How To Freeze Peaches

It might almost be Labor Day, but I am so not ready to say good-bye to summer.  I hope it stays warm for a few more months.  I can’t imagine saying adios to the warmth and sunshine and sleeveless dresses and hello to cold and snow and my coat.  Yuck!  I also don’t want to say bye to the farmers’ market and all the amazing produce, particularly fruit.

I have been eating more than my fair share of cherries, blueberries, peaches, plums, pluots, plumcots, nectarines, and everything in between.  I refuse to let this yumminess go, despite what mother nature says.  Peaches are my favorite and I can’t go all winter without them (and those ones from South America that pop up in January aren’t going to cut it).  There are only so many apples and oranges a girl can eat.

So I turn to my overflowing freezer.  Recently I ordered peaches from Gold Bud Farm.  They have hands down the best peaches ever!  Costco’s peaches tend to be pretty awesome too.  It cost a pretty penny to have the Gold Bud peaches shipped across the country, so though I could have easily eaten them all, I wanted to save some of the goodness to help me remember the best parts of summer when I’m looking out my window and all I see is snow.  You know, the days when nothing’s green and it seems like summer will never return?  Yeah, I’ll do anything to escape those days.

It’s shockingly easy to freeze peaches.  First, wash them thoroughly (I hope you wash all of your produce before eating it).  Then dry the peaches and cut them in half, before pulling them away from the pit.  Freestone peaches really work the best for this; clingstone varieties are going to be a bit of a mess.  If the part of the peach that clings to the pit is a bit gnarly looking, cut it out.

Next peel the peach.  This can be done with a knife or a peeler.  Mom can work a mean knife when peeling a peach, but I prefer the peeler.  Then slice each half into fourths, give you eight wedges per peach.  Place one peach (eight wedges) in a small zipper bag, remove as much air as possible, and seal tightly.  Place them immediately in the freezer, and repeat as many times as you’d like.

They will last in the freezer about a year, just in time for next peach season.  They will be stuck together when you pull them out of the freezer, but you’ll know each bag has only one peach in it.  You can thaw them at room temperature about 30 minutes or in the microwave for about one minute.  If you thaw and drain them, you can bake with them, but I eat all of mine as is when I’m craving a juicy peach.  They hold up surprisingly well and though the texture suffers a bit, the great peach flavor remains fully intact.  Now summer never has to end!