Easy Peach Cobbler

Contents… Comforting Homemade Peach Cobbler How To Peel Peaches Recipe Ingredients How To Make Peach Cobbler Alternative Ingredients Tips and Tricks FAQs Serving and Storage instructions More Southern Desserts To Make

Comforting Homemade Peach Cobbler

I love cobbler because it’s a great way to enjoy fresh fruit in season. I mean, how can you pass up on a deliciously fruity filling covered in biscuit toppings? It’s so appetizing be it in hot or cold weather. And not to mention how easy it is to prepare. Newbie bakers are so welcome to make this!😉

Pantry staple ingredients, like granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg, are all you need with peaches. You just have to cook them on medium heat for about 6-8 minutes or until the sugars dissolve, resulting in a syrupy tender peach filling! Then the slightly crusty exterior complements the spiced and sweet layer of peach fillings. Double Yum!

How To Peel Peaches

Don’t stress yourself too much when it comes to peeling peaches. Indeed it’s quite tricky, but I’ve found an easy and much more effective way to peel peaches.

• Simply place peaches in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds.
• Next, transfer them to a bowl of ice water.
• Then pat them dry and slip the skins off. Yes, as easy as that!

Recipe Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour – an all-around flour that you can easily have ready. It’s also my default flour as it’s never hard to find in grocery stores and is very versatile, too.
• Leavining Agents – These expands and give you a light dough by producing carbon dioxide. They work even better with buttermilk.
• Unsalted Butter  – This ingredient gives the cobbler a rich buttery flavor that just can’t be beat.
• Buttermilk – gives a classic tangy flavor to pastries and desserts, plus its acidic profile activates the baking soda that acts as a leavening agent for the dough. 
• Heavy Cream – or make an egg wash for brushing the top of the crust of the cobbler. A good reason to not skip this ingredient is that it gives the cobbler an extra rich flavor with a golden-brown crust!
• Chopped Pecans – This buttery-tasting nut goes great with the peaches and tops this recipe. It tastes so wonderful that it almost didn’t make it on top of the cobbler!😋
• Vanilla Ice Cream – The vanilla flavor, aside from giving a delicious taste, also brings out the flavors of any food that it’s eaten with.
• Peaches  – peeled, cored, and sliced. Ripe peaches are sweet and have vivid orange flesh that gives a well-rounded flavor to a cobbler recipe like this.
• Sugar – either white or brown sugar is best for making the peach filling. You can even poach the peaches in simple syrup if you like to increase the sweetness in the cobbler.
• Cinnamon and Nutmeg – Nice warming property and sweet taste go well with desserts. The flavor it gives is even better when it’s freshly grated and added straight to the food.

How To Make Peach Cobbler

• Prepare the baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with baking spray and set aside.
• Make the pastry dough. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until fully combined. Add the butter either by using your hands, a pastry cutter, or two forks, then cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. (Photos 1-2)
• Add the buttermilk to the dough. Slowly add in the buttermilk and mix until evenly combined. However, be careful not overwork the dough. (Photos 3-4)
• Make the peach filling. Next, add the sliced peaches, sugars, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes, mixing frequently until the sugar has dissolved and juice oozes out from the peaches. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. (Photos 5-8)
• Assemble the Peach Cobbler. When cool, transfer the peach into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out into an even layer. Drop the dough by a handful over the peaches allowing some gaps as the dough will puff up and spread as it bakes. Brush the top with some heavy cream or egg wash and sprinkle with some chopped pecans. (Photos 9-11)
• Bake until golden brown. Bake for about 40 -45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and cooked through and the filling is bubbly. 
• Serving. Remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream. (Photo 12)

Alternative Ingredients

• Pastry Flour – it’s not the same as cake flour, but it also has less protein content than all-purpose flour. That means it can yield a soft yet well-structured pastry dough. Use the same amount as the all-purpose flour needed in the recipe.
• Brown Sugar – it’s richer in flavor compared to white sugar, and it works definitely well with making the pastry dough. Use the same amount as needed for white sugar when substituting it.
• Frozen Peaches – you just have to thaw and drain them well before using them for the peach filling.
• Lemon Juice – to add a refreshing citrus flavor and to balance the sweetness of peach cobbler.
• Plain Yogurt – instead of buttermilk, you can use yogurt as it will give the same tangy taste while it activates the baking soda.
• Evaporated Milk – use it in place of heavy cream and mix with the egg for a richer brown cobbler’s crust. You can check out my guide here on How to Make Evaporated Milk.
• Pistachios – its fresh minty and piney taste pairs well with the peach cobbler. Add it or replace the pecans. Either way, it will still be a great addition to this lovely dessert!

Tips and Tricks

1. Blanch the peaches. Simply place the peaches in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds and remove them to a bowl of ice water. Pat them dry and slip the skins off. Yes, as easy as that!
2. Drain the peaches. Make sure to properly drain the canned peaches (if you’re using them) because the liquid from them might affect the consistency of your filling. The excess water makes a runny peach filling and will give a soggy cobbler. 
3. Do not overmix the pastry dough. Overmixing the dough will melt the butter resulting in a dense and gummy crust.
4. Use cold butter and buttermilk. This is to make sure that when mixing the ingredients together, the cold ingredients will keep separated from the flour. Thus, creating pockets of air when the fat is melting. This, in turn, will result in a flaky and airy crust.
5. Refrigerate the pastry dough. After making the pastry dough, refrigerating it will help relax the gluten in the flour, which will give a soft and crisp crust.
6. Toothpick test. To determine if your biscuit topping is ready, stick a toothpick into the biscuit. If it comes out clean, it is cooked through, and the cobbler is ready.

FAQs

Serving and Storage instructions

Freezing

• Baked peach cobbler: just cover it with aluminum foil and pop in the freezer. This can last for up to 3 months. 
• Prepared Peach Filling: If you don’t want a mushy topping, you can freeze the prepared peach filling for up to 4 months and assemble it on the day of serving.

Refrigerating

If you’re lucky enough to have any leftover peach cobbler, you can simply store them in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just transfer it to an airtight container before storage. Don’t leave it in the fridge for too long as it could go bad quickly!

Reheating

When ready to serve, thaw the baked peach cobbler overnight, then reheat in the microwave until warmed and serve. 

More Southern Desserts To Make

• Homemade Banana Pudding
• Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
• Apple Cobbler
• Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake
• Caramel Cake