Strawberry Cobbler

Strawberry Cobbler desserts This fresh strawberry cobbler recipe is a tasty dessert and one of my favorite ways to use those juicy, sweet Summer strawberries. It is bursting with delicious strawberry flavor, with a hint of bright lemon and vanilla, and finished with a light, fluffy drop biscuit type buttermilk topping. berry deserts, skillet desserts Strawberry Cobbler strawberries

This fresh strawberry cobbler recipe is a tasty dessert and one of my favorite ways to use those juicy, sweet Summer strawberries. It is bursting with delicious strawberry flavor, with a hint of bright lemon and vanilla, and finished with a light, fluffy drop biscuit type buttermilk topping. It’s the perfect Summer dessert and takes just minutes to pull together using simple ingredients. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Strawberry Cobbler

Strawberry Cobbler Recipe Ingredients

  • STRAWBERRIES: Fresh berries is best but frozen strawberries will work in a pinch too. Just be sure to thaw the fruit completely first and pat dry before slicing. Or it might be easier to slice them frozen then allow to thaw and pat dry. You will need apprize 2-2¼ lbs of whole fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced making approximately 5 cups of sliced strawberries. We find that is the perfect ratio of berry filling to topping in this size skillet or for an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.
  • LEMON ZEST & LEMON JUICE: Brightens the flavor and perfectly complements the strawberries.
  • SUGAR: Sweetens the strawberry filling.
  • CORNSTARCH: Helps to thicken the filling
  • VANILLA & ALMOND EXTRACT: To enhance flavour of filling but you could also add a splash to the biscuit dough as well with the vanilla. The almond extract is optional but adding it along with the vanilla extract creates a deeper, more bakery-fresh flavor.
  • CINNAMON: Adds a really nice hint of flavor to the biscuit topping
  • ALL PURPOSE FLOUR: For the biscuit or scone topping.
  • BAKING POWDER: The leavening ingredient needed for a nice rise in the biscuits.
  • SALT: Balances the sweetness in this cobbler.
  • BUTTER: We use unsalted and melted butter for this recipe. Melted butter for biscuit topping? Yes melted. Combined with cold buttermilk causes the warm, melted butter to coagulate into small, solid beads, mimicking the effect of cutting in cold butter.
  • BUTTERMILK: We love the flavor and texture that the buttermilk gives the topping. If you don’t have any heavy cream or milk can be used instead but it will change the texture of the biscuits a bit - richer, denser, as opposed to taller, and a bit softer using buttermilk. It is used in the biscuits and to brush over instead of egg wash
  • COARSE SUGAR: Adds a nice crunchy texture to the exterior of the biscuits - optional

Strawberry Cobbler

How To Make Strawberry Cobbler (full instructions in recipe card below)

  1. PREPARE FILLING: Toss the filling ingredients together to fully coat berries
  2. PREPARE BISCUIT TOPPING: Mix the topping ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in buttermilk mixture, scoop out dough flatten a little with hands and place over the strawberries. Brush biscuits with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired
  3. BAKE: until biscuit topping is deeply golden and blueberries are bubbling

Strawberry Cobbler

Strawberry Cobbler

Cobbler Storage, Make Ahead & Freezing:

  • STORAGE: Leftover cobbler can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. Reheat in the oven or in the microwave
  • MAKE AHEAD: UNBAKED - You can assemble it a few hours before baking it and keep it in the fridge. Remove from fridge while preheating oven then bake as stated in recipe. BAKED cobbler can be made one day ahead and kept, covered with foil, at room temperature or the fridge. Reheat, covered with foil, in 300°F oven for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue reheating for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until warmed through.
  • FREEZING: You can also freeze the baked cobbler for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm in the oven before serving.

Strawberry Cobbler

Strawberry Cobbler

Recipe

Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 20 mins
Bake Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

For the Strawberry Filling

  • 2-2¼ lbs fresh strawberries, hulled (green stem removed) and sliced (approx 5 cups)
  • ⅔ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2½ tablespoons corn starch or flour
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch of salt

For the Topping

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • ½ cup cold buttermilk, plus more for brushing
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For Sprinkling over Biscuits

  • 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar or coarse sugar, optional

For Serving

  • Whipped cream
  • Vanilla ice cream

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F

For the filling

  1. In a greased 9-inch skillet or casserole dish toss the sliced strawberries with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, extracts, pinch of salt and cornstarch. Toss until all the strawberries are well coated. (if you prefer to too this is a large bowl then transfer mixture to skillet you can)

For the Topping

  1. In a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, sugar cinnamon, baking powder and salt
  2. Stir the melted butter and vanilla into the cold buttermilk. It may clump up and that is totally fine.
  3. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and use a fork or spoon to fold it in until all the flour is mostly combined, scrapping the sides and bottom of the bowl - the mixture will be fluffy but very clumpy looking, that is fine.

Assemble Cobbler

  1. Scoop out portions of the dough using a large cookie scoop and then place it in your hand gently pat dough to ¼ inch thickness to flatten and arrange it on top of the strawberry filling. (the dough might be a little sticky so you can lightly flour your hands if needed)
  2. Brush tops of the biscuits gently with a little more buttermilk and sprinkle coarse sugar on top if using.

Bake Cobbler

  1. Transfer skillet to preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown, toothpick tester in biscuits comes out clean and fruit filling is bubbling.
  2. Remove from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes to allow the bubbling fruit juices to cool and thicken.
  3. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipe Notes

  • You can use a spoon and simply dollop the biscuit dough/batter in smaller portions all over the top of the strawberries. We just like the coverage we get from flattening out the scoops of it. Either way will work. You just don’t want super big thick dollops of the dough sitting over the berries as they won’t bake through as evenly.
  • A note about the baking time. The baking time could be 35-45 minutes depending on what pan you use to cook the cobbler in. Food generally takes longer to cook in a ceramic casserole dish than in a metal skillet. So keep and eye on the cobbler as it comes up to the 30 minute mark and if it needs more time than it needs more time.
  • Storage & Reheating cobbler: Leftover cobbler can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat portions of it use the microwave or air fryer but to reheat large portion of leftovers we recommend reheating in the oven tented with foil at 350°F for 15-20 mins, then remove the foil for the last 5 minutes if you want a crunchier top.

Strawberry Cobbler