Juicy peaches, sun-kissed berries, the sweetest mangos, and so many more delicious fruits come into season with the summer months. Warm weather is already upon us, and strawberry season is right around the corner; are you ready to make some strawberry cobbler?
Dessert tastes better in the summertime; everyone knows that. Especially the homemade desserts, which are everyone’s favorite and your time to shine. We’re talking about homemade ice cream, boozy slushies, grilled pineapple, and all of the fruity masterpieces. Picnics in the park, backyard barbeques, and happy hour on the balcony… are you lost in a daydream yet? We are.
Cobbler isn’t the easiest summer recipe to choose from, but it would be a shame to pass up on this oh-so-sweet seasonal treat because of a little intimidation. That’s where we come in; hi! We want to spread summer love and strawberry cobbler with everyone, and that’s why we’re here with this simple, fun, and tasty strawberry cobbler recipe.
What is Strawberry Cobbler?
Strawberry cobbler is the superstar of summer desserts.
Most simply, cobbler is a dish filled with fruit, topped with some type of thick batter, and baked until crispy golden. It’s kind of like a deep-dish dessert casserole. It’s also kind of like a crisp or a crumble, but different.
Strawberry cobbler is a sweetened strawberry mixture covered with a lumpy, thick biscuit-style topping. The lumpy, thick topping is a key differentiator when we compare cobbler to crisps and crumbles. To help remember, think of the lumpy topping on cobbler resembling a cobblestone road.
A crisp is extremely similar, being a fruit dessert dish covered in a batter-like topping, with the slight difference of the topping containing oats. A crumble is essentially the same thing (again), except crumbles do not use oats in the topping. The difference between crumble and cobbler is the size of the lumps in the topping, with cobbler having larger lumps.
Of course, the names of cobbler, crisp, and crumble are used interchangeably, but now you’re one of the few people who know their differences. Next time you’re enjoying one of these sweet treats with friends, you can share these little fun facts. We’re about to get you excited about strawberry cobbler, but we have love for all of these desserts.
Part of what makes these treats unique is their carefree and fun construction. As they cook, the fruit juices bubble and boil, creating small pockets of sweet deliciousness that are the most fun to dig into. And whether oats or no oats, small lumps or big lumps, the crispy golden topping is sacred and debatably the best part.
History of Cobbler
Cobbler has been loved across America, dating back to the 1850s. It was first defined in 1859 in John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms as “a sort of pie, baked in a pot lined with dough of great thickness, upon which the fruit is placed; according to the fruit, it is an apple or a peach cobbler.” This sounds more like a pie, we know, but this was just the beginning.
So, for the first few years of its life, that’s what cobbler was. A few decades later, the “southern spin” on cobbler used dough both underneath and on top of the fruit. Many southern regions of the United States still do it this way, and while it’s a little different, it still sounds great.
Over the following years and with many tweaks and adjustments, we arrived at the cobbler we know today. It’s believed that the bottom layer of dough got left behind somewhere along the way because the fruit juices tended to leave the bottom layer soggy. Makes sense.
We started this mini-history lesson in America, but the true birthplace of cobbler dates back to Europe, specifically the United Kingdom. The idea and recipe of cobbler made their way across the Atlantic Ocean with British colonizers. Due to lack of suitable ingredients, settlers could not make their original suet pudding (a pudding made with wheat, suet, breadcrumbs, and dried fruits) and so resorted to layering crumbled biscuits on top of a stewed filling.
And this brings us to cobbler as we know it. Knowing the history of cobbler somehow makes us love it even more. A dessert with a past is always more interesting. Okay, now that we have some deeper appreciation for cobbler, let’s make some.
The Tools
Let’s get into it! Gather your tools.
What you’ll need:
- Casserole dish
- Medium bowl
- Large bowl
- Measuring cups (1 cup)
- Measuring spoons (0.5 teaspoon, tablespoon)
- Whisk
- Scraper spatula
- Large spoon
We’d like to make a quick note about cookware, if we may. Most casserole dishes are made from ceramic, cast-iron, or glass, and sometimes aluminum. Some of these dishes will feature “non-stick,” which at first seems like the clear choice, but there’s more to the story.
Traditional non-stick cookware (95% of non-stick pots and pans) is made with a chemical called Polytetrafluoroethylene. This is definitely a big and scary word, which is why you’re likely more familiar with its other name, Teflon®. One of Teflon®’s main ingredients is a man-made chemical that is recognized as a “forever chemical,” meaning it stays in the body forever once ingested, no matter how small the amount.
When we cook with traditional non-stick cookware, these chemicals are leaching into our home environment and into the food we’re eating. As of 2021, there are over 21 pieces of legislation in the United States trying to ban these chemicals because of their harmful effects.
Caraway has already been making quality cookware without the chemicals, featuring naturally smooth and 100% non-toxic ceramic. Using non-toxic cookware changes your home in more ways than one, all for the better and greater good of you and your family. With this strawberry cobbler recipe and every recipe you make going forward, think about how the cookware you’re using is affecting your final product.
Cobbler? Yay. Chemicals? Nay. What we eat is only half the story; it’s time to look at the tools you use to prepare your food. We hope this snippet of information was eye-opening. We just want to help everyone live happy, healthy, and intentional lives.
Now, speaking of preparing food, let’s get into the ingredients for our cobbler.
The Recipe
At last! The recipe.
Strawberry Mixture:
- 3 cups strawberries (heaping cups)
- 0.5 cup sugar
Cobbler Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 cup sugar
- 1 cup warm, whole milk
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 tbsp butter (salted or unsalted)
- Pinch of salt
How to do it:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Butter the casserole dish and set it aside
- Using the medium bowl for the strawberry mixture
- Add strawberries and sugar into the bowl
- Stir and mix together to create an even sugar-coating over all of the berries
- Set aside
- Using the large bowl for the cobbler crust
- Add flour, baking powder, sugar, pinch of salt, and whisk together
- Add in the milk, vanilla extract, and melted butter
- Stir to combine (not too carefully, a few lumps are ok)
- Pour the cobbler batter into the casserole dish
- Using a large spoon, distribute the strawberry mixture evenly on top of the batter — DON’T mix.
- Baked for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crumble is perfectly golden
That’s pretty simple, right? We think so. Anyone can make this simple strawberry cobbler recipe, especially you. Made by you, enjoyed by everyone. Who will you share it with first? Can you send us a slice?
It would almost be a disservice to the recipe not to at least suggest you serve it with ice cream. Vanilla bean ice cream, in particular, goes wonderfully with strawberry cobbler if we do say so ourselves. Oh, and whipped cream, too. With a generous dollop of creamy goodness on top of this crisp and crumbly cobbler, your tastebuds will be heaven.
We can also note that you can use other types of berries in this recipe too. Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are all candidates for a delectable cobbler. Expanding to the broader world of fruit, you can also try using apricots, cranberries, pears, apples, and even a few more fruits to make different variations.
Strawberry cobbler is special because it marries the joy of fresh summer fruit and the love of dessert. And with a recipe this simple, strawberry cobbler might just become your summer specialty.
Sunshine, Smiles, and Strawberry Cobbler
The crisp and crumbly buttery outside of this cobbler with its juicy and fruity strawberry inside makes our mouths water just thinking about it. Sunshine, smiles, and strawberry cobbler — really, it’s all you need.
Oh, and sunscreen. Never forget your SPF.
From us to you, we hope you enjoy!