Easy Fruit Cobbler

Recipe by King Arthur Test Kitchen
17 Reviews 4.2 out of 5 stars

At last, fresh fruit is ripening all over America, not just in Florida or California. Shortcake, muffins, fruit crisps, pie... there's no end to the ways you can showcase the berries and fruits of summer. And one of our favorites is cobbler, which in this version is fresh fruit baked with a sugared biscuit topping. (Cobbler can also be fresh fruit baked atop or under a crust of cake, but we'll leave that variation for another day.)

Tapioca flour or our favorite fruit thickener, Instant ClearJel, are both good choices for thickening. Either of those, unlike flour or cornstarch, keeps the fruit's juice clear and its flavor true as it cooks and thickens; the resulting color (and flavor) is spectacular.

Prep
30 mins
Bake
45 mins
Total
1 hr 15 mins
Yield
12 servings
Save Recipe
Easy Fruit Cobbler

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Lightly butter or grease a 9" x 13" pan.

  2. If you're using strawberries, trim the tops of the strawberries to remove their leaves, and halve or quarter them into a medium-sized bowl. Other berries simply need to be washed. For stone fruits (peaches, nectarines), peel the fruit, then slice it. For apples, peel and slice them.

  3. Add the melted butter and lemon juice, tossing to coat the fruit. Whisk together the sugar and thickener, then sprinkle over the fruit.

  4. Toss gently with a spatula until the fruit is coated, then scoop the fruit into the pan.

  5. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour(s), sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, or in a measuring cup, whisk together the melted butter, milk, egg, and almond extract. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing just until thoroughly combined.

  6. Dollop the biscuit topping in blobs atop the fruit (3 across and 4 down in a 9" x 13" pan), leaving 1/2" or so between them. Fill in the in-between spaces with any leftover dough. Sprinkle with sugar.

  7. Bake the cobbler for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F, and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until the biscuits are golden and the filling is bubbly. (Be sure to bake until the biscuits are a deep golden brown, otherwise the biscuits in the center may be under-baked.)

  8. Store, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Tips from our Bakers

  • EASIEST Fruit Cobbler
    Mix and match your favorite flavor scone mix with the fruit of your choice — try apricot sour cream scone mix with peaches, blueberry sour cream with blueberries (of course), English cream tea mix with any fruit... or use your imagination! Do we hear raspberry-white chocolate with raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries?

    Prepare the fruit as directed in the preceding recipe.

    Prepare the topping:
    1 bag King Arthur scone mix
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
    1 cup milk

    Whisk together the scone mix and salt. In a separate bowl, or in a measuring cup, whisk together the butter and milk. Combine the dry and wet ingredients, stirring just until combined; the mixture doesn't have to be totally smooth.

    Using a heaped tablespoon cookie scoop, dollop the soft dough over the fruit in large blobs, leaving about 1/2" between them. Use any leftover dough to fill the in-between spaces. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired; sparkling white sugar is lovely, while sticky bun sugar will make a satiny, golden glaze.

    Bake the cobbler as directed in the recipe above.

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