In my humble opinion, it simply wouldn’t be summer without cobbler and pie. I’ve ALWAYS been more of a cobbler, pie, tart person than anything else when it comes to desserts. And since so many of my favorite fruits are in season during summer, I stay close to the tried-and-true recipes centered around them this time of year. And friends, this may be one of the easiest renditions of one of those recipes yet. With fresh Georgia peaches, plump and sweet blackberries, crunchy pecans and homemade biscuits dropped on top…my Peach & Blackberry Cobbler tastes like summer on a plate AND it’s pretty simple to make (there’s no crust or crumble, but the homemade biscuits still give you that heavenly-doughy-carby fix).
I like to make my Peach & Blackberry Cobbler around the middle to end of summer because that’s when the blackberries and peaches are at their prime. As you’ll see in the recipe below, it’s really all about macerating the fruit mixture and dropping homemade biscuits on top. The ripeness and sweetness of the fruit will determine just how much sugar you’ll need (in this case very little) to macerate them to your liking. I find that I prefer the natural flavor of the blackberries and peaches to really shine through rather than a sugary-too sweet taste. I always leave the skin on the peaches too; I’ve found that there’s no reason to take it off and it actually adds a more made-from-scratch feel to the dessert. Lastly, the cinnamon and nutmeg give the blackberry, peach, pecan mixture a certain warmth that makes each and every bite more wonderful. But then of course, to top it all off when you serve—you’ll obviously need a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Classic! Truly, MKR
P.S. If you’re looking for more summertime desserts, check out my Blueberry & Peach Rustic Tart, Peach Tart with Dusted Pistachio, Goat Cheese & Drizzled Honey, and of course my Rustic Peach Hand Pies.
- For filling...
- 3-4 pints blackberries
- 6-8 fresh peaches, sliced and with the skin on
- 1 cup pecans
- 1-1 1/2 cup sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- For the biscuits...
- 4 CUPS SELF-RISING FLOUR (ONLY EVER WHITE LILY), PLUS MORE FOR DUSTING
- 1 STICK (8 TABLESPOONS) BUTTER, CUT IN SMALL CUBES, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
- ½ CUP CREAM CHEESE, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
- 1½ CUPS BUTTERMILK
- 2 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER
- For the biscuits...
- PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 500 DEGREES WITH RACK IN THE MIDDLE POSITION.
- PLACE 4 CUPS OF WHITE LILY FLOUR IN A LARGE BOWL.
- SPRINKLE BUTTER CUBES AND CREAM CHEESE ON TOP OF THE FLOUR AND USE YOUR FINGERS TO "SNAP" THROUGH IT UNTIL THE MIXTURE RESEMBLES COTTAGE CHEESE (CHUNKY WITH SOME LOOSE FLOUR).
- MAKE A WELL IN THE CENTER, AND POUR THE BUTTERMILK IN THE WELL.
- USE YOUR HANDS OR A RUBBER SPATULA TO MIX THE BUTTERMILK INTO THE FLOUR. DO NOT OVER-MIX. YOU'LL HAVE A WET AND MESSY DOUGH.
- SPREAD A GENEROUS AMOUNT OF FLOUR ONTO A WORK SURFACE.
- DUMP THE LARGE BOWL OF DOUGH ONTO THE FLOURED WORK SURFACE. FLOUR A ROLLING PIN AND SPRINKLE FLOUR ON TOP OF THE DOUGH.
- ROLL THE DOUGH TO ½-INCH THICKNESS. DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH.
- FLOUR A 2-INCH ROUND BISCUIT CUTTER. PRESS THE CUTTER STRAIGHT DOWN INTO THE DOUGH AND STRAIGHT BACK UP (QUICKLY!). REPEAT, FINISH CUTTING THE DOUGH INTO BISCUITS (YOU MAY NEED TO RE-ROLL OUT THE DOUGH SCRAPS TO FINISH). THE DOUGH MUST STAY WET INSIDE, BUT YOU CAN USE AS MUCH FLOUR ON THE OUTSIDE AS NECESSARY.
- PLACE BISCUITS INTO A CAST-IRON SKILLET OR ONTO A BAKING PAN WITH SIDES, LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER. THE SIDES OF THE BISCUITS SHOULD BE TOUCHING.
- BRUSH THE TOPS OF THE BISCUITS WITH MELTED BUTTER. PLACE IN OVEN AND REDUCE OVEN TEMP TO 450 DEGREES. BAKE 16-18 MINUTES, ROTATING THE SKILLET OR PAN ONCE.
- For the filling...
- In a large mixing bowl, macerate the blackberries, peaches and pecans with the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating and mixture is macerating, make biscuit dough (see above).
- Pour mixture into a large baking dish, with the lemon juice on top. Drop your biscuit dough onto the mixture in the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes but keep an eye on it. You'll want to bake the cobbler for 20-30 minutes, depending on how you like the inside texture. You don't want your biscuits to cook more than your filling, so if that starts to happen, cover the entire dish with foil and continue to cook.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream.
- If you're going to make the homemade biscuit dough, you might as well make all of the biscuits and freeze the leftovers. But if you just want enough biscuits for this recipe, half the recipe. And if you don't feel like using fresh biscuits, you can absolutely use the store-bought biscuits and throw them on top of the cobbler.
