It’s almost apricot season.  These seasonal little gems are such an wonderful treat.  But they come and go fast.  You can find them at the grocery store all summer long, but if you are growing them in your backyard once they start to ripen, they need to be picked daily so as not to become over-ripe.  And then you can make Easy Apricot Cobbler.

We didn’t always have an apricot tree.  How we got our first tree is a little bit of serendipity.  When we first bought our recreational property in the Blue Mountains, my husband decided to plant an apple tree.  So he purchased a tree from a local garden center and took it to our cabin.

My husband took such good care of that tree.  He watered and fertilized it regularly.  It began to grow and flourish the first couple of years.  But it takes a few years to get blossoms and apples so we never got any apples.  And then it started to decline.  Each year it lost a few limbs until it was just the main trunk.  He dug that tree up, put it in a pot and took it back home.  At this point he just stuck the pot in our garden and assumed it would die.

But instead, it began to grow again.  It started to add new branches and after a few years it began to flower.  By the third year it actually got some fruit on it.  Some fruit that didn’t look like apples…it turned out to be an apricot tree.  Lovely apricots to make jam, cobblers and to just eat fresh.  So in honor of apricot season I want to share my favorite east apricot cobbler recipe.

Keys to a delicious cobbler…

• Cobblers are really just fruit and some type of dough.  Any type of fruit will work but apricots, peaches, berries and cherries are family favorites.
• The ratio of fruit to dough is important.  You want to have twice as much fruit as dough.  So be generous with the fruit.
• You can freeze the fruit filling and then make cobblers year round.  Just prepare the filling with the sugar, spices and thickener.  Freeze it flat in a ziploc bag.  When you are ready to bake your cobbler, defrost the filling and place in your baking dish.  Then top with your dough and finish baking.  Quick and easy dessert any time of year.
• There are lots of dough styles available including drop biscuit style, dough on the bottom and spread thin across the top.  I also will use pie crust for my cobblers.
• Make sure the dough is completely cooked. If your dough is too thick it can overcook at the edges but still be under cooked in the center.  It’s no fun to take a bite of cobbler and end up with squishy batter.

Print

Easy Apricot Cobbler

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

Sweet juicy fruit topped with a dough and baked.  Quick and easy.

Course: Dessert

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Filling

• 6 cups apricots, washed, pitted and halved
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 11/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Topping

• 6 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cold water

Instructions

Filling

1. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch into a bowl.  Add apricot halves and lemon juice.  Mix thoroughly.  Place in an 9 X 9 size baking dish.
   

Topping

1. Mix the flour and salt.  Cut in the butter until very crumbly.
   

2. Slowly add the cold water to form a ball.  Roll out on a floured cutting board and slice into strips.  Lay the strips on top of the filling.  Brush a small amount of water or milk across the dough and sprinkle with a tbsp of additional sugar or cinnamon sugar.
   

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until crust is browned and filling is bubbly.
   

Summer is such a great time for a cobbler.  There are so many wonderful fruits available for this delicious dessert.  It’s quick to fix and easy to make.  Whip up an apricot cobbler for dinner tonight and your family will definitely smile.