Fresh, juicy peaches, topped with a buttery, sweet, flaky biscuit topping? Yes, please! It’s summertime, and a recipe for fresh peaches is always a hit. This fresh peach cobbler uses peaches at their prime and a sweetened buttermilk biscuit topping for an amazing summer dessert.
When it comes to peach recipes, I think peach cobbler is near the top of the list, especially as a summertime treat. A peach cobbler with fresh peaches is even better. Peach cobbler recipes come in so many shapes and sizes as well, so there’s a lot of room for improvisation and experimentation. I’ll discuss some popular options and shortcuts you can try further down.
Fresh peach recipes during the summer can take on so many amazing forms. Other than a fresh peach cobbler, you can make things like a peach crisp, peach caprese salad, peach galette, peach streusel muffins, etc. While canned and frozen peaches can help make dishes year-round, fresh peaches in their prime during the summer is where the real flavor is and makes the best homemade peach cobbler.
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🥘 Ingredients
While most of the ingredients for the biscuit layer are universal to buttermilk biscuits, the ingredients for the peach filling can vary. I list a bunch of stuff for the peach layer because they all add more depth of flavor, but if you want to keep it super simple you could make this with only peaches, sugar, and a starch of some sort.
Biscuit Layer
Flour – All-purpose flour is fine here.
Sugar – Use a ½ cup of granulated white sugar here. These are sweetened buttermilk biscuits for dessert, so they’re a little sweeter than a typical biscuit recipe.
Leaveners – Use both baking powder and baking soda here.
Butter – I use cold, unsalted butter here, but salted is fine as well. Just omit the added salt if using salted butter.
Milk – Use buttermilk for the best flavor here. If you don’t have any, most other milks should be fine as well, or use buttermilk powder.
Cinnamon – Use about a ½ teaspoon here just to add flavor that carries through from the biscuit to the peach filling.
Peach Layer
Peaches – Fresh peaches are best, but frozen can be used in a pinch as well. Since this is a fresh peach cobbler recipe, you’ll want at least 6-7 yellow peaches, about 3-3.5 pounds worth. If you’re using a large, deep baking dish, you could easily fit 4-5lbs worth, but this will raise the cost of the dish as well.
Sugar – Peaches are a sweet fruit already, so I use just a bit of both brown and white sugar. You could also just use one or the other if you prefer.
Starch – I like tapioca starch here and in most baked fruit applications like pies, but corn starch is fine as well. Tapioca starch tends to thicken fruit with a clearer finish where corn starch can sometimes be cloudy looking. Either is fine though.
Lemon – Optional, but I like to add just a bit of fresh lemon juice. The acidity and lemon flavor helps balance the overall sweetness.
Vanilla – Also optional, but just a bit of vanilla extract helps to balance all the flavors.
Spices – Optional, and usually best in Fall dishes, a combination of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg really boosts all the flavors and pairs well with peaches.
🔪 How to Make
Fresh peach cobbler comes together in about an hour, and you can make it all in one mixing bowl and a 13x9 baking dish.
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Slice the peaches into medium sized slices or roughly 1-inch chunks and place into a 13x9 baking dish. Add both sugars, tapioca starch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, spices, and salt. Stir to combine well, until all the peaches appear coated.
Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. While the peaches are baking, prepare the biscuit topping.
In a large mixing bowl, or in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk or pulse to combine. Cut the cold butter into cubes and, using a pastry cutter or the food processor, blend into the flour until you have a lot of pea-sized crumbles. Pour in the buttermilk and combine with a spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
After 10 minutes in the oven, remove the peaches and set aside. Now add the biscuit topping. Using your hands, pull out chunks of dough and form into small patties about a ½ inch thick. There’s no need to be precise here for a rustic peach cobbler, the shapes and sizes can vary and just be placed on top of the peach filling. Keep in mind that the biscuit topping will puff up and spread out as it bakes, so don’t try to get full coverage over the peaches or the filling won’t bake properly.
Optionally, before baking, you can make a quick egg wash and brush the tops of the biscuits and sprinkle with some sugar. This will help with browning and adds a nice sweetness to the topping. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes. The filling should be bubbling, and the biscuits should be starting to turn golden brown on top.
Set aside to cool for at least 5-10 minutes before serving, and top servings with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for the best flavor experience.
🥧 Difference in Cobbler vs Crumble vs Crisp
All these desserts have a few things in common, and are a two-layer, baked dessert. They typically consist of a bottom layer of firm fruits, stone fruits, or berries. The top layer is what makes them each different, varying from biscuits to dough to batters to streusel like layers. Another thing they all have in common is that a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a perfect finishing touch.
Cobblers
Cobblers are the oldest and most well-known of these desserts, with recipes dating back to the 1800s. What is considered a “cobbler” and the recipes for them have changed over time, but the topping is typically made with small, round biscuits that give the top a cobblestone shape, hence the name.
Fruit is layered on the bottom of a baking dish and topped with biscuit dough. As it cooks, the fruit breaks down and thickens, while the biscuit top becomes flaky and crisp on top and moist and flavorful underneath. In some versions, butter is melted in the baking dish and a loose, cake-like batter is poured over it. The fruit is then placed on top, and the bottom layer will rise above the fruit as it cooks.
Crumble
A crumble starts off the same way, with some kind of fruit or berry at the bottom of a baking dish. The topping is then added, which tends to be a streusel like mix of flour, butter, and sugar. Sometimes spices are added to the crumble as well.
Crisp
The difference between crisps and a crumble are more subtle, and sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. The only real difference is that in a crisp, oats and sometimes nuts are added to the streusel topping. This is what gives the finished dish a “crisp” and crunchy topping.
Honorable Mentions
There are a bunch of other similar desserts that deserve mention but would need an entire post to discuss them all.
A buckle is like the cake-like version of cobbler, where a cake layer cooks up and around the fruit and “buckles” as it puffs up. Usually also topped with a crumble, it’s like a fruit-studded coffee cake.
A pandowdy is also like a cobbler, but instead of a biscuit topping, it’s topped with either scraps of pie dough, or a pie dough that fits over the baking dish and then broken up as it cooks.
Almost identical to a cobbler, a grunt is basically the same dessert, but instead of being baked, it’s cooked in a covered Dutch oven or large skilled and steamed instead.
📖 Variations
Southern Peach Cobbler – Sometimes referred to as old fashioned peach cobbler, this is typically (not always) made with a more cake-like batter instead of a biscuit topping. Usually, you’ll melt butter in the baking dish while the oven preheats, then add the cake batter without stirring, then top with the peaches, again without stirring. As it cooks, the batter rises around and above the peaches.
The batter uses slightly different ingredients to be more cake-like than biscuit, so don’t attempt to use this recipe for a southern-style version as it’s not a 1:1 switch in methods only.
Mixed Fruits & Berries – Fresh peach cobbler is great on its own, but what about mixing things up? Other fruits that pair well with peaches include apples, pineapples, plums, nectarines, apricots, cherries, papaya, etc. Berries also go well with peaches, like raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, huckleberries, etc.
Feel free to mix and match different options for a tasty spin on peach cobbler. I do recommend limiting things to 2 or 3 total fruits and berries, and only using about 10 cups in total.
Smaller or Individual Peach Cobblers – If you want a smaller version of fresh peach cobbler, you can cut everything in half and bake in an 8x8 square pan. You can also make individual servings by using oven-safe ramekins or small skillets. Make the same way as the recipe directs, but portion fillings and toppings in the individual ramekins.
Cobblestone Look – I tend to keep cobblers easy and rustic looking, but if you want a tidy and cobblestone appearance, you can. Simply dump the biscuit dough onto a lightly floured surface and work into a large and even square. Use a biscuit cutter to make nice round, even biscuits for topping the cobbler.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Short answer: yellow freestone peaches. These peaches have sweet but slightly firm flesh that softens nicely when baked and tend to be the best choice for most baked peach dessert recipes. Freestone peaches also have a pit that usually comes away from the flesh more easily than clingstone peaches. White peaches tend to be a little sweeter and have a more floral taste and are better to eat fresh.
When choosing peaches, look for ones that are a little firm but give slightly when squeezed and are free from bruises. They should also have a strong peach smell.
Yes, you can use either one, but personally I don’t recommend canned peaches because they tend to already be a lot softer and can break down too much when baked in biscuit type cobblers. If using frozen, I recommend thawing and patting them dry before using in a recipe.
Completely personal preference. I usually wash peaches well and skip peeling them for most baked applications. Peach skin is very thin and almost melts away when baked, it also adds a nice color to the finished dish and lends to a rustic peach cobbler look.
🍽 Equipment
Fresh peach cobblers are pretty simple when it comes to the tools required to make them. There’s really nothing special that you’re going to need. I only have two special mentions here.
Pastry Cutter – If you don’t have or want to use a food processor, a pastry cutter works well for cutting butter into flour by hand.
Baking Dish – In almost all fruit dessert recipes that require baking, especially recipes where the fruit contacts the dish, I recommend using glass or ceramic coated baking dishes. I prefer this 13x9 glass baking dish especially, and this 13x9 enameled baking dish from Staub. Metal baking pans can leave the finished dish with a slightly metallic taste.
❄️ Storage
After baking and cooling, you can cover peach cobbler and leave it out at room temperature for 1-2 days. While the USDA says this is ok, I do recommend covering and refrigerating if you’re not going to finish the whole thing within a day or two.
If you plan to take longer to finish peach cobbler, I recommend covering the dish or transferring it to an airtight container and storing it in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. This time is in total, so don’t leave it out for 2 days and then move to the fridge for another 5 days.
Cobblers also freeze well. Once cooled completely you can cover the dish or transfer it to another freezer container and freeze for 2-3 months. To reheat, place it into a 350°F oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
📋 Recipe
Fresh Peach Cobbler
Ingredients
Peach Filling:
- 6-7 peaches, about 3-3.5lbs
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, or corn starch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, optional
Biscuit Topping:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg, optional for egg wash
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, optional for topping
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Slice 6-7 peaches into medium sized slices or roughly 1-inch chunks and place into a 13x9 baking dish. Add ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon white sugar, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir to combine well, until all the peaches appear coated.
- Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. While the peaches are baking, prepare the biscuit topping.
- In a large mixing bowl, or in a food processor, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and a ½ teaspoon salt. Whisk or pulse to combine. Cut the cold ½ cup of unsalted butter into cubes and, using a pastry cutter or the food processor, blend into the flour until you have a lot of pea-sized crumbles. Pour in the ½ cup buttermilk and combine with a spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- After 10 minutes in the oven, remove the peaches and set aside. Now add the biscuit topping. Using your hands, pull out chunks of dough and form into small patties about a ½ inch thick. There’s no need to be precise here for a rustic peach cobbler, the shapes and sizes can vary and just be placed on top of the peach filling. Keep in mind that the biscuit topping will puff up and spread out as it bakes, so don’t try to get full coverage over the peaches or the filling won’t bake properly.
- Optionally, before baking, you can make a quick egg wash and brush the tops of the biscuits and sprinkle with some sugar. This will help with browning and adds a nice sweetness to the topping. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes. The filling should be bubbling, and the biscuits should be starting to brown on top.
- Set aside to cool for at least 5-10 minutes before serving, and top servings with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for the best flavor experience.
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