A cobbler is like a pie, but it uses biscuit dough which for the novice is much faster and easier than a pie dough.
This recipe will make a "single" cobbler using 1 pint of freshly cooked or preserved fruit.
By "single" I mean a 6" x 10" rectangle or 8" diameter baking dish.
This recipe makes enough dough for both the top and bottom of the cobbler, so if you like yours topless or bottomless
then act accordingly!
You are going to need:
- An oven preheated to 325 F (162 C)
- A baking pan
- A filling, which can be either:
- Freshly made, heat as in pasteurization recipe but only to 180 F (82 C) or until a thick soup
- From 1 or more pint jars of preserve stashed away from a harvest
- Dough-making tools
- The ingredients listed below
The center pan in the picture above is Pyrex, measuring 6 in. x 11 in. on top but only 5 in. by 9.5 in. at the base. I often double this recipe and make a "double" batch, using the pan at the right. For many guests or just overloads of fruit, I'll make a quadruple cobbler using the Teflon broiling pan on the right.
The Fruit: 1 pint cooked or preserved for a single, 2 pints for double, etc.
The Dough:
- 1.75 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 cup milk at room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) softened and partially melted unsalted butter or vegetable shortening (e.g., Crisco) or a combination of both -- cooled down to nearly room temperature.
When doubling, tripling, or quadrupling this recipe, I recommend a 50/50 mixture of unsalted butter and shortening instead of straight butter.
Mix the dry ingredients, then add the liquid ingredients and mix throughly until producing a soft dough. Roll out the top and bottom separately. For larger cobblers, roll out the bottom in two or three sections, and likewise for the top.
There is plenty of fat in the dough, so greasing the pan is not necessary unless you are using a metal pan with lots of rough aged spots.
Poke some holes in the top of the dough -- about 6 in a "single" recipe.
Bake for about 30 minutes in a preheated 325 F oven. Have a cooling rack available for when you take it out.
There are many variations on cobblers: "crumb" tops, etc. and I'm sure you'll find some of them posted here as time goes on.
