Easy Peach Cobbler
The search for a fantastic biscuit peach cobbler is over. This is all we want: juicy fruit that makes its own syrupy sauce as it bakes and a simple biscuit topping that is buttery and crisp. It's out of the oven in an hour and perfect for seasonal peaches, but it also works with frozen ones.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 5 cups 5-6 pieces ripe peaches or nectarines, cored and sliced fresh
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground nutmeg optional
For the topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ¾ cup plain yogurt or ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
Instructions
For the peaches:
- Wash, dry, and remove the stone (core) from the peaches. Cut in slices or small chunks.
- Have ready a 9-inch glass or ceramic dish. You can butter it if you want.
- Mix the fruit with the rest of the filling ingredients in a large bowl.
- Dump onto the prepared dish and spread evenly.
For the topping:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Pour melted butter, add yogurt or buttermilk and quickly mix with a spoon or spatula. It needs to be incorporated, but not overmixed.
- Drop 9 mounds onto the peach filling, making three rows of 3. Leave space between them and around the edges so that the fruit juices can bubble up when baked.
- Bake for about 35 minutes and check to see if the biscuits are fully baked. They will be golden and dry but lift one of them with a fork and check that there's no unbaked dough. Sometimes they look perfect, and the juices are bubbling, but there's still some raw dough.
- If this is the case, bake it for 5-10 more minutes or until it's fully baked when you lift it a bit. You might want to loosely cover the surface with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent the biscuit topping from darkening too much while it continues baking.
- Let cool on a wire rack until warm enough to serve.
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream if you feel like it.
- Refrigerate leftovers, covered. Warm slightly in a medium oven before serving them again.
Notes
Baking time. Keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look 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 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.
Fresh peaches. Using fresh fruit is the way to go and nectarines also work wonderfully. The result is far superior than when you use canned peaches, IMO. You can also use nectarines, which are very similar to peaches, but with a much thinner, unfuzzy skin.
Yogurt or buttermilk. They give a slight tang and tenderness to the biscuit dough.
Sugar. I usually use all brown sugar, but I added a variation to use a mix of white and brown because sometimes we want it sweeter (white) but with a hint of caramel (brown).
Cornstarch. It turns the peach juices into a syrupy sauce that is one of the best parts of this dessert.
Lemon. They add flavor and balance out the sweetness and starchiness of the rest of the recipe. You can omit them, of course, just take into account that it will lack that balance.
Cinnamon and ginger. These might be optional if you're not into them or don't have them when you make this dessert. They pair wonderfully well with peaches.
Flour: using all-purpose with baking powder is the best because you can control the amount of the leavening. But you can use self-rising flour if it's all you have and you just want to eat a homemade peach cobbler!
