Pioneer Woman Blueberry Cobbler

This blueberry cobbler is made with fresh blueberries under a biscuit-like topping, baked until golden and bubbly. The fruit stays juicy and the topping turns soft and craggy. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream. It takes about 1 hour and serves 10 to 12.

The topping is a lumpy biscuit dough you tear into pinches and dot over the fruit. Keep the butter cold and stir just until the dough comes together. Lumpy, clumpy dough is what bakes into a craggy, tender topping instead of a flat one.

Toss the blueberries with flour before they go in the dish. The flour thickens the juice as they bake so the fruit sets instead of staying watery. Cover with foil for the first 20 minutes, then uncover so the top browns.

Pioneer Woman Blueberry Cobbler

Author: Hamdi Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:American Courses:Blueberry Desserts Dessert

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 40 minutesTotal time:1 hour 50 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:300 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

This blueberry cobbler bakes fresh blueberries under a craggy, biscuit-like topping until golden and bubbly. Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

For the Fruit:

• 8 cups fresh blueberries
  
• 2/3 cup sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the Topping:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
  
• 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 1/2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into pieces
  
• 3/4 cup milk
  
• 1 large egg
  
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. For the fruit: place the blueberries in a large bowl and sprinkle in the sugar and lemon juice. Add the flour and stir to combine.
   
2. For the topping: in a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir it, then add the 1 1/2 sticks of cold butter and use a pastry blender to cut it into the dry ingredients.
   
3. Whisk the milk and egg together, then drizzle it into the flour-butter mixture and stir until the dough just comes together. It should be lumpy and clumpy.
   
4. Pour the blueberries into a 9×13-inch baking dish and dot them with the 2 tablespoons butter. Tear off pinches of the dough and dot them all over the top, then sprinkle with extra sugar. Cover lightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until lightly browned, about 25 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

FAQs

Why should the topping dough be lumpy?

A lumpy, clumpy dough bakes into a craggy, tender biscuit topping with crisp peaks and soft spots. Overmixing it into a smooth dough gives you a flat, dense topping instead. Stir just until it comes together.

Why toss the blueberries with flour?

The flour thickens the juice the berries release as they bake, so the fruit sets into a thick filling instead of staying soupy. It works the same way the cornstarch does in my Blueberry Pie.

Why cover the cobbler with foil at first?

The foil lets the fruit and the underside of the topping cook through for the first 20 minutes without the top browning too fast. Then you uncover it so the topping turns golden in the last stretch.

Can I use frozen blueberries?

Fresh are best for the juiciest result, but frozen work if you thaw and drain them first so they don’t add extra water. For a make-ahead blueberry dessert that handles frozen berries well, see my  Blueberry Bars.

Do I have to serve it with ice cream?

No, but it’s the classic pairing. The cold vanilla ice cream melts into the warm fruit and topping. The cobbler is also good on its own, warm or at room temperature, or with a spoon of whipped cream.