Peach dumplings stuffed with goat cheese and prosciutto

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I think we can all agree, there’s just something truly out of this world special about biting into a fresh, juicy peach. We all know peaches are delicious in pies and as sweet treats, so I wanted to show off their versatility with a dish that also incorporated their ability to pair well with more savory items.

Here’s what my Kylee brain came up with: I stuffed whole peaches with a goat cheese mixture, wrapped them in prosciutto, and then encased them in pie dough. But not just any pie dough—cheesy pie dough. Then I drizzled lemon thyme honey on top.

This dessert (we’ll call it a dessert even though it’s a perfectly acceptable breakfast, lunch, or dinner menu item) was inspired by Erin Jeanne McDowell’s whole apple dumpling recipe and golden cheese pie dough recipe from her book “The Book on Pie: Everything You Need to Know to Bake Perfect Pies,” which I highly recommend.

First, let’s talk peaches. All types of peaches can be classified as freestone or clingstone. The pit in freestone peaches isn’t attached to the flesh, so it’s easy to remove. That’s what you want to buy! Whereas clingstone peaches have a pit that is attached to the flesh, making it difficult to prep for baking or cooking. For the most part, grocery stores usually sell freestone peaches, unless you’re trying to buy peaches out of season. Then sometimes they're clingstone. So keep that in mind when you want to make something with fresh peaches not in the summer months.

Also, there are white peaches and yellow peaches. White-fleshed peaches are lower in acid and have a more subtle, delicate taste than yellow peaches. That said, white peaches are great for eating, but not the best for baking because their flavor isn’t strong enough.

I purchased peaches from Meijer a few days ago, and I noticed there were two varieties of yellow peaches: yellow peaches from Ohio and yellow peaches from South Carolina. I purchased both varieties to test them out. The Ohio peaches were significantly smaller than the South Carolina peaches and their pit was a little harder to remove, but they tasted the same to me.

My least favorite thing about working with peaches is peeling them. Yes, there are a lot of tricks for making the process easier, but I still think it’s a pain. I would just rather not do it at all, and fortunately with this recipe you don’t have to.

Fruit paired with cheese is an absolutely divine combination. I can’t resist a sweet, savory, and salty combination. It may seem strange to add goat cheese to dessert, but this tangy cheese actually balances the sweet peaches perfectly. The creamy texture also makes it a great match, and it melts into the peaches while they bake. Additionally, the prosciutto slice around the peach takes this dessert over the top. You can certainly skip the prosciutto if you're a vegetarian. But I tried the dumplings with and without the prosciutto, and its addition makes the dessert just THAT much better.

Now, let's talk pie dough. You can absolutely buy pie dough or puff pastry from the store if you're short on time. But I highly recommend making this white cheddar pie dough. In fact, my husband William said it was his favorite part of the dessert! It's a basic pie dough recipe with the addition of shredded white cheddar cheese. I only use Challenge unsalted butter when I make pie dough. It is 100% real cream butter but with no salt added. You can truly smell the difference between Challenge butter and other butters.

I know some dumpling recipes want you to cut the pie dough into squares and pinch the corners together, but I prefer to just lift the dough and bring it to the top of the peach, repeating the process untill all of the pie dough comes together where the peach stem would be. The dough will naturally fold and pleat at the top. It's going to look like a dough softball.

I bake the dumplings on a rimmed baking sheet as opposed to a dish so that the hot air hits all sides of the dumplings, creating a crisp, golden crust. 

A simple honey drizzle is a great sweet topping for the dumplings, but I wanted something with a little more pizzazz for this extra special treat. So I stuck a few sprigs of thyme in a mason jar with lemon juice and half a cup of honey, heated it up, and voila, lemon and thyme infused honey! I highly recommend making a double batch and keeping it around to drizzle in your tea, on muffins, or other desserts.

Peach dumplings stuffed with goat cheese and prosciutto

Yield: 4 dumplings

Ingredients

For the pie dough

• 150 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp (3 grams) salt
• 113 grams Challenge unsalted butter, cold, cut in 1/2” cubes
• 113 grams white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 60 grams cold water

For the filling

• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 Tablespoons (40 grams) honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 yellow peaches, cut in half, pit removed
• 4 slices prosciutto

For the egg wash

• 1 whole egg
• 1 Tablespoon water

For the lemon thyme honey

• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (170 grams) honey

Directions

For the pie dough

1. Stir flour and salt together. Add cubes of butter and mix until butter is coated in flour. 
2. Cut butter into flour with hands or pastry cutter until butter is size of walnut halves. Alternative method: Add flour/butter mixture to food processor and pulse until butter is size of walnut halves. 
3. Stir in cheese.
4. Add water to flour mixture and use hands to mix until dough holds together easily. It shouldn't be totally smooth.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, form into disk, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Dough can be made up to 2 days in advance.

For the goat cheese filling

1. Mix everything but the peaches and prosciutto together. 
2. Use melon baller to scoop out some of the center of each peach half to make room for goat cheese filling.
3. Add about 2 Tablespoons of goat cheese filling to cavity of one peach half. Place other peach half on top. Wrap slice of prosciutto around peach. Repeat with remaining peaches.
4. Set aside while rolling out dough.

For assembly

1. Roll out pie dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4" thick. 
2. Cut dough into 4 even pieces. Place peach on center of one piece of dough. Gently pick up part of the dough and stretch it upward to top of peach. Continue all the way around the peach. Dough will pleat naturally. Lightly press dough down in the center at the top of the peach to seal.
3. Repeat with remaining peaches and transfer dumplings to refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until dough is firm.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Make egg wash by mixing together egg and water.
6. Remove dumplings from refrigerator and place on baking sheet. Brush dough with egg wash. Place in oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until dough is crisp and golden.
7. Remove dumplings from oven and cool for 5 minutes while you make honey.

For the lemon thyme honey

1. Stuff thyme sprigs into microwave-safe container and pour lemon juice on top. Add honey to container and heat in microwave for 2 minutes.
2. Drizzle honey over dumplings and serve.