sometimes a galette. You can call it whatever you want, but I call it a fast way to use great fruit when it’s in season, without a lot of fuss.

At the beginning of summer, when rhubarb is still lingering around, and strawberries are elbowing their way forward, it’s a good thing the two go so well together. And I’m happy to help them hook up.

I remember a neighbor had a big rhubarb plant in their backyard and we used to dip the raw stalks in a cup of sugar and eat them. (Somehow, we knew not to eat the leaves, which are toxic.) I still remember, not just the fact that you could get free food from the earth, but that something could have so much flavor. Some kids aren’t fond of things that are tangy but I’ve always loved the contrast of sweet and tart.

Recently I was so excited to find such beautiful berries that I bought three big baskets of them. I made a little batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, and another batch of Strawberry Vodka, both of which I hope will prolong the season…unlike this tart, which lasted not so long around here.

I first learned to make tarts like this from Jacques Pépin, when he came to work with us and began his shift by rolling out dough for fruit tarts. He actually double-doughed his tarts, rolling out two rounds of dough, and sandwiching the fruit between the two.

Being French, he brushed the top with lots of butter and liberally dusted the top with sugar. Today I usually make them open-faced, but do brush the crust with lots of butter and a generous sprinkling of sugar, which makes a crunchy crust, and is a nice contrast to the tender fruit-forward filling.

When I posted a picture of this tart on social media, with a promise to share the recipe, a friend, Ann Mah, asked me how I dealt with all the juice from rhubarb, which can exude a moderate amount. Hothouse rhubarb is generally redder in color and holds its color better than field-grown rhubarb once baked. However, I’ve never found much of a correlation between if it’s grown indoors or out, and how much juice it exudes.

That said, as insurance, I sprinkle the dough with a little bit of almond flour to absorb any errant juices. But I don’t mind things being a little bit messy; a friend’s Norwegian grandmother once told me that if pie doesn’t fall apart when you slice it, it’s not going to be any good. This tart slices nicely but tastes great. So you’re getting the best of both worlds here, in more ways than one.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

I often sprinkle a little almond flour on the tart dough, to soak up any extra juices that may come out of the fruit when it's baking. You can use cracker or bread crumbs, crumbled amaretti cookies, a bit of flour, or leave it out. For those who want to reduce the sugar, feel free to cut the sugar in the filling down to 1/2 cup (100g). For another variation, you could swap out fresh pitted cherries for the strawberries, or mix a basket or two of raspberries or blackberries with the rhubarb, in place of the strawberries. This tart is sometimes called a galette or crostata and is baked free-form. It could also be baked in a tart pan as well. Be sure to cover the baking sheet well if using parchment paper, to catch any juices that may run out during baking. I used an unrimmed baking sheet for this one but use a rimmed one if you want to make sure you're containing any errant juices.
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

For the tart dough

  • 1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (4oz, 115g) unsalted butter cubed and chilled
  • 6 tablespoons (90ml) ice water

For the filling

  • 3 cups (13oz, 380g) diced rhubarb (trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch, 2cm pieces)
  • 2 cups (10oz, 300g) strawberries hulled and quartered
  • zest of 1 lemon preferably unsprayed
  • 2/3 cup (130g) sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 2 tablespoons almond flour (optional)
  • 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
  • turbinado or granulated sugar for finishing the tart

Instructions

  • To make the tart dough, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also make it in a food processor, or by hand, using a pastry blender.) Add the cold butter and mix until the butter pieces are the size of peas.
  • Add the ice water and continue to mix just until the dough comes together. Gather the dough with your hands, shape it into a disk, wrap it plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  • Put the rhubarb and strawberries in a medium bowl with the lemon zest. Sprinkle the sugar and corn starch on top, but do not mix the ingredients together yet. (If you do, they'll start to juice and may be overly juicy by the time you're ready to use them.)
  • Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºF). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 14-inch (36cm) circle and place it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the almond flour over the tart dough, if using. Mix the fruit together with the sugar and corn starch and place the fruit into the center of the tart dough, then spread it with your hands, leaving 3-inch (8cm) of space between the fruit and the edge of the dough.
  • Fold the edges of the dough up and over the fruit filling. Brush the crush liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the tart until the filling is cooked and bubbling, and the crust is golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide the tart off the baking sheet, onto a cooling rack.

Notes

Serving: Serve the tart on its own, or with Vanilla Ice Cream, White Chocolate and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream, or Cinnamon Ice Cream, or a dollop of crème fraîche.
Storage: The unrolled dough can be refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen for up to two months. The baked tart is best the same day but can be stored at room temperature for up to two days. (The dough will get softer the longer it sits.)