Blueberry Peach Cobbler
Everything old is new again—and definitely healthier—as this cleaned-up version of one of grandma's favorite recipes proves.
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Before I introduce Our Blueberry Peach Cobbler recipe let me say a bit about a component of eating that’s almost as important as its nutritional content. See, many foods have an entire emotional history in our memories, foods that we associate with certain people or places or times in our lives. There’s a reason they’re called “comfort foods”—they’re comforting, for all the reasons just mentioned. Unfortunately, those same “comfort foods” aren’t always the healthiest.
Chef Jeannette and I tackled this issue when we wrote The 150 Best Comfort Foods on Earth. We took all the usual suspects and tried to give them a health upgrade while still providing all the happy memories of the original. Which is exactly what Chef has done here with one of the great grandmother-inspired comfort foods of all time: cobbler.
In fact, the original recipe for this amazing cobbler came from Chef Jeannette’s own grandmother, who—a child of her times—used Crisco for the shortening. We now know a few things we didn’t back then, one of which is that butter—when it comes from grass-fed, pasture-raised cows—can be a health food.
Real, wholesome butter is a perfectly acceptable food that also makes any dish taste amazing. And because the taste is so rich and smooth, we can use a smaller amount of crust, which is as light and flaky as any you’ll ever see. We leave the skins on the peaches (rich in healthy plant compounds), add blueberries for extra antioxidants, and use only about a third of the sugar found in conventional recipes. Put it all together, and this cobbler hits all the right notes as delicious and satisfying summer treat.
—Dr. Jonny
Notes from the Clean Food Coach
My grandmother doubled this crust recipe and used the whole thing in one cobbler. She would add half the peaches to the prepared baking dish, lay strips of dough over them in a random pattern, top with the other half of the peaches, and finish with the traditional crosshatch crust.
I kept the crust dough as it is to reduce the total carb load of the dessert, but feel free to add a few strips in the middle like my grandma always did. It makes for a kind of lovely dumpling effect.
Blueberry Peach Cobbler recipe
Ingredients
- Cooking oil spray
- 5 lbs. ripe fresh peaches
- ¼ cup plus ½ tsp. plus 2 Tbs. Lakanto (monk fruit), divided
- 1/3 plus 1½ cups unbleached flour, divided (gluten-free or grain-free varieties work too)
- 2½ tsp. cinnamon, divided
- ¾ tsp. coriander
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup grass-fed butter, well chilled
- 1 small egg, lightly beaten (or ½ large)
- ½ tsp. white vinegar
- 2 Tbs. cold water
- 1½ cups fresh blueberries
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan lightly with neutral, high-heat cooking oil, and set aside.
- Pit peaches and slice thickly (8–10 slices each, depending on size of peach). Place sliced peaches into large bowl and sprinkle with ¼ cup sweetener, ¹/3 cup flour, 2 tsp. cinnamon, coriander, and nutmeg. Mix gently and set aside to rest.
- In large bowl, whisk together remaining flour, salt, and ½ tsp. sugar. Place cold butter in food processor and pulse a few times to chop. Gently add flour mixture and pulse just until it forms moist crumbs, scraping down the sides, as necessary. (Don’t worry if you can still see bits of butter—that helps with the flakiness.) Return flour mixture to large bowl.
- Whisk the egg, vinegar, and water together in separate small bowl, and pour into flour crumbs. Knead with hands just until smooth, elastic consistency is achieved. Do not overwork dough or it will become tough.
- Flour a smooth surface and lay dough in center. Pull dough into large rectangle. Flour rolling pin and roll dough into large rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Slice widthwise into 3/4-inch strips. (If dough warms it will get sticky and harder to handle—refrigerate 10 minutes and try again.)
- Stir blueberries gently into prepared peaches, and pour mixture into prepared pan. Gently lift each pastry strip (using the sharp knife to help remove it in one piece, if necessary), and lay lengthwise across the peaches. Then lay remaining strips widthwise across placed strips to form a crosshatch pattern. Wrap any leftover dough tightly in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for another use.
- In small bowl, mix together remaining 2 Tbs. sweetener and ½ tsp. cinnamon. Lightly brush crust with egg white, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over the coated crust. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Reduce oven temp to 350°F and bake 20–30 minutes more, until fruit is bubbling. Remove foil and cook about 20 minutes more, or until crust is lightly browned. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
- Calories 190
- Carbohydrate Content 27 g
- Cholesterol Content 30 mg
- Fat Content 8 g
- Fiber Content 3 g
- Protein Content 4 g
- Saturated Fat Content 5 g
- Sodium Content 140 mg
- Sugar Content 13 g