Frozen Peach Slices

 Good morning and come on in for a visit.  It is hot and muggy down here in South Georgia and drinking water and iced tea in an air conditioned home is the only way to stay comfortable. This is fine with me for I much prefer the hot rather than cold and the beach would be even better.

We are still in peach season and can buy peaches for $.99/lb.  The ones we are getting in the stores now are from middle and northern Georgia for ours in this area are gone.  We had an early and sparse crop this year due to the lack of cold hours they need to form fruit.  Hopefully we will have a few more days of freezing weather next winter for peaches are my favorite fruit. 

I freeze peaches to use in various ways such as pies, cobblers and smoothies.  We drink a smoothie for breakfast most days and I include frozen fruit in most of these.  Bananas, blueberries, peaches, and mango are our favorites and I freeze all but the mango. 

I have been freezing banana slices for quite awhile to put in smoothies, ice cream and as a snack so I thought why not peach slices?  Tried it yesterday and it works really well and will make it easier to measure them and to blend in smoothies. 

Freezing them in muffin tins are great for the really ripe ones and they will pop right out if you will let them thaw on a dish towel for a few minutes.  Store them for freezing in a plastic bag and take out the number of packs you need for a recipe or smoothie.  There is about 1/2 peach in each cup.

Using the 2 methods allows you to use both over ripe and those that are still firm for freezing.

I wash, peel, halve, remove the pits and then cut them in thin slices.  You don't have to be precise but thin slices freeze more quickly.  Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  They can be touching but not overlapping for you will break them apart into slices when frozen.

You can put multiple layers with parchment paper between each layer and I usually have 2 layers.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in freezer for several hours or overnight.

When frozen, remove the foil, lift the parchment paper and gently bend the paper to break the slices apart.

Put the slices into a freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as possible and keep in the freezer until you are ready to use. 

Uses: smoothies, pies, cobblers, or a frozen snack.  These slices make great snacks or put them in iced peach tea for ice cubes. 

Try this method and let me know what you think for I sure do like them.  I am going to try other fruits like this as I find them on sale.  Mangoes, nectarines, bananas, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are a few I want to try.  Cutting the strawberries in slices would make a good snack also.  I am excited about this method and I hope you will too.  Let me know what you think.

Ya'll come back and stay cool.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach