My uncle has converted his garage into a green house. This year his peach tree has been overwhelmed with fruit. He asked me if I wanted any, I said I would take a few. What I got was 5 pounds of peaches with an assurance of more to come.

 

I’ve only had peaches from the supermarkets – they’re unscented, firm, and after sitting in the fruit bowl for a week will have flavor. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and the first thing to hit me was the delicious smell. These peaches range in size from as small as a golf ball to the size of my closed fist. They had a slight tart taste, but still quite peachy.

This recipe is from The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook. A wonderful book that provides excellent recipes with helpful tips & techniques for just about anything.

Filling

• 2.5 lbs. of Peaches (peeled, pitted, & cut into wedges)
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
• 1 tsp. Cornstarch
• Pinch of Salt

Biscuit Topping

• 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 3 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. Sugar
• 3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 5 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter (cut into 1/4″ pieces & chilled)
• 1/3 cup Plain Whole-Milk Yogurt – I used nonfat

1. For the filling

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line an 8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil.

Toss Peaches and Sugar in a large bowl. Let sit for 30 min. Stirring several times. Then drain peaches in a colander set over a large bowl, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid.

 

Whisk the reserved liquid with Lemon juice, Cornstarch, and Salt. Combine with the Peaches and transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake until peaches begin to bubble around the edges, ~10 min.

2. For the biscuit topping

While the Peaches are in the oven. Pulse Flour, 3 Tbsp. Sugar, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter Butter pieces over the top and pulse until it resembles coarse meal.

 

Transfer to a medium bowl and add Yogurt. With a rubber spatula toss until a cohesive dough forms, but don’t over mix.

 

3. Assemble

After removing the peaches from the oven, place dough on top. The directions say to place 6 equal dough mounds spaced 1/2-inch apart. Instead, I evenly distributed the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining 1 tsp. of Sugar. Bake for 16 – 18 min. or until the filling is bubbling and the biscuit topping is golden brown. Rotate baking dish halfway through baking.

 

Let cool for about 20 min. before serving.

Enjoy!

Overall the peach cobbler was a hit. Everyone who tried it came back for second helpings. The tarty peaches really helped it from becoming too sweet. However, I want to try this recipe again but adding some cinnamon, allspice, or ginger. I was also asked to make the biscuit more crumbly. Look out for a second trial!

Behind the Scenes

I feel it necessary to own up to a few mistakes I made while baking this.

1. While whisking the reserved peach liquid with lemon juice and cornstarch, I forgot to add salt. After two minutes in the oven I remembered. I quickly pulled out the peaches and sprinkled some salt over the top.

2. I eye-balled the amount of baking powder before finding the 1/4 tsp. measure.

3. I got frustrated with the rubber spatula. I used my hands instead. I need someone to teach me how to toss with a single spatula.

4. I forgot to sprinkle the dough with sugar before baking it. I like to clean as I cook. I put things away once I’m done with it or leave it out if it’s needed later. Luckily, I had the sugar sitting on the counter all by its lonesome. I sprinkled the cobbler while it sat on the pulled out oven rack. Technically it’s an error caught before it turned into a mistake.

So take heart! You’re not doomed if you make small mistakes while baking. The key is to catch yourself in time before it turns into a disaster. I usually have my family hovering around asking me what I’m doing or reading my recipe out loud. I even get a few Is something burning? while I’m waiting for the oven to preheat. They’re usually trying to fluster me, but I mentally just check off each step as it’s spoken out loud.