peach cobbler
Do you like peaches? I do. At least, I do when they are de-furred. String beans, kiwis, peaches: what’s up with the fuzzy exteriors?
When 2.0 and I stood before some peaches at the market, he told me he really didn’t like them. (Has the fur has been throwing him off too?) So I told him I’d make a cobbler – that I’d change his mind. He said, “I don’t think so.” And I thought to myself: you couldn’t be more wrong.
It’s a dance we do: 2.0 says he doesn’t like something, I tell him he does, he eats the something I have made for him, admits that I was right, and asks for seconds. I know this man. I know his tastes. Why can’t he just trust me? It reminds me of a man I once dated who was convinced that I was trying to kill him with spicy pasta. No lie. I told him that when he said he liked spicy food, I took him at his word, and that if I had actually wanted to kill him, I would have stabbed him in the eye with say, his fork. Four red pepper flakes is an extremely inefficient route to take…
I knew that as soon as 2.0 saw the peaches and brown sugar being mixed together that I had won the battle. “Maybe you’ll try some,” I said. “Yes, maybe I will,” he replied.
And, as always, I was right. The brown sugar and peaches in this cobbler get fragrant, sweet and caramelly, and the soft doughy topping gives it all some balance. I ain’t no farmer, but I’m pretty sure peaches are in season right now.
. . .
Peach Cobbler
recipe: The Food Network (Kristina Williamson), with additional notes by yours truly
For the filling:
- 4 cups peeled* and sliced fresh peaches – about 8 or 9 peaches, depending on size
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon flour
* Wash your peaches, then score the underside with an “x” using a sharp knife – don’t cut too deeply. Blanch the peaches in boiling water for about 60 seconds and then dip in an ice bath. You should then be able to remove the skins, peeling back from the points of the “x”. If blanching a large number of peaches, I recommend doing so in batches. I find that some of my peaches require a little more than 60 seconds in the boiling water to loosen the skins – you can gauge depending on ripeness. Start with 1 or 2 peaches, and then do the batch.
For the crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, for topping
- whipped cream or ice cream for serving (optional)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar) for cobbler crust in a bowl, and set aside. Generously grease a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish.
Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently with your hands (okay, you could use a spoon), and spread evenly in the baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
While the peaches are cooking, cut the butter into the awaiting dry crust ingredients with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough. Remove the peach mixture from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Then sprinkle the top of your cobbler with the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar, and return to oven.
Bake until the fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
I’m going to try this. I am okay with the peach part but I always seem to have trouble with the “cobbler” portion!
Oh, but it’s so, so good…
Drool! Yea… I can see why he couln’t resist.
You know, it could just be that 2.0 is in fact a mastermind and says he doesn’t like things so you will mobilize to create something tasty for him to eat to “prove” him wrong… just saying!
Wait… that does sound like something he’d do…
DeeLissh! Yummee! Considering I live in Georgia, I’m ever so thankful my Gran baked peach cobbler seems like weekly while in season prior to her passing in 2005. Haven’t really ever tried to make one myself from scratch but this has got my curiosity up and yes, very motivated! The ingredient list along with the pics literally have me tasting the deep rich sweetness of the brown sugar mixed into the peaches along with the softly baked dough…Heavenly! I’ve got a new challenge now. Not much of a ‘baker’ myself, crossing my fingers and hope it’s turns out just half as good as it looks and sounds! Thanks so much for sharing! 😉 ~Brenda
(AGeorgiaPeach)
Brenda, I hope you managed to make yourself a treat! There’s just something about peaches and brown sugar… yummy in the tummy!
Anyoen else have trouble with the crust dough being runny looking? It’s in the oven now so I don’t know how it’ll come out but it kind of worried me.
Is the dough that you put on top of the baked peaches pourable? Or would it be best to get a medium cookie scoop and put scoops of the dough all over? And can i just peel the peaches myself? Instead of blanching them in water?
Hi, Leslie. No, I wouldn’t say the dough is pourable. Also, you want pillows of topping over your cobbler – yummy pillows. I just used a spoon to drop the topping on (with the assistance of a finger or two) – as indicated in the recipe. You could peel the peaches any way you like – blanching makes the skins come off easily, and also means you don’t waste any of the tasty peach. The skin is thin, so cutting or peeling it off tends to remove more peach than most people like. That said – go with whatever method YOU’RE comfortable with!
Hope this helps…
Thanks for stopping by!
This sounds fantastic! I’d like to make it for a potluck. Would you double or triple the recipe for a 13×9 inch pan?
I never like to recommend something I haven’t tried myself, so I’m not sure. I’ve only tested the recipe as written in the post! I sometimes double recipes, but don’t generally triple – I find the results just aren’t the same…
Good luck!
I did end up doubling it, and it was perfect for a 9×13 pan. I did add a tsp. of salt to the filling and I did not double the brown sugar – it was plenty sweet with 3/4 cup. I also dotted the filling with 2 tbsp. of unsalted butter. I used salted butter in the topping just to add some savory. Oh, I also did not double the cinnamon because I was worried it would overpower the fruit. Got a ton of compliments on it. Served it with whipped cream. One person said it was “transcendant.” Thanks so much for the recipe!
Oh, I’m so happy!! Your adjustments sound absolutely perfect, and you’re terribly kind for stopping by to let me know how it worked out! I can’t wait for peaches to come into season in these here parts…
This sounded soooo delicious but I only had half enough peaches. Not being in the mood to go out in the rain to get more, I spied some fresh blueberries in the fridge! So I eyeballed what I thought would be an equal amount of blueberries to peaches, increased the brown sugar in the filling by 2 tablespoons, and OMG it was great!
I still want to make it using all peaches, but this turned out wonderfully for “making do”!
I love it when this happens! Blueberries and peaches are a heavenly combination, and now I want to make this cobbler YOUR WAY! This is the beauty of food – endless combinations and friendships made around the table…
Thanks for stopping by to let me know how you made out!
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m not a huge fan of cobblers and pies with a heavy crust because it takes away from the sweet peachy goodness, but the crumble on top of this recipe is to die for! I topped mine with blackberries to cut the sweetness and ended up adding ice cream too because you simply can not have warm cobbler without ice cream. My dough topping looked very similar to pancake mix, and ended up cooking fine (I had some worries about the consistency like some of the other commenters). I will make this recipe every time I have peaches to spare!
Made this recipe tonight and loved it!!! I added a bunch more brown sugar because I like it extra sweet :] Delicous recipe!
I am definitly going to try this tonight. I’ve been looking for a good “cobbler” recipe! I already had my peaches spiced and sweetened (I used sugar and apple-pie spice), but I plan to make your topping to add to mine! I’ll keep ya posted! 😉
I made it and Ohhh it was perfect!! so yummy thank you
Just made this fine recipe. Didn’t have the buttermilk, so used sour cream and upped brown sugar. Tasted batter and wanted to eat it as is. Thank you for the recipe. Loved making this, exept the peeling of the peaches. Will try next with blueberries, or apples.
Sorry I’m the previous anonymous comment. Just ate some cobbler. Folks you will not be disappointed at the ease and taste of this dessert.
Tried this and it definitely needs some more sugar – next time I’m going to add white sugar to at least the filling. I don’t know if it was just my peaches (which tasted great raw), but the filling turned pretty nasty.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! It is delicious!
So glad you liked it! Thanks very much for stopping by to say so…
Can I use skim milk? I don’t have buttermilk on hand.
This recipe has only been tested as written above. You can make your own buttermilk by adding an acid to your milk – vinegar or lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of the vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and then allow it to sit for about 10 minutes to curdle. You won’t need the full amount for the recipe, so you could adjust accordingly. Hope this helps.
Comments on this post are now closed as it was published in August 2011. Happy baking!
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