Made from scratch Old Fashioned Berry Cobbler is super easy to make, and completely delicious. With only 10 minutes of prep, you’re going to make this ALL the time. Get ready for the best cobbler of your life!
There’s nothing better than a truly old fashioned cobbler. We could eat this every day, especially in the middle of summer when berries are fresh and plentiful. While we thoroughly enjoy the modern convenience of a food processor, it feels much more authentic to make this by hand, cutting the butter in with a pastry cutter. This is one of those recipes where we can just slow down and enjoy the simplicity of it. Start picking those berries and join us for a mouth watering dessert.
Frozen vs. Fresh Berries:
We like to use fresh berries in our cobbler, but you can use frozen. The end result may a bit runnier with frozen, since the berries end up having extra moisture once thawed. To compensate for this, double the amount of cornstarch in the recipe when using frozen fruit.
Can I make Old Fashioned Berry Cobbler with other fruit?
You absolutely can! Just substitute in three pounds of the fresh fruit of your choice. Just make sure it’s all prepared first (peeled, sliced, pitted).
Crust:
Whether or not cobbler should have a bottom crust is actually a hotly debated topic in some crowds. By definition, no, cobblers do not have a bottom crust. Cobblers have a fruit bottom and are generally topped with a sweet biscuit dough, but can also have a more cake like consistency as well. Some people still swear by having a bottom crust on their cobbler, but it is not a traditional preparation.
Cobbler vs. Crisp:
A cobbler is topped with a batter while a crisp is topped with a crumbly mixture usually consisting of flour, cereal (like oatmeal), butter, sugar, and sometimes nuts. Both are absolutely delicious in their own unique ways.
Can I halve this recipe?
Yes you can! This recipe, as written, makes an entire 9×13 pan which might be a bit much for some people. You can directly halve all of the ingredients in this recipe and make a 9×9 pan instead.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Once cooled, this recipe should be stored covered, in the refrigerator for up to five days. This recipe is also delicious cold. The easiest way to reheat is to dish a serving onto a plate or bowl and microwave on high in 30-second increments until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may also be interested in these other delicious cobbler recipes:
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
OK everybody, my Grandma from Italy would make this from berries or fruit, she would make the filling first, thick, wet, and gooey, then she made the cobbler dough which was a stickley semi sweet dough. She would pour the filling into a casserole dish then with a big spoon would drop big round clumps of Cobbler Dough all over it, and throw it in the oven at like 375 degrees for 45 min to an hour. what came out os somethings only the GODS would eat. She then served it up with homemade vanilla Gelato ! GOD I MISS MY GRANDMA! I wish I could go back ! Everything was better, the food was Organic, the Focaccia bread tasted spongy & Chewy, now it all taste like regular Bread ! You know the secret to Great Focaccia Bread? “TIME” ! First you make the Bigga for 12 hours, then you make the Focaccia bread. IT ALL ABOUT SLOW TIME! The same with this Cobbler, to make this an Artisan Cobbler, you make it all by hand, and you make it slow, making sure each step is perfect, YOU POUR YOUR HEART INTO IT, it may be simple, but make it slow, with LOVE & Commitment! Here I will tell you, lets take it up a notch, First find you a proper cooking Cobbler dish, a stoneware casserole deep dish, now you have your foundation ! Next get you some, or make a NEW SourDough Starter, To add and extra oomph to your Cobbler dough, Now you have the Heart of the cobbler, then get the best fruit you can, pick the berries or ripe fruit yourself! If Possible, When you make your Cobbler try adding Brown Sugar to it ! Take your time, there is no rush. Preheat your oven, a nice wood oven would be perfect, but Gas or electric will do. Now here is where the Magic happens, combine all you ingredients together, The filling, first, Take YOUR TIME ! Does Armani make an Italian Suit in 5 Minutes ? NO ! Then the Cobbler Dough, add a little sour Dough to the mix,…maybe 1 cup, and do not forget to feed your sough dough starter! NOW Fill the stoneware baking dish with the fruit filling, followed by lumps of delicious yummy drops of dough, and bake to perfection, keep an eye on it so as not to burn it, you want a nice golden brown top. As it bakes the filling will shoot up into the dough and the dough will go down into the filling and expand, and it will make this wonderful combined mass of gastronomic ecstasy, that is only taken to the next higher level by serving it up with Real Vanilla Gelato ice cream, but wait there is 1 more additive, Homemade Praline walnuts, pecans and almonds, put genoursally all over the top ! Now you have a Cobbler of the Gods! Enjoy! Note: Adding a little Remy Martin VSOP Brandy or Frangelico to the fruit filling would not hurt either ! Just a thought! So everyone , one , enjoy!
My mother would make a cobbler with layers of dough but she never went by a recipe. I can remember her rolling out the dough like you would for dumplings. I wish I could find a recipe for a real “old fashioned” cobbler.
The thing about old fashioned recipes is that different people made it different ways. I’ve never heard of rolling out a dough for a cobbler myself. I don’t think it’s fair to say this isn’t a real old fashioned cobbler simply because your mother made it a very unusual way.
I agree, I would guess the reason it is called cobbler is because of crust looking like cobbled streets long ago.
Yum ! Reminds me of what my grandmother made us after we picked fresh blackberries! Thank you!
Can you by any chance use frozen berries? I have a freezer full of frozen berries – would like to make some cobblers – all call for fresh fruit. Wondering if using frozen fruit would make it too runny.
It will certainly be on the more runny side, but it’s worth a try. Maybe try doubling the cornstarch over the berries to help thicken up some of those juices.
According to Miriam – Webster , a cobbler is; a deep dish fruit dessert with a thick top crust.
Btw my cobbler came out great!!
Fantastic recipe!
I made it with strawberries and peaches. Yum!
It was a big hit for our family gathering!
Thank you for sharing this! I’ll be making it again very soon.
Glad to see you comment on that fruit combo. I was just thinking about trying that combo. Now I know it will be good.
I’ve never had a top crust only cobbler but it sounds good. I’m 74 yrs old and my Mom always baked a two crust peach cobbler in an oblong baking pan. Pies were round and not as deep but I’m flexable. Doesn’t matter as long as it’s good.
okay people just calm down here are the facts recipes vary from different parts of the country a cobbler can consist of a top and a bottom crust….ours have both and also thick chewy dumplings down inside the filling it was very awesome, because this is so does not make it a consideration for a Pie as a pie has a filling that is more solid and less juice
My mother made cobblers but they didn’t have a bottom crust. They had several layers of dough she rolled out thin and cut into strips. She then broke the strips into shorter pieces and dropped them into the pan of fruit she had simmering on the stove eye. Then she would put a top crust using strips of dough to make a cross-cross design, sprinkle on a little sugar and put a few pats of butter then put it in the oven to bake. They were always so delicious!! She used a round pan instead of the oblong pans so often used today.
Well I don’t remember my grandmother’s cobbler and my mother always made wonderful pies. I on the other hand have only cooked with fresh berries twice so I’m giving this a try. How may cups or pint baskets equal 3 pounds of berries?
You are asking for conversions that are not easy. I highly recommend just weighing your berries. It’d be somewhere around 9 cups.
3 lbs. berries, equals about 3 pints of berries, 9 medium apples or peaches.
I made this yesterday with a blend of loganberries, marion berries and blue berries. OMG!! Really, really good with a little whipped cream, nirvana!