Fresh Cherry Cobbler
Fresh cherry cobbler is such an amazing dessert during summer - sweet, juicy and just perfect with a scoop of ice cream. A quick homemade cherry filling is topped with easy drop biscuits, then baked to golden perfection!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 pounds fresh cherries pitted and halved (5-6 cups)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons water or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond
Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned and levelled
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter cold from fridge
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cook cherries: Place 2 pounds fresh cherries in large pan with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons white sugar. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, or until fruit has softened. Remove from heat.
- Thicken filling: Whisk together 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 3 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a small bowl. Stir through cherries, working quickly and thoroughly to avoid lumps! Add another tablespoon water if filling seems too dry. Check for sweetness, adjust sugar to your taste. Set filling aside.
- Prep: Heat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet.
- Make topping: In a mixing bowl whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cut in ¼ cup butter until mixture looks crumbly. Combine ½ cup buttermilk and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, then pour over flour mixture. Stir using a spoon or spatula just until no more dry flour is visible - do not overmix. Batter will be thick.
- Assemble: Spread filling in 9-inch deep pie plate, 9x9 inch baking dish or other 2-2.5 quart casserole dish. Drop batter over filling by the tablespoon. Sprinkle with some extra sugar, if you like.
- Bake: Place lined baking sheet under dish to catch any spills and bake for 30-40 minutes, until filling is bubbly and biscuit topping is fully baked. Loosely cover cobbler with foil if top gets too dark after 20-25 minutes in oven. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Cherries: I use sweet cherries for the filling, not sour. Can use 21-oz can cherry pie filling instead; or 2lbs frozen cherries. Frozen cherries may need a little extra cornstarch to thicken.
- Buttermilk: No buttermilk? No problem! Stir ½ tablespoon of white vinegar into ½ cup of regular milk. Let sit for 5 minutes and then use as directed.
- Butter: Must be cold from fridge! If using margarine, make sure to use stick margarine and NOT spreadable margarine.
- Cornstarch: Do not substitute flour for cornstarch, it doesn’t work the same.
Recipe tips
- Flour measuring: Do not scoop flour with a measuring cup, use the spoon and level method: Loosely spoon flour into measuring cup, then level off with back side of a blunt knife. Wrongly measured flour yields a dry topping.
- Cornstarch: Filling is hot, so starch will seize up quickly when added. Start stirring immediately as you’re pouring cornstarch slurry into filling, or filling will be lumpy.
- Batter: Fully incorporate all dry flour with the buttermilk, but don’t over-stir the batter for the biscuits. Use a spoon or rubber spatula, and stop stirring once all of the dry flour is gone.
- Check biscuits for doneness: Make sure to not only check along the edge, but check the biscuits in the middle as well to make sure all of the biscuit batter has fully baked before removing the cobbler from the oven.
- Watch the top: Loosely cover cobbler with foil if the top gets too dark after 20-25 minutes in the oven.