Fresh Peach Cobbler

As the summer winds down, fresh peaches are abundant right now, and we’ve consumed as many as we can while they are in season.  I bought half a bushel of fresh peaches grown by Amish farmers at our local grocery store recently (just $8!)  They were delicious and we ate most of them fresh, but for the last few, I made a big peach cobbler.  Cobblers are really very easy to make and nothing says comfort food more than warm cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream.  My cobblers are basically a big juicy fruit pie with a top and bottom crust (and even a middle crust when I have enough extra pastry dough). We’ve had fights at our house over pie crust, because that seems to be everyone’s favorite part of the cobbler.  Portions are carefully scrutinized by those waiting in line to dip theirs out to make sure no one gets more than their fair share of the crust! For the crust on this cobbler, I used the pie pastry recipe in my blog (find the recipe in the breads category) and made a double and a single crust since I was making a very big cobbler for my very big family.  You can easily change any of these amounts to accomodate your family size.

Ingredients: (all amounts can be reduced for a smaller pie)

ripe, soft fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (I used about 10-12 peaches for my cobbler, if you have a smaller family, use fewer and adjust the other ingredients accordingly)

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 fresh lemon, juiced (or 2 Tbls. lemon juice)

3 Tbls. butter

3 Tbls. flour mixed with water (thin enough to pour)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Peel and slice the ripe peaches and place in a pan.  Add lemon juice.

For this amount of peaches, I used 1- 1/2 cups water.  If you use fewer peaches, use less water.  You don’t want the water to cover the peaches, just enough to make the cobbler juicy.  As the peaches cook, they will release juice also.  Add sugar and butter.  (reduce the amount if you use fewer peaches)

Heat the peach mixture over medium heat, and boil gently for a few minutes just until peaches are hot all the way through (about 10 minutes).  Once peaches have cooked and softened a bit, mix the flour with enough water to make it pourable.  You don’t have to worry too much about whether or not the peaches are cooked enough, they’ll finish cooking when the cobbler bakes.  Pour the flour/water mixture into the hot peach mixture and stir as you pour to avoid lumps.  It’s also helpful to pour the flour mixture through a strainer if you have one.  This catches any lumps also.  Continue to stir and cook until the peach juice has thickened slightly, then remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.

Prepare the pie pastry (see post for pie pastry under the bread section) and line the baking dish with a bottom crust.

Pour the thickened peach filling into the pie pastry lined baking dish.  Trim the excess pastry back, but make sure you leave enough to crimp the edges together.

If you have enough pie pastry scraps from where you trimmed the pastry, then only fill half way. You can use the scraps to make a middle layer of crust.  It won’t bake up crispy like the outside crust, but will be more like dumplings.

Pour the other half of the filling over this middle layer.

Roll out the pastry for the top crust, and place on top of cobbler.

Trim the top crust back and seal the edges together. Brush the top crust with milk to give it a glossy appearance if you want.  Sprinkle with sugar and poke vent holes with a fork to release steam during baking.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or so, or just until crust is nicely browned.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream (which is an absolute must!).