Mom's Cobbler

It felt like fall yesterday....I'm so excited!  Fall is my favorite season, especially here in Portland.  The weather is warm, the breeze is cool, and the skies are clear and blue.  Stone fruits are in season right now at the end of the summer, and I bought some luscious peaches that just begged to be put in dessert!  I decided on something simple that my mom makes a lot: peach cobbler.

Although simple, cobbler is not to be underestimated.  When done right, it is a thick, gooey cake filled with syrupy stewed fruit.  It can be as good as any great pie, and is a quicker, easier way of making dessert.  
This recipe comes from my mom, though I believe it was passed down from some of my older female relatives.  It is a classic southern dish (my family is from Tennessee and Alabama), and it makes me happy to eat.

Mom's Cobbler

3 cups sliced peaches
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup self-rising (AP) flour (or add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking powder to regular flour)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter

*You can use different fruit for cobbler such as other stone fruits or berries!

1. Preheat oven to 350F.   Melt butter in a 9x9 pan.
2. In a small bowl add sugar, flour, (salt and b.powder if needed), milk, and mix well. 
3. Pour flour batter over melted butter. Do not stir.  Pour fruit over batter. Do not stir.
4. Bake for 1 hour. Batter should be set and fruit should be bubbly and syrupy. Serve warm.

OR...I did it backwards and it was still good:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Add peaches to a casserole dish in a thick layer. 

2. In a small bowl add sugar, flour, (salt and b.powder if needed), milk, and mix well.  Melt the butter.  Add melted butter and milk to flour mixture and whisk until combined.

3. Pour batter over fruit.

4. Bake for 1 hour. Serve warm.

My cobbler was a little different from my mom's for several reasons, besides getting the directions backwards, haha.  I needed to make the batter non-dairy, so I used my butter-flavored shortening instead of butter.  I think this worked OK, however the batter was a little on the crusty side, instead of the soft chewy texture it was supposed to be.  Butter makes a softer crust.  I also used pastry flour and forgot to put any baking powder in.  This accounted for the flat nature of the batter.  

Despite that though, this was still delicious.  Roasted fruit is good no matter what, and the batter wasn't half bad.  I like recipes like this because they work even if you screw it up somehow.  :)
So, get some super ripe fruit and enjoy a delicious cobbler!  Serve with some vanilla or coconut ice cream for best results!