Easy and flexible to make, peach cobbler is a simple, rustic dessert with a rich history. Recipe below.
THE OTHER NIGHT WE WERE IN TRADER JOE’S PICKING UP OUR USUAL BASICS—nuts, wine, pasta, tiny avocados—when we noticed a display of boxes of peaches. And not just peaches. Big, ripe peaches that, when I opened the box lid, sent up a beautiful fragrant invitation. Yes, I said, even though I wasn’t sure what the universe was inviting me to.
The universe was inviting me to peach cobbler which, ridiculously, I had never made before.
Peach cobbler is one of those classics that is woven into the American story. Peaches originated in China and gradually were spread around the world by traders and settlers. They were brought to the Americas by the Spanish and, it turned out, came to thrive in the heat and mild winters of the American South.
Cobblers, meanwhile, appear to have originated in the British American colonies, where English settlers, rather than being handicapped by unfamiliar ingredients and different cooking equipment, did what cooks always do, improvising something new. With the open hearths that were ubiquitous well into the 19th century, a pie would have been a disaster, but a cobbler, prepared in a deep iron pot, topped with biscuit dough, and cooked over hot coals, did just fine.
Who made it first? Hard to tell, but cobblers in the form we know them today were already around in the very early 1800s. We know that cobblers were a staple in the arsenal of enslaved cooks in the antebellum South. The earliest known cobbler recipe was published in 1839 in Lettice Bryant’s The Kentucky Housewife—a book written, as one commentator notes, “with the plantation mistress in mind.” It is surmised that Mrs. Bryant very likely got her recipe for “peach pot pie or cobler” from enslaved cooks, either her own or those of her relatives.
We also know that settlers and pioneers brought their skills at making cobblers (and cobbler-adjacent dishes, like buckles and crisps) with them as they roved West, using dried fruits or foraged wild berries and baking them over campfires, where they often served as a complete meal. Cobblers, in fact, were so much of an American staple, across the board, that it was only in the very late 1800s that they came to be seen as fancy extras—as desserts.
And why are they called cobblers? That is all maybes: maybe they are called that because they are cobbled together from available ingredients; maybe because the dropped biscuits look like cobblestones in the street.
Finally, there is a lot of opinion about the proper dough for a cobbler, and where it should be located: pie crust dough? biscuit dough? cake batter? Dough only on top? Dough above and below? A cakey batter that gently clasps and engulfs the fruit?
I am not going there. Please enjoy my recipe, which is made the way I want to make it: beautiful peaches topped with a buttermilk biscuit dough. But all these possible variations: don’t they all sound good?
Peach Cobbler
Equipment
- 9x13 baking pan
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 – 4 pounds fresh ripe peaches (see Kitchen Notes)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 11 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1-3/4 cups unbleached white flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons cold butter, chopped into small bits, plus some for the pan
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Prepare the peaches. In a big bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, 5 tablespoons of sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and lemon juice. Slice the peaches into the bowl—I aimed for slices that were about 1/2 inch at their widest point. Discard the pits (by which I mean, add them to your compost pile.) Stir all of this gently just so everything is coated, and set the bowl aside.
- Butter the baking pan.
- Make the dough. In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 5 tablespoons of sugar and salt. Stir with a fork. Then add the chopped butter. Work the butter into the flour with your fingers or a pastry fork or pastry cutter, crumbling everything together until the dough is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Then add in the buttermilk and vanilla all at once and mix together quickly. Just stir until everything is incorporated together—don’t worry if there are a few small lumps.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Put the peaches in the baking pan and spread them around to make an even layer. Press down with your palm to even things out if need be.
- Drop the dough on top of the peaches in six evenly spaced blobs. Don’t spread it around or stir it in or anything—just drop six big biscuity blobs right on top. They will spread somewhat as they bake.
- Sprinkle the last tablespoon of sugar evenly on everything and put the pan in the oven. Set a timer for 45 minutes. This is ready when the peach juice is bubbling at the edges and the biscuit tops are golden—ours was ready at precisely 45 minutes.
- Let it sit for half an hour or so to set up and cool enough that you don’t hurt yourself eating it. Serve by scooping sections into shallow bowls—we found that one of the biscuit sections was a nice post-dinner dessert for two (and one entire section would be a satisfying breakfast that will bring a smile to your face). Store leftovers in the fridge, covered well. If you want, reheat in a 325ºF oven for 10 minutes, or just let it sit out to warm to room temperature, or have it cold—a nice thing on a blistering day.
Cobblers are one of my favorite baked dishes for stone fruits, and peaches make the best cobbler of all. IMO, of course. 🙂 Biscuit dough for me all the way, but I’ll happily eat whatever topping the cook is serving. Wonderful looking dish — thanks.
I really love fruit cobblers. Occasionally, I have found some excellent fruit at Trader Joe’s and it’s always a treat. This week I found ripe fresh figs. Your peach cobbler looks really good!