This is an easy dessert. With a golden brown topping and a layer of sweet fruit filling, it comes together quickly and is ready in under an hour! Serve it plain at room temperature or warm with a scoop of ice cream. It can be made year-round with fresh blueberries or frozen ones.
Easy comfort dessert
After falling in love with our popular peach cobbler recipe a few years ago, I started testing this iconic dessert idea with different flavors.
The results were wonderful and very different depending on the fresh fruit used.
We love them so much that we have a whole post devoted to fruit cobbler recipes and tips. I can say that we're cobblers fans; they've become part of our regular dessert list.
Juicy fruit with a biscuit topping is a match made in heaven, especially with juicy berries, making this easy blueberry cobbler one of our most requested desserts. It falls in the easy recipes category.
- Fresh or frozen fruit: it can use both types of blueberries, so take advantage of blueberry season when it hits, but also know that you can make it year-round with frozen berries.
- Easy to make: it comes together fast and can be made a day or two ahead. if you use blueberry pie filling it's even quicker.
- Dessert for a crowd: this is a great recipe for gatherings, picnics, barbecues, and other informal celebrations that involve several hungry mouths. Or even a large crowd.
FAQ
A cobbler has a biscuit or dough-like topping, while a crumble has a streusel topping that is crumbly, not cakey. Both are similar because they have a fruit layer and a floury topping.
Warm with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream is the best way, according to everyone around me. But it's also excellent at room temperature. It's a great family-style dessert, so you can put the baking dish on the table and pass it around for everyone to serve themselves.
Yes, you can. Let it cool down, cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and put it in the refrigerator. Before serving, warm it in a medium/low oven at about 325°F/160°C. This may take about 30 minutes, so take that into account.
Step-by-step VIDEO
Ingredient Notes
- Blueberries: use fresh blueberries when available, but frozen ones also work well.
- Lemon: both lemon juice and lemon zest are used to add more flavor.
- Sugar: use white granulated or light brown sugar.
- Whole milk or buttermilk: if fresh milk is unavailable, you can use whole milk powder and prepare it when needed. The same with buttermilk powder. Homemade buttermilk is another option, and it's effortless (see Notes in the recipe card for details).
- Baking powder: make sure it's not expired.
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
How to make a blueberry cobbler
Putting this recipe together is quick, easy, and you can be eating it an hour after you put it in the oven.
You need a large bowl or two, a spoon, a spatula, a grater, and a dish to bake it in. No special gadgets, equipment, or beating is required.
The topping
We need to make a loose biscuit dough.
- Incorporating the butter: it should be cold and in pieces, so keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use. You have to integrate it with the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal and the butter is the size of peas. You can do that with your hands (my choice since it's a small amount) or a pastry blender.
- Food processor: for this first part of mixing the dry ingredients with the butter you can use a food processor with a steel blade. I recommend it when making large amounts, when you want to make it ahead and refrigerate it, or freeze it.
- Adding the liquid: in this case, milk. It also needs to be cold, so keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use. Add half of it first, mix a little, and then add the rest.
Blueberry mixture
- Adding flavorings: we use lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for the fruit layer because it pairs so well with blueberries. But you can also add some vanilla extract or a pinch of cinnamon.
- Dry ingredients: the blueberries are also mixed with part of the sugar and some cornstarch, which will help make that wonderful syrup when it bakes.
Assembly & baking
- Spoon mounds of the biscuit topping on top of the fruit layer.
- Leave some space between them so the fruit can bubble up and the dough has space to fully bake.
- A preheated oven is an important step, make sure you turn it on before assembling the dessert.
- Bake as directed in the recipe, until the top is golden and the juicy blueberries are bubbling. Check that the biscuit is fully baked before removing it from the oven.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Making sure the biscuit is fully baked is essential. So, when the time is up, lift it carefully here and there with a fork and check that it's not still wet below the surface. If it is, you should see strings of uncooked dough, similar to melty cheese.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: remember that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer inside the oven (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Biscuit topping: this recipe is vintage, and the top crust is made by rubbing the cold butter pieces with flour and sugar. Alternatively, use melted butter for easier mixing, adding it barely warm with the milk as part of the wet ingredients. Make sure you leave space between the mounds. This will help the biscuit bake all the way through and the blueberry filling to bubble freely as it bakes.
- Flavorings: I'm very partial to blueberries and lemon (Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake, anyone?), but they are also wonderful with orange, tangerine, or ground cinnamon. So let your palate decide.
- After a day or two, I recommend refrigerating it. Cobblers have fruit that can start to ferment and ruin the dessert. The room's temperature has a lot to do with how long they last (cold places are better), but it's always better to err on the safe side and keep it in the fridge, well covered. Or freeze it.
- Serving: cobblers are served directly in the dish they were baked in, so make sure you use one you like to take to the table. A dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream over a warm serving of this homemade blueberry cobbler recipe might be the perfect summer dessert. At least in my house.
- Make ahead: You can make it a day ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Warm in a 350°F (180°C) oven before eating. This dessert can be frozen after it's baked. Also, blueberries can be kept year-round in the freezer, and the topping comes together in ten minutes. So it's very easy to put together.
- Crunchier topping: you can sprinkle an extra tablespoon of sugar on top of the dough before it goes into the oven to create an even crisper layer.
- Variation: blueberries and lemon are a popular flavor combination, but you can also use orange or tangerine and add ground cinnamon and vanilla extract. Or try it with different fruits, such as blackberries or pitted cherries and make a mixed berry cobbler.
Related recipes you might like:
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Blueberry Cobbler (easy dessert)
Ingredients
For the blueberry filling:
- 4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For the biscuit topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
- ⅓ cup milk or buttermilk, see Notes below for homemade recipe
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
For the blueberries:
- Mix blueberries in a medium bowl with lemon juice, zest, cornstarch, and sugar.
- Spread the blueberry mixture on an 8-inch ceramic or glass dish.
For the topping:
- In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Add butter pieces and cut in with your hands or a pastry cutter until the butter is the size of peas.
- Add milk and mix lightly with a fork. Don’t over mix or beat it so that the biscuit bakes soft and tender. It should be like a scone or thick muffin batter.
- Melted butter: if you want to use melted butter for easier mixing, use it warm and add it together with the milk. Continue as directed.
- Spoon mounds of this mixture over the berries.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until it’s dry, golden and when you carefully lift the topping with a fork it’s completely done. Make sure you check this as it sometimes appears well cooked on top but still needs some time to fully bake.
- Serve at room temperature or warm, plain, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Refrigerate leftover cobbler, well covered or in an airtight container. Or freeze it.
Alice W. Stephens says
Love how easy it is to be so delicious!
Lisa says
The butter is missing from the ingredient list and instructions from the recipe at the bottom of the page even though above you mention butter being in the topping and have pics of you working butter into the dry ingredients. How much butter goes into the topping? Thanks!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Lisa! It's 1/4 cup. Thanks for letting me know.
Long says
Wow~~!! Thanks for sharing. By far, this has been the best recipe! ^___^ I am gonna try this out! Thanks!
angiesrecipes says
This looks amazing! One of my favourite desserts when the berries are in season.