Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler

Where has the summer gone? I can’t believe it’s almost over! In spite of the record breaking heat and humidity of July, I still hate to see it end.

I know it’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything, and I do have a few recipes in the wings that just need to be worked on but once July hit, I had no energy, or desire, to cook, bake or blog. Now that we have some mornings where there is a little hint of fall in the air (my favorite time of the year) and we no longer have 98 degree days, with a heat index of over 100 degrees, I decided to get back to work. No sooner had the temperatures returned to normal and I was getting ready to get into some serious cooking and baking, I wrecked my bike and due to swollen, painful and scraped knees, not to mention the bruises (won’t even get into my bruised ego), I wasn’t up to getting back in the kitchen for a while. At my age, I don’t bounce back from accidents like I used to. Ok, whining is now over....time to get on with my recipe.

Since we are right in the middle of peach season and, even though Ohio isn’t known for peaches, we do have some lovely, delicious peaches that are ready for eating and baking. One of my favorite dishes to make this time of year is peach cobbler. The recipe that I make is actually one that my sister, Jean makes a lot and she has shared with me. It’s not what a lot of people know as a traditional cobbler, with a biscuit type topping, but one that has a sweet cake that rises up around the peach filling. As soon as my local farmers market had peaches, I bought several and started peeling, slicing and baking.

Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler
Print Recipe
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 dash salt
3/4 cup milk
5 cups fresh peaches, peeled cored and sliced (approx. 7 or 8)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Melt 1 stick butter in bottom of 9x13 inch pan and set aside
3. Mix together first five ingredients and pour into pan
4. Mix together peaches, sugar and cinnamon
5. Pour on top of batter and bake for approximately 35 minutes

Melt one stick of butter in baking dish.

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 dash salt (1/8 tsp.)

3/4 cup milk

Mix together first five ingredients.

Pour mixture into pan on top of the melted butter.

Mix together peaches, sugar and cinnamon.

Pour on top of batter and bake.

Here it is, Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler. The picture doesn't do the cobbler justice, I had a difficult time getting the lighting right but believe me, it looked wonderful!

My favorite way to eat peach cobbler.....serve warm and top with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!!!!

Fruit Cake Cookies

Fruit Cake cookies in March…seriously? Shouldn’t I be making something more on the lines of a spring or Easter recipe? Wouldn’t Fruit Cake cookies be something that we would be more likely to make around Christmas? After all that is the time of year that we think of fruit cake….if we think of it at all. As a matter of fact, I did receive this recipe in December but never got around to making it. Besides, even though it’s March 30, it’s 31 degrees and snowing so it feels more like Christmas than Easter.

You may remember that last December I discovered that Michael liked fruit cake so I was trying to find some tried and true recipes…with no luck. I did, however, receive two recipes for fruit cake cookies. One I got from the King Arthur Flour Company called Fruitcake Drops, which I did make, and they were delicious and the other from my cousin Jill. This post is about the recipe for Fruit Cake cookies that she sent me.

The recipe Jill sent me had two different lists of ingredients, the recipe as she originally received it and the other with the adjustments she made. Since she is a very good cook and baker, and I trust her opinion, I went with her list. So, since I still had some leftover candied and dried fruit, I decided to make Jill's Fruit Cake Cookies.

Fruit Cake Cookies
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup candied cherries
1 1/2 cups dates and/or figs, chopped
1/2 cup candied pineapple
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Cream butter and sugar until light.
Add egg and beat until well blended.
Reserving a little of the flour to toss with the fruit, combine remaining flour with the salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
Toss fruit with the reserved flour.
Fold in the floured fruit and chopped pecans.
Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between cookies.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-13 minutes, depending on size of cookies
Let sit on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely
Makes from 3-5 dozen fruit cake cookies.
Store in an airtight container.

Butter and sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light.

  Add egg

Beat until well blended

 After removing a little of the flour to toss with the fruit, combine the remaing flour with the salt and baking soda.

Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the dough. 

 Toss fruit with reserved flour. Isn't that pretty?

 Fold nuts and fruit into dough. 

Dough is ready to drop onto greased baking sheets. Or better still, use parchment or Silpat liners.

I 've been using rolls of parchment that I buy at the supermarket, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc., until recently. I was in a GFS store the other day and found a large package of parchment sheets. The sheets are for full sized baking sheets (used in professional kitchens) but I cut them in half for a normal/half sized (what you and I use) baking sheet. So, if there is a GFS near you, I recommend buying your parchment from them..... much easier than dealing with the rolls of parchment.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between cookies. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-13 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Let sit on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before removing.

Finish cooling on a wire rack. This is another thing I like about using parchment, all you have to do is lift the parchment from the baking sheet onto the rack...cookies and all.

These cookies were a little different than the ones I made in December…a little more of a cake cookie, not as chewy. Even though different, they were still very good. Michael showed his approval by grabbing a plate of cookies, a glass of cold milk and retiring to the living room…the plate was returned empty.

Which do we like best? It’s hard to say they are both good but different, one had a cake like texture and the other was chewy. I may be having a fruit cake cookie bakeoff in December.

My First Ever Blueberry Cobbler

Since the beginning of July I’ve been aching to hit the farmer’s markets. Finally last Saturday I made it to one where I purchased green beans, red potatoes, tomatoes, peaches and a large container of blueberries. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with the blueberries until Michael suggested blueberry cobbler. I’ve never made a blueberry cobbler before but, when it comes to baking, am always ready to try something new.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes and as with most recipes, the reviews were mixed…some people loved it, some hated it and others thought it was ok. Some thought it was too sweet; others didn’t like the topping or didn’t think there was enough fruit or too much topping. Many, like me, had to bake the cobbler longer than the time listed in the recipe. Over all, I thought it was very good and easy and will make it again.

Blueberry Cobbler
Print Recipe

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup white sugar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons white sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pinch ground cinnamon

Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces. Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days.
 
*Note: I had to bake mine a little longer...the 25 minute time wasn't nearly long enough. I think I added about 10-15 minutes. The next time I make this, I'll also increase the amount of blueberries that I use......just didn't seem to be enough fruit.

Place blueberries in prepared 8 inch square baking dish.

Mix blueberries with vanilla and lemmon juice then sprinkle with sugar and flour. Stir in melted butter.

Set aside and prepare topping

Stir together  flour, baking powder and sugar. Since I didn't have my pastry cutter with me, I rubbed in the butter using my fingers. Before I rubbed in the butter (butter should be cold), I cut it into small pieces.

The flour should look something like this.... You should be able to see very small pieces of butter in the flour.

 Make a well in the center of the flour and stir in milk.

After batter has rested, spoon it over the blueberries. There is a lot of batter....I'm thinking about maybe cutting the batter recipe in half the next time. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture then bake.

As I said earlier, the cobbler took quite a bit longer to bake than the 25 minutes listed in the recipe. Whenever I would insert a knife in the topping, it kept coming back with batter on...the top looked done. I was afraid the top would be burnt by the time the rest of the topping was completely done.

The cobbler was delicious! The top had a nice crispy crunch, due to the cinnamon and sugar and the rest of the topping had a cake like texture....I like this better than the biscuit type topping. I will be making this again, but will make the few adjustments that I mentioned earlier.