Easy Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

This is a great recipe for a simple summer dessert.

It's one of our fav peach bakes that works with fresh peaches, frozen ones, and also nectarines. Though you can also make it work with canned peaches, a fresh peach cobbler is hard to beat.

What is a cobbler?

It's a baked fruit dessert that consists of a layer of fruit and a starchy topping. One of those easy desserts that can be made with most of your favorite fruit.

The fresh fruit mixture bakes and releases its juices while the top dries and turns golden brown.

This one today is an old-fashioned peach cobbler recipe, one of those great recipes you can find in vintage cookbooks that stand the test of time. It's probably my favorite dessert when the peach season starts because it tastes super fresh and is so easy to make!

Ingredients

• Peaches. Using fresh, juicy peaches is the first choice, but nectarines or frozen peach slices also work wonderfully.
• Yogurt. It gives a slight tang and tenderness to the biscuit dough. If you don't have any you can use buttermilk.
• Brown sugar. I usually use all brown sugar, but I also added a variation to use both white and brown because sometimes we want it sweeter (white) but with a hint of caramel (brown). Brown sugar has some molasses in it, and is less refined than granulated, so the flavor is more intense, a mix of almost burnt caramel and spices in my opinion.
• Cornstarch. It turns the peach juices into a syrupy sauce which is one of the best parts of this dessert. I could eat it with a spoon. And maybe I do. The tablespoon of cornstarch in this recipe acts as a thickening agent. Some recipes call for quick-cooking tapioca, but I never used it.
• Lemon juice. it brings out the rest of the flavors and balances out the sweetness and starchiness of the rest of the recipe.
• Cinnamon and ginger. These might be optional if you're not into them or don't have them at the time you make this dessert. But the combination of a little ground cinnamon and fresh ginger with the rest of the ingredients renders a unique flavor.
• Flour. using all-purpose flour (or cake flour) with baking powder is the best because you can control the amount of the leavening. But you can use a cup of self-rising flour if it's all you have and want to eat a homemade peach cobbler!
• Salt. all baking recipes tend to add salt because it brings out the flavor of everything! Things just taste better.

Peach cobbler filling

As with the topping, this step is as simple as mixing sliced peaches with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.

The magic happens once the dessert is baking and the fruit juice mix with the rest of the ingredients to create a wonderful syrup that you'll want to eat with a spoon directly from the baking dish.

• Cutting the peaches: you can slice them thinner, thicker, or cut them into rustic chunks. The thinner the more they will soften as they bake. I like to use them in thicker wedges, about 8 per peach so that they keep their shape while baking.
• Peach skin: I peel some and some I leave with the skin. When they are in season usually the skin is thinner and I'm fine with leaving on some of it. But this is up to your personal taste.
• Flavorings: the peach mixture flavor can be customized. We use ground cinnamon and ginger. But you can also add a few drops of vanilla extract to make it mellower and/or orange zest to add another flavor layer.

Top crust (cobbler topping)

This is extremely easy to put together, as you simply stir the ingredients together in a bowl until you have a wet dough (images below).

• Melted butter: I love it for its flavor and because it makes the top crust very easy to put together. As opposed to working cold butter into the flour mixture as we do for the old-fashioned blueberry cobbler, for example. Simply melt and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
• Yogurt: it adds tanginess and tenderness to the biscuit topping. An excellent idea because we don't want a heavy top crust, we want the biscuits to bake as light as possible.
• Other liquids: you can use buttermilk instead of yogurt, but reduce the amount to about ½ a cup. The topping batter needs to be thick, so start with a scant half a cup and see if you need more.
• Flavorings: you could add a little cinnamon or nutmeg to the biscuit mix before mounding it on top of the peaches.

Vintage Kitchen tip: don't overmix! You don't want to develop gluten as it will make the biscuits tough. Once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing.

Assembling a cobbler

Type of baking dish: I like to use a glass or ceramic baking dish for cobblers. They can be square like in this recipe, rectangular like the pear cobbler, or oval like the blueberry cobbler. They all work just fine.
Cast iron skillet: another popular way of baking a cobbler. You can use an 8-inch skillet for this recipe.

Ratio: we're talking about the amount of filling to topping, which is, in my opinion, the most critical part of the assembly. Do you like more fruit filling than top crust? This is important to consider because we should constantly adjust our favorite recipes to what works best for us. I like a lot of filling so that the peach flavor is very present and a lot of juice is released.

Crunchier topping: you can sprinkle an extra tablespoon of sugar on top of the batter before it goes into the oven to create an even crisper layer.

Vintage Kitchen tip: if you feel you want more fruit or more topping, I recommend you adjust the amount of filling. It's easier to add or remove a few extra peaches than to adjust the biscuit dough.

Serving

• Ice cream: I think there's no more perfect ending to a family gathering than a bowl of warm peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Your mouth will be having a party with the different temperatures and textures. If I had to choose among my favorite desserts, it would be in the top 3.
• Whipped cream: it will also work as a topping. Drizzling a touch of honey on top and some sliced, toasted almonds over the cream rounds it up.
• Room temperature: I also like it plain, at room temperature, which works very well for outdoor picnics, barbecues, and pot lucks. The peaches and brown sugar have lots of flavor, so I can skip the ice cream topping if I don't have any. I don't recommend eating it cold from the fridge because the flavor will not be significant. Cold numbs flavors in many cases.

Storing

• Room temperature - this easy peach cobbler recipe keeps well without refrigeration for a day, covered in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerator - after a day, cover or use an airtight container and keep refrigerated. Fruit tends to ferment pretty quickly, especially in warm weather, and we certainly don't want that to happen!
• Freezing - you can freeze the baked dessert in the baking pan and defrost it directly in a medium/low oven (about 300°F/150°C) until it's bubbling again. Or thaw at room temperature and warm before eating.