By the time most of you are reading this, it will be July 4th, so here’s wishing everyone a very safe and happy 4th of July holiday!
There is not much news, nor have I found any “new” to me fruits or vegetables to write about, so, since it is summertime and there is a lot of fresh fruit available, I decided to just give you several recipes for fruit cobblers.
Where cobblers got their name is unknown to me, but I firmly believe it was some rushed housewife who decided to ‘cobble’ some flour, sugar and milk together and add some fruit from her pantry, who made the first one. Cobblers can be found in cookbooks dating from the early parts of the 20th century and possible even before. They are simple to make and always delicious as you can use any fruit you have on hand to make them. I have made them with apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, canned peaches or almost anything, up to an including canned fruit cocktail. A member of my family promised “peach” cobbler for lunch with a group of friends and the only fruit in her pantry were a couple of cans of fruit cocktail. She used this for the cobbler and everyone loved it, and loved her ingenuity for using it!
Here’s a recipe for One-Bowl Peach and Blueberry Cobbler that could be the easiest cobbler you’ll ever make. Simply throw all the ingredients in an oven-safe dish and top with any fruit you have on hand. The result is warm fruit comfortably nestled in soft pillows of dough. Serve with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
One-Bowl Peach and Blueberry Cobbler
Prep time: 5 minutes; hands-off cooking time; 30 minutes. 4 servings.
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk pancake mix
½ cup sugar
½ cup milk
3 cups sliced peaches (fresh, frozen or canned, such as jarred peaches in light syrup)
½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
Preheat oven to 375ºF. 2. Select an 8×8-inch square ovenproof dish or a glass 9-inch pie plate for the cobbler. (If you’re feeding a crowd, double the recipe and use a 9×13-inch baking dish.) Melt butter right in the baking dish and use the dish as a mixing bowl. 3. Add pancake mix, sugar, and milk to melted butter. Stir with a fork until just combined. Batter will be lumpy-do not over mix. 4. Scatter peaches and blueberries evenly over batter. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon evenly on top. 5. Bake for 30 minutes or until light golden brown.
The following cobbler recipes are some of my family’s favorites, with the first peach cobbler being from my Mother.
Peach Cobbler
1 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
¼ cup margarine
2 to 3 cups sliced peaches
½ to 1 cup additional sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Melt the margarine in a 9×9-inch baking pan. Peel and slice peaches into a pot, adding ½ to 1 cup granulated sugar depending on the sweetness of your peaches. Heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in the extract and set aside while you mix the dough.
Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the milk to make a soft dough, and pour the dough mixture into the prepared pan. Top the dough with the peach mixture, (if it has made a lot of liquid, don’t use all of it); sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar if desired, bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until done.
Cherry or Apple Cobbler
1 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
¼ to ½ cup margarine
1 can apple pie filling or cherry pie filling
1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Melt margarine in 9×9-inch pan. Set aside. Combine flour, sugar and baking powder, add milk and vanilla and mix to make soft dough and pour into pan with melted margarine. Stir cinnamon into apple pie filling or stir almond flavoring into cherry pie filling. Spoon fruit onto the top of the dough, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if desired. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold with whipped topping or ice cream.
Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler
1 box yellow cake mix
2 cans (12 to 14-oz) cans peaches or 1 large can that equals this amount
1½ sticks butter
Melt butter in 9x-12-inch pan. Pour peaches with juice into pan. Sprinkle cake mix on top; press down into pan a little. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350ºF for about 45 minutes. Hope you enjoy these recipes, they are pretty simple and easy to make, happy baking!
The following recipe is one that I found on fb several months ago, and since I can’t remember if I’ve shared it or not, here it is. It is really delicious…
Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 quarts whole strawberries, capped and washed*
4 ounces cream cheese, cut in small pieces (I cut mine into about quarters and then, each piece into 6 or more pieces and placed them on the dough. You can’t “sprinkle” tiny pieces of cream cheese!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9-by-13-inch glass, baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour directly over the butter in the baking dish, but do not stir.
*The recipe calls for whole berries, but the ones that were available to me were all way to big to use whole, so I cut most of them into quarters and even a couple into six pieces. It worked fine.
Add the strawberries, arranging in a single layer as much as possible. Sprinkle cream cheese pieces over strawberries. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and edges are bubbling. (Crust rises up and around the fruit, but fruit will still peek out of top. Also, the cream cheese does not melt, it stays where you put it and just browns slightly.)