Taste of Tuesday: Peach Tarts

Before I get to today's post, I'd like to point out my AWESOME new blog design brought to you by Erin @ Erin Elizabeth Design. Isn't it great? Erin was great to work with, always replying to my (many) emails promptly and accommodating my every thought, no matter how scatterbrained I was. Thank's again, Erin!

My favorite of favorite fruit-oriented deserts my Mama Teen (great-grandmother) used to make were her peach tarts (I have to say fruit oriented because I don't think I could pick an overall favorite). I'm not kidding you, these things were the bomb diggity. A few weekends ago, I got some fresh peaches from the Santuck Flea Market and what better to make than some yummy peach tarts?

If you were to google "peach tart recipe" you're going to get some results for something that looks kind of like a pie. That is not what I'm about to teach you to make, think more along the lines of homemade pop-tarts, except better. If cobbler is the easiest dessert you ever make, tarts are the second easiest (and one of the yummiest)!

The Filling
What you'll need:
4-5 medium/large fresh peaches
1/2-1 cup of sugar

The Crust
What you'll need:
2 c flour
dash of salt
1/2 cup Crisco
3/4 - 1 c. milk
OR
one can of biscuits (not the flaky kind)

Begin by peeling, pitting and dicing your peaches and placing them into a large boiler/saucepan set to med-high heat. Add the sugar to the peaches and stir frequently. I only used 1/2 cup of sugar for 4 large peaches, but you can really use as much as you like, depending on how sweet you want the filling.

While the peach/sugar mixture is cooking, begin making your dough. (If you're going the canned biscuit route, at this point you'll want to pour a glass of wine and sit pretty while the peaches cook).

Begin by mixing your dry ingredients together (salt + flour). Second, add the Crisco and mix with a mixer until mixture becomes crumbly. Note: if you don't have any Crisco or other shortening available butter/margarine/vegetable oil works, too. However if using these, don't use any or as much salt. After the dough becomes crumbly, add milk gradually until it forms. You'll want the dough to be on the slightly sticky side, so it doesn't come apart when rolled out.

Once dough is made, section it into 4-5 even balls (about the size you can get your fist around) and roll each ball flat into an oval shape. If you're using biscuits, just roll each biscuit out. (Sorry I didn't take any pictures at this point, my hands were covered in flour/dough). Each piece should be about 1/8-1/4 of an inch thick. Lie each piece onto a greased cooking sheet.

When your peaches look like the above picture (after about 20 minutes of cooking) spoon onto your dough pieces. Only cover one half of each piece, and fold the other half over the filling and pinch the edges together, forming something similar to a hot-pocket (it's helpful to use fork tongs to pinch the edges together.

Once you have all of your tarts filled and pinched, bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Brush the tops with butter and/or powdered sugar, allow to cool, and enjoy!

Try not to eat the whole batch at once!

Do you have any old family recipes that you absolutely love? 

Linking up with Ashley and Jessica for Taste of Tuesday!