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Blueberry Cobbler   

08|5|11

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Makes: 6 to 8 servings
Time: About 1 hour

My friend John Willoughby found this recipe in a southern boardinghouse nearly 20 years ago. It’s become my go-to cobbler recipe, because it’s essentially perfect. I love this with blueberries, but you can make it with any fruit you like.

Cobbler dough is somewhere between a biscuit and a cookie: fluffy, a bit flaky, buttery, and at least slightly sweet. The key is not overmixing the dough; get it so that it’s just combined, barely holding together, then drop it onto the filling in mounds, leaving space for steam to escape from the cooking fruit. Recipe from How to Cook Everything.

4 to 6 cups blueberries or other fruit, washed and well dried, peeled and sliced as necessary
1 cup sugar, or to taste
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus some for the pan
1 /2 cup all-purpose flour
1 /2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 egg
1 /2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Toss the fruit with half the sugar and spread it in a lightly greased 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a food processor and pulse once or twice. Add the butter and process for 10 seconds, until the mixture is well blended. By hand, beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Drop this mixture onto the fruit by tablespoon-fuls; do not spread it out. Bake until golden yellow and just starting to brown, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve immediately.

7 comments

Aug 06, 2011
artofthespa liked this post.
Aug 06, 2011
Joanna Rusher liked this post.
Aug 06, 2011
Chris MacAskill said...
Yikes, I'm a big fan of Mark's and read most of his articles, but after looking at this recipe I thought I must've found the wrong Mark Bittman. Except for the blueberries, this looks like the junk food that is making Americans fat and sick.
Aug 06, 2011
Joanna Rusher said...
It's a treat, dessert. This is a lovely traditional American dessert and is a wonderful warm winter dessert. It is not junkfood, but if you ate it everyday, it wouldn't be a good thing either. it's not really the food making americans ( or anyone else) fat Chris, it's the choices the people make.
Aug 07, 2011
Gail Weiss said...
I'm actually disappointed- I have a kilo of blueberries on my counter but no food processor. So I'll look for a recipe that seems to be more mixer friendly. Also one with less sugar or with lemon juice added to give it some tartness.
Aug 11, 2011
Ivy Vann said...
It doesn't require a food processor. I make it all the time without. Mix the dry ingredients (and, BTW, I don't add any sugar to the berries), mix in the beaten egg (use your fingers if you need to) and the vanilla. Sprinkle the flour mixture on the berries, dot with butter, and bake.
Sep 04, 2011
Suzanne Brooks said...
Made last night and was very good. I'll add a dash of lemon juice next time. ( and btw, I like the way that we are not even allowed to have dessert anymore without people bringing up the fact that it's killing us. People are fat because they make poor choices over and over. You wouldn't eat this morning , noon, and night. )

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