This is a recipe for a healthy version of fruit cobbler. The way to keep it healthy is reducing or removing the added sugar. That is a consistent mistake done with desserts that could be healthy. The cobbler works well for dessert or partial breakfast the next day. Mix together whatever fruit is readily available. We’ve made a variety of apple and berry cobblers because that’s what is grown in the backyard.
Make the cobbler in a pyrex pan, cast iron skillet, or dutch oven. Cobbler in a dutch oven outside on a cooking fire is great past-time. Keep the sides and bottom oiled in whatever cooking container used. Mixing and assembling cobbler is fast, so you can preheat the oven at 350-375f or get the cooking fire started ahead of time.
Given are basic instruction for the Lower section and only guidelines for the Upper section of the cobbler. Review the Pancake + Donut recipe for a more inventive and creative Upper section. One of the limitations to this recipe is that there are great spices that are not included, simply because I don’t have enough exposure to them.
In the Lower section (mix together):
-Mix about ¼ cup of flour to 6 cups of fruit.
The fruit should have a thin coating of flour after it is mixed together. The flour added to the lower section give it a thicker texture when baked as it absorbs some of the water from the fruit. If you have it available, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch will also work.
-1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Some lemon juice can add a bit of flavor to the fruit mix. Since rhubarb and under-ripe fruit is often sour, skip the lemon juice if the fruit mix has some. If you don’t have lemon juice, don’t worry about it.
-2 tablespoons of melted butter.
This adds some richness to the flavor as well as makes it a more balanced dish. If it’s complimenting a lower fat meal or you are in a colder climate, add more butter.
-Spices, 1/4 Tsp of or a dash
One can go too heavy on these spice examples. I generally go with 2 of these examples: ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg. Go easy on nutmeg as it is a poison to humans.
Put the Lower section in your cooking container. Then start on the upper section in the same bowl.
For the Upper section(mix together):
-Mix 2.5 cups of flour with 2.5 teaspoons of baking powder
The ratio of 1 cup of flour to 1 teaspoon of baking powder to flour seems more or less universal.
-1/4 teaspoon or a pinch of salt
-A dash of spices:
Use different ones than you did on the bottom section, though recommended you select from the same 4. We’ve often chosen cinnamon for the top.
-Milk or water:
Just keep adding and mixing until you get to a thick and sticky mixture. This well also help absorb water from the fruit while baking. If you put too much liquid in by accident, either increase the the flour and baking powder or start a new Upper section, depending on how much you mucked it up.
Put the Upper section in the cooking container on top of the Lower section. Its ready to cook.
About 45 minutes in the oven at 375f is a good start when baking the cobbler if you want a little bit of crunchyness at the top. Less than an hour at 350f will get a slightly softer top. Oven cooking can be generally be described as this: hotter and faster will create a harder tougher texture, cooler and slower creates a softer texture. As you get closer to finish, check the top with the toothpick method by inserting the toothpick into the dough to see if it sticks to the pick.
If baking the cobbler with a cooking fire, keep it away from the hot open flames. Open flames are too hot for baking, so your just going to burn the outside of the cobbler to the dish. Off to the side of the flames will work or let the flames dampen down and cook over the heated coals. Rotate every once in a while to bake evenly.