Gluten-Free Summer Cobbler

I made a pact with myself: before the stone fruit season was over I would bake a cobbler. I had never made one before, and it seemed like the perfect dessert to have while the farmer’s market was abundant with gorgeous peaches. It’s also perfect because it carries over into a great breakfast the next morning (minus the ice cream- or not). At first I thought I’d keep it simple and just use peaches, but upon further consideration I decided to toss in some blueberries for their flavor and beautiful color.

Gluten-Free Summer Cobbler

4 ripe organic peaches, peeled and sliced (like photo above)

2 cups organic blueberries (you could also use thawed frozen berries)

1 cup coconut sugar, divided (you could use any type of sugar, but I highly recommend coconut)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (i used 2 cups of this and 1/4 cup of this)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp good quality salt

8 tbsp cold butter, cut into small 1-inch cubes

1 cup almond milk (i used vanilla flavored)

scant 1/2 cup organic heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp coconut sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

To prepare fruit, add 1/2 cup of the sugar to the sliced peaches and blueberries and set aside for at least 1 hour to “marinate” and create a syrup. Once you’re ready to assemble the cobbler, preheat oven to 400 °F while you make the dough topping.

Whisk together the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter (or your clean fingers), add the cold butter to the flour mixture and thoroughly combine until the butter has broken down into little pea size pieces.

Stir together the almond milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup, then slowly begin to pour it into the flour/butter mixture. Use a spatula to stir the dough as you add the liquid, making sure that all the flour becomes moist. Continue until there are no dry patches left (it’s better for it to be more wet than too dry).

Drain some of the liquid out of the fruit mixture if there’s too much. There should be enough syrup to coat the peaches and blueberries but not drown them. Place the fruit in a medium sized casserole dish (or pie dish) and spread the cobbler dough on top. Sprinkle with a couple spoonfuls of sugar.

Place the cobbler on a large baking sheet and bake at 400 °F for about 35 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned and beginning to crack.

Some notes:

1) don’t skip putting the dish on a larger baking sheet, as this cobbler bubbles quite a bit over the side and could create a big mess in your oven.

2) if you want to make a couple single serving cobblers, this recipe should yield enough for you to reserve a little bit to put in ramekins (see first photo).

Serve warm or at room temperature with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.