"I Love You Like Peaches" Texas Peach and Pecan Pie (gluten and dairy free) & AFBA Pie Luck

In case you're not a Bob Schneider fan (like I have been for more than a decade), the name of my pie, "I Love You Like Peaches", is one of the songs from his latest album, A Perfect Day, and has become a summer family favorite around our house. It was the perfect name for the peach pie I created for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance's Pie Luck Social this past weekend at House Wine. It's like a bite of sunshine.

Several Austin food bloggers gathered to raise awareness for SafePlace, an Austin organization that creates a safe haven for individuals and familes, primarily children, who have been affected by sexual and domestic violence. We also came for the pie. Lots and lots of really amazing pie. 

Local chefs and food industry professionals had the not so difficult job of tasting several pies to choose the winner. Adolfo Moreno, of SafePlace, wondered if there might be pies at all of the events . A very intriguing question. We all mingled, had pie and wine, met local foodies and bloggers and went home with bags of Beanitos to help us out of our sugar comas. 

The event continues on Sunday, August 21st with a screening of the movie, Waitress, at Alamo Drafthouse. Buy your tickets ASAP as the event will most likely sell out. 

The Pie Luck winner, and proud owner of "The Crusty" trophy, Michael Chu, of Cooking for Engineers, will have his perfectly executed pecan pie slices available for purchase at the event thanks to the help of Alamo Drafthouse Executive Chef John Bullington. And yes, I do mean perfect pecan pie. It looked straight out of a Martha Stewart cookbook and the recipe straight out of a calculus book. My husband is an engineer. I know all about perfect execution...which is pretty much the opposite of my right brained self. Whole pies from local bakers will also be for sale after the event. 

How can you help without having to share your peach pie? Attend the screening, buy a pie or donate to SafePlace. SafePlace is in great need of diapers and wipes right now, but you can also check out their WISHLIST for more items. 


See you at Alamo Drafthouse on August 21st!

"I Love You Like Peaches" Texas Peach & Pecan Pie

Gluten and Dairy Free

Pecan Pie Crust
1 cup Texas pecans (Texas pecans are sweeter)
8 organic medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp cinnamon (stick cinnamon ground with a microplane grater)
1/2 tsp nutmeg (whole nutmeg ground with a microplane grater)
pinch of Celtic sea salt
2 tsp Rawtella (People's Pharmacy) or a natural chocolate hazlenut spread, like Justin's
1/2 vanilla bean, sliced in half, remove seeds with a knife


Peach Filling
1 TBSP Earth Balance butter, melted

1 tsp cinnamon (stick cinnamon ground with a microplane grater)

1/2 tsp nutmeg (whole nutmeg ground with a microplane grater)

1/2 vanilla bean, sliced in half, remove seeds with a knife

4 TBSP tapioca starch

5-6 large or 10 small Texas peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced, Lightsey Farms 

pinch of Celtic sea salt

1/3 cup combined local honey and organic maple syrup

1. Prepare the pecan crust by adding all of the ingredients for the crust to a food processor. Pulse and check to see if the crust is sticking together periodically by turning the food processor off and pressing the crust against the sides. 

2. Once the ingredients have come together, press the mixture into  to a nonstick pie pan. I love this USA Pie Pan that I found at Breed and Company (10% off with your Go Local card). 

3. Put the pan in the fridge for 1-2 hours while you peel, pit and slice the peaches.

4. Once the peaches are sliced, set them aside in a bowl and melt the butter in a sauce pan or butter warmer on low.

5. When the butter has melted, remove it from the stove and add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until combined. 

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour butter mixture over the peaches and let sit until the crust has been baked and cooled. Remove the vanilla bean pods before adding to pie crust.

7. Bake the crust at 350 for 10 minutes and let cool before filling. 

8. Pour the peach mixture into the crust and bake for 10 minutes at 350, then lower the heat and bake for 20-30 minutes at 325, being careful to make sure that the edges of the pie don't burn. Make sure that you let the pie cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before enjoying!








Don't forget to buy up the last of the Texas peaches at your local farmers' market or Wheatsville to freeze for smoothies or make peach jam with local honey.