If Georgia were a food, it would be a fried peach pie with bourbon and cinnamon. Nothing says pride in the Peach State like a made from scratch buttery pie pastry, filled with local, sweet peaches fresh from the Farmers’ Market. At first taste of Fried Peach Pies with Bourbon and Cinnamon , you won’t even need to visit the fair when it comes to town. The flaky, crunchy exterior of this turnover with soft, bright red-orange peaches in the center, dusted with cinnamon sugar is one fine way to celebrate this summer fruit. Don’t limit these peach pies to dessert–pour yourself a glass of sweet tea and savor one for breakfast!

First things first. I’m all about a short cut folks, but nothing beats homemade pie dough. Combine self-rising flour, sugar and kosher salt with cold, cubed butter and a little egg wash and you’ve got yourself something to write home about. A food processor is the quickest way to bring everything together. Divide the dough onto a floured surface into 10 equal discs. Then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for at least 45 minutes.

Now, while everything gets underway, go ahead and crank up Georgia Blues by Jimi Hendricks and Lonnie Youngblood.

Lately, Saturday morning finds me at the Statesboro Mainstreet Farmers’ Market. I really enjoy talking with the area farmers and learning about what they grow and how they like to cook their crops. These were some of the most beautiful peaches I’ve ever seen, grown by Jacob’s Produce, a family farm located off of GA Hwy 17 in Screven County.

To peel peaches, forgo the vegetable peeler. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add peaches one at a time with a slotted spoon. Let them boil for about 45 seconds, then remove them from the boiling water and put them directly into an ice bath for about 20 seconds. This is the best way to get the most fruit out of your peach. Man alive, those are pretty!

Once your peaches are peeled and sliced, transfer them to a large skillet and add in a good quality bourbon (I like Bulleit Rye American Whiskey), lemon juice, brown sugar, tapioca and cinnamon. You’ll let those flavors marry for about 10 minutes before cooking them.

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned tapioca and many of my readers had questions about it. This is tapioca. Tapioca is an ingredient in tapioca pudding. It can be found on the baking aisle of your grocery store near the cornstarch and baking powder. Tapioca is used as a thickening agent and to sweeten fruit pies.

Once the peach mixture has set and cooled in the freezer for about 20 minutes, create an assembly line for the fun part! You can use water to moisten the edges of your pie dough, but I used milk for added flavor.

Roll out each disc of dough six inches wide. Fill the center with about a teaspoon of the peach mixture, but don’t overfill it. Then, paint the edges with milk, fold over and seal.

I like to use a fork to seal the edges because it makes a pretty pattern. 🙂

Fry the pies in vegetable oil by the batch. The length of time you’ll fry them will depend on how hot your oil is. My first batch took a little longer than the others. You just want to achieve that deep, dark golden brown color. Remove them from the oil and onto a paper towel-lined plate and immediately dust them with cinnamon sugar. The kitchen is smelling Some Kinda Good at this point, y’all.

These peach pies are a real treat. It doesn’t get more Southern than this.