North Meets South Peach Cobbler

Tex here, and around my house, cobbler has always been a source of contention. You see, hubby grew up in Texas, I grew up in Michigan. For me, peach cobbler is a hot, bubbling fruit mixture topped with cake-like biscuits. For my man, and most Texans, it's like a pie without the bottom crust. That's my interpretation anyway.

So several years ago, I set out on a quest to come up with a cobbler recipe we could both agree on. After countless tries, and loads of peaches, I was victorious. And would believe this recipe even took third place in the Grapevine Peach Cobbler and Delight Contest? 'Cept while they all used pie crusts, I had something better.

Here's what's you're going to need:

5 cups peaches, peeled and sliced (or 2-3 lbs. frozen sliced peaches)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup chilled, unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1-3 tablespoons cold water

Mix together peaches, lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Since peaches aren't in season yet, and it looks like we're not going to have much of a crop this year thanks to some late freezes, I opted for frozen peaches.

 

Go ahead, stir 'em all up, then set aside.

 

 Now mix together your chilled butter, 1 cup flour, salt, and 1 T sugar. I prefer the food process for mixing, but you use a bowl and pastry cutter, if you prefer.

 Pulse until it resembles coarse meal.

 

Now, with the processor running, add cold water, one tablespoon at a time. Not too much, not too little. You want it to form a ball, like this.

 

Roll just enough to fit your pan. The edges don't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to be thin. Obviously, I have a little more rolling to do.



In the meantime, pour your peach mixture into a buttered baking dish.

Top with your crust. You can add little cuts to vent or make it look pretty, but it's not necessary.



 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes for fresh peaches, 45-50 minutes for frozen. You want the fruit bubbly and the crust golden.

Ideally, I would have topped my warm cobbler with a nice scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, but we were out, so I had to settle for whipped cream. That's what I get for not planning ahead.



 

Didn't matter though. It still tasted DE-LISH.

 

One thing I like about cobbler is that the fruit is the star. Plus it's rustic. Doesn't have to look perfect.

 

But the best thing I like about THIS cobbler, is that hubby and I agree.

 

With fresh fruit season right around the corner, what are you looking forward to most?