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Blackberry Cobbler

whole cobbler

Sometimes I think of cobbler as pie for lazy people, as it delivers all the delicious flavor of a well-made fruit pie without requiring you to go to any of the trouble of making a full pie crust. Or at least, I tend to make them when I want something homey without the effort of doing a full pie from scratch. They’re definitely a favorite summer dessert because they make good use of fresh fruit – and you can use almost any kind of fruit in them.

There are many ways to make the topping for a cobbler, as it can be topped with a pastry (i.e. pie crust) layer, a cake layer or a biscuit layer. Cobblers never have a crumbly, sugary topping, as that type of topping is a characteristic of a “crisp” or “crumble,” rather than of a cobbler. I tend to make scone/biscuit-like toppings, blending the butter into the flour mixture for a somewhat flaky texture. I used this technique on my Blueberry and Nectarine Cobbler. This cobbler’s topping uses a standard creaming technique, resulting in a slightly more cake-like topping which soaked up the blackberry juices wonderfully.

I used my Baker’s Edge panto bake this, as you can see from the accompanying photos. The pan is great for bar cookies and other baked goods that need to be sliced up before serving because the design of the pan puts everything into a bar form to begin with. But it is also good for creating easy-to-serve pieces of other desserts, like this cobbler. It was very easy to use a spatula to scoop out each individual serving without having to fuss with getting the portion sizes right, which can be tricky to do with cobbler made in a traditional baking dish. That said, you can still easily make this in a 9×9″ or 9×13″ pan as long as you keep an eye on the cobbler as it cooks; it may take a few more or a few less minutes to finish cooking.

You can use fresh or frozen berries for this cobbler. Frozen have the advantage of being consistent and available year round, but fresh berries are hard to resist when they’re in season. Fresh will bake up slightly faster, so check the cobbler for doneness a few minutes early just to be on the safe side.

cobbler, served

Blackberry Cobbler
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
8 cups blackberries (approx 2, 1-lb frozen bags), fresh or frozen
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375F. Set aside a Baker’s Edge pan or lightly grease a 9×9″ baking dish.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in buttermilk and flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain and batter is smooth.
In a large bowl, mix together berries, sugar and cornstarch. Do not defrost berries if frozen. Spread evenly into Baker’s Edge pan (or a 9×9″ baking dish), sprinkling any excess sugar over the berries. Top with cobbler mixture, dropping it in large spoonfuls over the berries.
Bake in Baker’s Edge pan (or a 9×9″) for about 40-45 minutes, or until berries are bubbly and cobbler is a light golden brown. Cobbler may require a few extra minutes if using frozen berries.
Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.

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12 Comments
  • Courtney
    June 6, 2007

    Oh I LOVE blackberry cobbler. Especially with vanilla ice cream.

    I was wondering if you had seen this?
    http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny//icff-2007-inseq-design-anne-black-023380

    It made me think of you, and some of the wacky food related gadgets you post about (e.g. the gold plated grill).

  • Mari
    June 7, 2007

    I LOVE cobbler! I totally prefer the cakey goodness of the cobbler topping over that of crisps or crumbles! Scrummy! My green grocer’s has beautiful berries at the moment, I think I’ll have to visit her today!

  • Ashley
    June 7, 2007

    I, too, love blackberry cobbler. That looks absolutely wonderful.

  • Lida
    June 7, 2007

    Tried it this evening and my husband raved (I know he’s about to when he begins his compliment, “Where did you get this recipe?” Like it couldn’t possibly be ME.) We all enjoyed it; many thanks for the recipe!

  • Michelle :)
    April 1, 2008

    Finally-I have found the PERFECT cobbler recipe!! I made this last night with frozen blackberries I picked last July/Aug (I live in the foothills of California and there is an abundance of wild blackberries all over, which I am very thankful for!)it was absolutely wonderful and was well received by my family! So thank you for posting such a great recipe, this one is a definite keeper!!!

  • Ooh, that pan does not look fun to clean. But the cobbler looks good enough to eat!

  • Andi
    June 18, 2008

    I made an adapted version of this for Father’s Day – my father is a big cobbler fan. I used 2 pounds of yellow peaches and 1 bag of frozen blackberries (from Trader Joe’s) rather than all blackberries and added some cinnamon to the fruit, plus a little dotted butter on top for extra gooey goodness. Everyone loved it, it was a huge hit, thanks for a great recipe!

  • Sam
    June 26, 2008

    How do you boil the seeds out of the blackberries? Then what?

  • Nicole
    June 28, 2008

    Sam – I’m afraid I don’t understand your question. The blackberries are put in whole – not boiled or precooked in any way – for this recipe. I’ve never had a blackberry that I felt was too seedy (in fact, I rarely notice them at all). Try using frozen, if your fresh berries are overly seedy for your tastes.

  • jim
    May 5, 2009

    do you have a similar recipe for what Alton Brown calls a slump, that is what i grew up calling a cobbler. these bread on top things i had never heard of until i went north.

    thanks

  • Three Dog Kitchen
    August 24, 2007

    […] by now you’ve heard of the Baker’s Edge pan?  It’s been all over the internet, in more places than I can count.  After much internal debate, I finally jumped in and ordered […]

  • […] pan for Christmas.  I had been reading about the fantastic results that this pan produces from Nicole at Baking Bites for awhile, so I was fairly giddy about trying it out.  It is essentially a 9 x 13 […]

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