Cherry Cobbler
This easy cherry cobbler has a lightly cinnamony, thick, and juicy tart cherry filling topped with lightly sweetened, golden brown biscuits. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and you've got the perfect dessert for summer!
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ¼ c cold water
- 2 lbs tart or sweet cherries, pitted
- ⅓ c sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Biscuits
- ½ c white whole wheat flour
- ½ c unbleached all-purpose flour
- ⅓ c sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp vegan, low-fat, or unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- ¼ c boiling water
Instructions
- For fresh cherries, use a cherry pitter to remove the pits. If you are using sweet cherries, you may want to cut them in half since they are considerably larger than tart cherries. For frozen berries, do not thaw prior to making the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a medium sauce pan, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water. Add the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Mix well to incorporate all of the ingredients.
- Cook the cherry mixture over medium-low heat until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the cooked berries to (6) 7-oz ramekins (for mini cobblers, pictured above) or an 8 inch square baking dish or 1½ quart oval baking dish (for regular cobbler). Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix with a fork to combine. Cut in 4 tablespoons of chilled and cubed butter with a pastry cutter. Work the butter in until the dough resembles small pebbles or wet sand. Stir in the boiling water and mix to incorporate.
- Transfer the biscuit dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Divide the dough into six roughly equal pieces and flatten with your palm to form round biscuits about ½ inch thick. The dough will be slightly sticky, so you may need to refrigerate it a few minutes before forming. For the stars and stripes (pictured in blog) use a cookie cutter or sharp knife to cut out stars and to cut thin strips of dough.
- Evenly place the biscuits on top of the berry mixture. The biscuits should cover the majority of the berries in both the ramekins and the full size baking dish.
- For mini cobblers, bake 18 to 22 minutes, or until the berries are bubbling and the biscuits are lightly golden brown. For regular cobbler, bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the berries are bubbling and the biscuits are lightly golden brown. Note that depending on your oven, this cobbler could take longer to bake. Use the browning and bubbling as an indicator that the cobbler is done. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes to let the filling thicken. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
Notes
- What is the difference between cherry pie and cherry cobbler - pies are made with pastry dough lining the bottom and sides of the pan and sometimes over the top of the filling as well. Conversely, cobblers feature berry filling that is topped with sweet biscuit dough and don't typically have a bottom or side crust.
- What is cherry cobbler made of - cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, water, flour, butter, and salt. The result is a juicy fruit filling and a lightly sweet biscuit topping.
- How do you make cobbler not runny - add cornstarch to the berry mixture to make it thicker and less runny. You can also use fresh berries instead of frozen, as they will have lower water content and result in a more robust filling.
- Can I freeze cobbler - yes! But it's best to make the berry filling only and not the biscuits, as the biscuits will not raise well once frozen. Allow the filling to cool, then freeze it up to 3 months. When you want to make the cobbler, thaw the filling in the fridge overnight, then make the biscuit dough fresh and proceed as written in the recipe.
- Can I use frozen berries in cobbler - yes! We use frozen cherries in the winter when fresh cherries aren't as readily available or juicy. Just note that the cobbler may be a little runnier than when using fresh berries.