Why do I always use a new recipe for everything? I want to be one of those cooks that has signature dishes -- a well-loved pasta salad, a favorite chicken casserole, blah blah blah. But yet I always look for a new recipe and try that. Perhaps it gives me the freedom to fail -- "Oh, I've never tried this recipe before . . ." Perhaps I think that a perfect recipe resides in the ether and someday I'll chance upon it, just as long as I keep looking.
I make lots of cobblers, crisps and crumbles. Partly because I find pie crusts a bother and partly because I always curse too much when I try to fit them into the pie plate. But most of all, I make them because my 9 year old doesn't eat fresh fruit, only cooked. So even though it's drowning in sugar, at least I can assuage my guilt with the thought that at least he's eating fruit. So you'd think I'd have a go to cobbler/crumble/crisp recipe, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Well, up until the recipe below. I found it today on the internets and it was supremely yummy and easy. I can't recommend it highly enough and imagine that just about any traditional pie fruit would work well, just adjust the spices to suit your palate. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups fresh peaches, chopped (about 5-6 medium size peaches)
- 1/2 cup apricots, chopped (about 3)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan over a medium-high heat, toss in peaches, apricots, 1/2 cup white sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and ginger. Once it begins to boil, keep boiling for 10 minutes (occasionally stirring).
2. While the peaches are boiling, prepare the cobbler batter. Mix one cup flour with baking powder and brown sugar. Knead in 4 tablespoons butter, then add milk and mix until combined (it will be lumpy, but thats okay, it should be the consistency of pancake batter).
3. Grease 8×8 baking pan. Pour in cobbler batter, then spoon peach-apricot over batter (the fruit will settle to the bottom during baking). In a small bowl, mix 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 tablespoons oatmeal, and 3 tablespoons brown sugar together, then sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
