Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Aunt Nancy's Typical Southern Peach Cobbler

Aunt Nancy is legendary for this cobbler in our family, but when I asked her where the recipe came from, she said it's all over the South.


I know two versions of it in the North.  One is found in More with Less, with no butter (Yankees are no fun), and the other was my childhood church cookbook and had the butter, but less fruit.  I like Aunt Nancy's the best.  The fruit to buttery-moist-crumb-part is about equal, and that's how I like it.

If you bake it long enough, the edges darken and crisp from all that butter.  Aunt Nancy loves me enough that she gave me that special edge when we were in NC.  


This is Phoebe's photo-face.  She thinks she's smiling.

Also, isn't that tablecloth great?  Years ago, I stashed it with my fabric with the idea of making a skirt, but I just absolutely love its grooviness in my summer dining room.


Aunt Nancy's Typical Southern Peach Cobbler

In a 9" baking dish, melt:
1/3 cup butter (I put it in the oven while the oven is preheating)

Peel and slice (I chop):
5-6 peaches to yield at least 4 cups

Lay them on the melted butter.

Separately, mix:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk

Pour batter gently and evenly over the fruit.  Some of the fruit will float and some butter will be up there, too.  That's just right.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour, until beautifully golden with obvious bubbling and juice action from the fruit.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Notes:
1. Aunt Nancy said you can use anywhere from 1/4 - 1/2 cup butter.  Obviously a Southerner would go for the full stick.
2. I used half whole-wheat all-purpose flour.  You can get this from McGeary Organics and it makes the perfect texture for chemically-leaved baked goods.
3. I cut back the sugar a little because I'm not Southern.
4. You can use other fruit besides peaches.  I added some sad raspberries and 2 black raspberries from my new backyard bush.
5.  Aunt Nancy has baked this at higher temperatures or reduced the time or changed the pan size or otherwise fiddled with the chemistry.  Good news: the cobbler is not fussy!

10 comments:

Hazel said...

Perfect timing! I bought lots of reduced peaches yesterday. Guess what we're having for pudding?!

Jennifer Jo said...

I've always made this cobbler without the butter...because I didn't know better. Now I know better. Thanks!

Becky said...

Butter makes everything better.

That fabric reminds of my Granny's house. When I was a wee one, she had this floral wallpaper in her kitchen with those colors. She also had bed sheets for all the twin beds we kids slept in a floral with those colors. I love it.

Alica said...

Mmmm...just picked up some peaches at an Amish store yesterday, and this just might be the perfect recipe to try. Butter and all! :)

Katie said...

My neighbor just told me I can harvest peaches from her trees to my delight . . . this cobbler sounds just right!

Jenny said...

Cobbler is just one of the best desserts ever. Such a quick and easy thing to whip up. I love Phoebe's smile. So cute.

Hazel said...

Made it! Well, Connie, my youngest made it. It was absolutely delicious. I wasn't sure how the butter in with the fruit would work, but it's so good. Blackberries and apples and pears are just coming in now- I think a pear and blackberry cobbler would be lovely.

Margo said...

Hazel! So glad you made it and loved it! My More-With-Less cookbook says to use any fruit you have, but the texture will change a little depending on the juiciness of the fruit.

I was at a cookout the other night and one of my friends, unknown to me, was reading my blog and decided to make this cobbler for the cookout. Sounds like this recipe is going to be everywhere, not just the South :)

Polly said...

Yep! This is almost exactly the "don't need a recipe" fruit cobbler recipe we use down here! But I never use the full amount of sugar; I always halve the sugar in almost every recipe I make.

BLD in MT said...

Yum! I'm going to make this when I get back next week. I've got a "crisp" recipe, but no cobbler! And Matt mentioned wanting some sort of fruit dessert yesterday, but we didn't get to it.