Enjoy this classic Southern dessert with our homemade Peach Cobbler recipe. Fresh juicy peaches are baked to golden perfection with a flaky pastry for a perfect slice of summer.
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Turn's out after my research that like a fruit pie, there isn't just a one type fits all recipe, so the decision was made to align the Peach Cobbler recipe with a recipe by a Southern chef. This blog is here to show you how to make dishes as traditionally as possible when they are potentially international.
This particularly never felt more important when we consider how much history has been wiped clear (white washed) and that Southern warmth is what it is because of the cultures who have shaped the soil and land and this recipe in earnest reflects that in the best way.
Peach Cobbler History
You might wonder why the Peach Cobbler in the recipe include what is effectively a Peach Pie instead of fruit topped with cobbled dough and this is where foodtellsastory explains "in soul food cooking, โcobblerโ tends to be defined loosely. Itโs often applied to desserts made with pie dough. Theyโre essentially a rectangular peach pie known as a pandowdy."ย
Ingredients and substitutions for Peach Cobbler
- Plain flour: This is the best option for that flaky pastry, cake flour is not recommended. If you live in the UK, see the FAQโs section as to a the type of flour to use here.
- Butter: Cold and cubed helps you press it into your flour without heating it up too much as you work it. Make sure that butter is fully coated with flour so no puddles form during baking.
- Ice water: Ice water helps the water not soak into the flour too much which helps the gluten form in the dough whilst giving you that flaky texture!
- Corn starch: Sometimes termed cornflour in certain parts of the globe. Corn starch thickens our peach filling and needs to be heated to 95C/203F before it is activated to thicken.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar works best with the peaches as it dissoves and adds sweetness without adding additional flavor. You could substitute with raw or light brown sugar instead, but this might lend a slightly different flavor to our filling.
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg: Ground cinnamon and nutmeg add a depth of flavor to our filling and compliment the sweet peaches perfectly.
- Peaches: Fresh were used here, however, you could most definitely substitute with frozen or canned peaches, but would recommend using less sugar.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Peach Cobbler:
Create your crust: Place the dry ingredients into your bowl and add cubed butter, rubbing in until it resembles large breadcrumbs.
1
Icy water: Add a little iced water into the dough until it holds together.
Separate: Divide your dough, form into discs, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
It's all coming up peachy: Prepare your peaches in a bowl with the remaining filling ingredients, stirring to coat evenly.
2
Roll out your dough: Prepare the base of your dough by rolling out and pressing into your pie dish.
3
Repeat: Roll out the dough for your topping and set aside.
Time to fill: Place the peaches into your pie dish and spread out evenly.
4
Top: Place the top portion over the peaches and press the base and top portions together tightly, slicing slits into the top.
Brush: Brush beaten egg on top and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over.
5
Bake: Place in the oven and bake until golden brown on top.
Cool: Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve: Slice, serve with scoops of ice cream on top. Dig in!
FAQ's for the best Peach Cobbler
Plain flour in the UK has a lower protein amount which contributes to the dough strength, type of crumb and texture of your pastry, in this case. Plain flour in the Unites States for example has the same level of protein as Bread flour in the UK, so the best flour to use here will be 175 grams / 1 ยผ cups bread flour. This will help you ensure a flaky pastry and making it easier to shape without being flimsy which is often the feeling of unbaked dough. If you use 100% bread flour the weight in grams will be 420 grams. Or if you do use 50% plain flourย and 50% bread flour the weight should come to 450 grams.
You can if you are short on time with shortcrust pastry being the best option to substitute for homemade flaky pastry.
More pie recipes you'll enjoy
Peach Cobbler
Ingredients
Cobbler crust
- 480 grams / 3 cups plain flour
- 42 grams / 3 tablespoons superfine/caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 170 grams / 6 ounces butter chilled and cubed
- 250 milliliters / 1 cup icy water
Peaches
- 10 medium or 8 large peaches skinned, pitted and sliced into thin wedges (quartered and then sliced into thirds)
- 200 grams / 1 cup superfine/caster sugar
- 40 grams / ยผ cup plain flour
- 7 grams / 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ยผ teaspoon sea salt
Topping
- 1 small egg beaten
- Ground cinnamon dusting on top
- Sugar dusting on top
Instructions
Pastry
- Place the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Toss in the butter and rub into the flour until it resembles large breadcrumbs.
- Add a third of the ice water at a time and combine until a dough has been formed, you don't want to knead this very long, but you don't want any dry parts to remain. Add a little more ice water, if required.
- Divide in half and flatten into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
- Remove one half of the dough from the fridge and roll out to ยผ inch thickness allowing up to 1 inch overlap. Carefully press into your baking dish and set aside.
Peaches
- Meanwhile, prepare the peaches and stir the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and pinch of salt to coat. Set aside.
- Remove the remaining dough from the fridge and roll out out to ยผ inch thickness, set aside.
- Spoon the peach filling into your baking dish and spread out evenly.
- Place the second piece of dough on top and press the two pieces of dough together and shape to your preference. Pierce the dough to allow steam to escape.
Topping
- Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle over the ground cinnamon and sugar (this made the loveliest crust on top so don't skip).
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
- Serve with scoops of ice cream.
Notes
- UK Flour: Plain flour in the UK has a lower protein amount which contributes to the dough strength, type of crumb and texture of your pastry, in this case. Plain flour in the Unites States for example has the same level of protein as Bread flour in the UK, so the best flour to use here will be 175 grams / 1 ยผ cups bread flour. This will help you ensure a flaky pastry and making it easier to shape without being flimsy which is often the feeling of unbaked dough.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar works best with the peaches as it dissolves and adds sweetness without adding additional flavor. You could substitute with raw or light brown sugar instead, but this might lend a slightly more caramel flavor to our filling.
- Peaches: Fresh were used here, however, you could most definitely substitute with frozen or canned peaches, but would recommend using less sugar.
- Pie dish: The pie dish used here is 18 cm / 7 inch which is around average, though a substitute would be a deep tart tin.
Nutrition
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