No Southern meal is complete without a fabulous dessert! Cobbler is one of the most-loved desserts in the South, and appears in some form on every Soul Food Restaurant menu. While cobblers can be made from almost any fruit, the most common are made with peaches, apples, or mixed berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, and/or boysenberries.

A proper cobbler must have some type of crust, and every cook seems to have a preference for a biscuit crust, a batter crust, or a pie crust. In most cases, the batter crust is the fastest and easiest, but with the rolled piecrusts that can be purchased from the grocery store, a pie crust cobbler is doable in just a few minutes hands-on time. In addition, frozen biscuits (not the refrigerator kind) can be coated in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and baked atop a filling to make a very fast and easy cobbler.

Cobbler is best served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s certainly not diet food, but is well worth the calories!

Here are two delicious cobbler recipes that have been streamlined to keep kitchen time to a minimum. Perfect to serve anytime, these cobblers would also be a perfect ending to a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration dinner.

Quick & Easy Berry Cobbler

12 Servings

The frozen three berry blend available at most grocery stores and warehouse stores works great in this easy cobbler with a batter crust.

2 pounds frozen berries, 3 berry blend, blackberries, marionberries, or blueberries
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon flour (15 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Mix the berries, 1 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Microwave for 5 minutes to thaw the berries; stir and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°. Place the butter in a 3"deep 11" x 7" glass casserole dish or a 9" x 13" shallow glass casserole dish, and place in the oven to melt. When the butter is melted, remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, mix the sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Add the milk, whisking until smooth; the batter will be quite thick. Drop spoonfuls of this mixture evenly into the melted butter; do not stir or mix.

Pour the berry mixture over the batter; do not stir or mix.

Bake for about 40 minutes (more in the 11" x 7" dish) or until the batter is set and golden.

Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 339 Calories from Fat 76
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 22% Protein 2% Carb. 76%

Nutrient Amount per
Serving
Total Fat 8 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Cholesterol 22 mg
Sodium 243 mg
Total Carbohydrate 64 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 2 g

Vitamin A 6% Vitamin C 113% Calcium 0% Iron 5%

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Split Second Southern Cobbler

This cobbler may also be made with peach filling; add 1 teaspoon almond extract and substitute an orange for the lemon.

10 Servings

2 rolled pie crusts

2 21 oz. cans berry pie filling
1 lemon

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Remove the crusts from the package; place one of the crusts in a 9" round deep baking dish. Place the dish over the other crust and cut around it with a knife (to make the top crust for the cobbler). Cut slits in the lid, or shapes with miniature cookie cutters.

Pour the pie filling into the crust-lined baking dish; zest the lemon onto the pie filling, then squeeze 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice onto the filling; carefully stir the zest and juice without disturbing the crust on the sides. Fold down the extra crust around the inside of the casserole dish; brush with water and place the reserved top crust over it, pressing down a little to seal.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the cobbler.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until the crust is golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 433 Calories from Fat 168
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 39% Protein 0% Carb. 61%

Nutrient Amount per
Serving
Total Fat 19 g
Saturated Fat 7 g
Cholesterol 13 mg
Sodium 377 mg
Total Carbohydrate 66 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 0 g
Protein 1 g

Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 5% Calcium 0% Iron 2%