Life's a Peach... Cobbler, That Is

It's summertime in the South, and in addition to high temperatures that means one very important thing: peach season.  I love peaches, but they're not the same if they're not in season, so I anticipate this every year.  My favorite use of peaches? Peach cobbler. Cobbler is usually super easy to make, too.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Cutting board                                                                Whisk

Knife for slicing                                                             Mixing spoon

Large bowl                                                                    13 x 9" casserole dish

Medium mixing bowl

Ingredients

6-8 peaches                                                                   Dash cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar                                                     1 cup all purpose flour

3 Tbsp all purpose flour                                                2 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp cardamom                                                         1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg                                                              1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt                                                                     3/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp lemon juice                                                        3 Tbsp melted butter

Dash cloves                                                                   Oats

Now Let's Make Peach Cobbler!

Preheat your oven to 375F.

You're going to start by prepping your peaches.  I recommend cutting your peaches into quarters and removing them from the pit (sometimes that's easier said than done). You may want to mentally prepare yourself, cause this'll get messy.  Find the method of removing the pit that works best for you. Once you have your four quarters separated, remove the peel. You can use a knife to do this, but I usually just peel by hand.  Find the end of peel that feels loose and slide your finger underneath the skin to remove.  Once you've peeled the quarters, slice them into thin slices; I usually do about 3 per quarter. By the time you're done you should have something like this:

It was about 3x as messy as pictured.

Set the peaches aside. Measure out 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packing it into the measuring cups, and add it to your large skillet. Next measure 3 Tbsp all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp lemon juice and add them to the skillet.  Add a dash of cloves and a couple dashes cinnamon.  Place the skillet on the stove over medium heat and allow the ingredient to begin to warm. Once the ingredients are warmed, pour your peaches on top. Stir the peaches into the other ingredients. Leave to cook over medium heat.

Take your medium mixing bowl and add 1 cup all purpose flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Using a fork or a whisk, mix the dry ingredients together until the texture is even and there are no lumps. Add 3/4 cup milk and 3 Tbsp of melted butter. Mix together thoroughly; the end result should be a very thick liquid batter.  

By now, your peaches should look a little like this:

Mmmmmm... peaches!

If your peaches aren't tender and swimming in brown sugar sauce, don't worry. Just let them cook down for a little bit longer.  When they're ready, pour the peaches into the casserole dish. Spread them out so that you have an even layer. Then spread the batter over the top of the peaches.  I find it easiest to spoon the batter in several places in the dish to make the spreading easier and more even.  I topped my cobbler with some oats and brown sugar, but this is completely optional.  

Bake at 375 F for about 40 minutes. The finished cobbler should be golden and bubbly.  Allow to sit and cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve alongside some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!