Fresh, fruity, juicy peaches, topped with a light, fluffy, cream biscuit topping, and served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – this Classic Peach Cobbler is everything that’s good about summer and autumn!
This fresh peach cobbler is as simple as it is delicious. And easy to adapt too.
Fruit cobbler recipes have been very popular in my family for many years. For good reason. It’s such a simple dessert that always delivers with great flavor. And it’s so quick and easy to make!
A Classic Peach Cobbler is easily the most popular version of all fruit cobblers. The juiciest of peaches, topped with a light, cream biscuit topping, that’s oh so soft and buttery… what’s not to love? And it’s so convenient because you can make the peach filling AND the biscuit topping in the same bowl, meaning less cleaning and less cooking. Sounds like the perfect summer and autumn dessert to me.
Why you should make this peach cobbler recipe
- This is a fresh peach cobbler recipe using fresh peaches.
- Instead of cinnamon, I use lemon zest and lemon juice here for an additional layer of flavor. Lemon juice brightens the flavor of peaches, while lemon zest makes the fresh, fruity sweetness stand out even more.
- A buttery, soft, cream biscuit topping – the biscuit topping has a little butter added to it. The butter and cream combo makes for the best light, fluffy yet creamy topping that’s perfect for this classic peach cobbler. A fork will go through it like a hot knife through butter, and it’s creamy enough to soak up all the peach juices, while also having a cake-like texture. Plus, lemon zest adds more flavor to the biscuit topping as well.
- Quick, simple recipe, and it’s great for crowds!
What is the perfect cobbler?
There are only two criteria that make a perfect cobbler,
- A juicy fruit filling
- A soft and delicious biscuit topping
Fruit filling – I’m not usually very picky about the fruits I use. I like peaches, plums, berries, nectarines, cherries or any stone fruit.
While you could use frozen fruits to make fruit cobbler, I much rather use fresh fruits. I do try to avoid canned fruits at all cost though. Fresh fruits make the best filling, and for a fruit cobbler that’s half the recipe.
Biscuit topping – A classic cobbler recipe uses cream biscuits as toppings. The biscuit needs to be light enough to break with a fork, but still soak up all that glorious juice from the fruits.
How to choose peaches for this recipe
Start with firm but ripe peaches – firm to the touch, but not rock hard (unripe), or too soft (overripe). Avoid peaches that are bruised, or have discolored.
You can use yellow peaches or white peaches for this recipe, but remember that the color of the cobbler filling changes with the color of your peaches.
Can I use unpeeled peaches?
Some recipes call for peeling the peaches before making a classic peach cobbler, and some recipes don’t. I honestly don’t mind either.
If peaches are peeled, the filling will be smoother, because there’s no peel holding it all together.
But if you’re pressed for time, you can use unpeeled peaches too. Then the filling will have more texture because of the peels.
How to make fresh peach cobbler
Start with fresh, firm but ripe peaches. Start with good peaches, and you’ll get a great cobbler!
Mix the peaches with the rest of the filling. Don’t forget the lemon either, because the citrus really perks up the peach flavor. Then place the filling in a baking dish and let it cook and thicken up.
While the filling is cooking in the oven, mix all the ingredients to make the cream biscuit topping.
Then spoon it over the cobbler, and bake till the topping is golden brown in color.
Classic peach cobbler should be served while warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the best peach cobbler experience! 🙂
Other tips to make the best fresh peach cobbler
- Use fresh lemon and lemon zest for best results – if you don’t have fresh lemon, you could use lemon extract in a pinch.
- Use cold butter for the topping – cutting/rubbing the butter into the flour will result in really tender biscuits for the topping.
- Make sure the baking powder is fresh – this is crucial to make sure the topping will rise. Otherwise you will end up with a dense topping.
- Only use a spoon to mix the topping – Do NOT over-mix! You want to develop as little gluten as possible to keep the topping tender and soft.
- Serve/eat while the cobbler is nice and warm. This is also why this dessert is perfect for autumn and winter.
How to serve peach cobbler
The traditional way to serve classic peach cobbler is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But you can serve it with other toppings too. Here are some ideas.
- Vanilla ice cream (classic)
- Vegan vanilla ice cream (vegan option)
- Whipped cream
- Creme fraiche
- Greek yogurt
- Non-dairy yogurt (for a vegan option)
Can I make this into a vegan peach cobbler?
Yes you can! A classic peach cobbler can be made vegan very easily. Substitute the butter with a vegan butter, and use full fat coconut milk instead of cream. Also make sure the white sugar you use is vegan too.
Can I make gluten free peach cobbler?
You can, but I haven’t tried this before. Since gluten doesn’t play an important role in this recipe, you could easily swap the flour for gluten-free flour. I usually like to use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour when substituting for AP flour in my baking recipes.
Can I make this recipe ahead of time?
You can make the filling for fresh peach cobbler ahead of time, however I would recommend topping it with biscuits and baking this right before serving. Once baked, it doesn’t keep well because the biscuit topping gets quite soggy.
Can I keep leftovers?
Well, you can, so long as you don’t mind soggy cobbler though. Remember this classic peach cobbler is best eaten fresh, as soon as it’s cooked. The biscuit topping gets soggy after absorbing all of the peach juices, so you’d be left with a rather dry cobbler with extra soggy topping.
How to adapt this peach cobbler recipe
To make blueberry peach cobbler
Reduce the peaches to 2 lbs, and add 1/2 lb of blueberries into the filling. Proceed with the rest of the recipe for classic peach cobbler as instructed.
Raspberry peach cobbler
Reduce the peaches to 2 lbs, and add 1/2 lb of fresh raspberries into the filling. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as instructed.
Peach pie cobbler
Add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to the peaches and leave out the lemon zest in the filling and topping.
Peach cobbler with thyme/rosemary biscuit topping
Add about 1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves/chopped rosemary to the filling, and add another 1 tsp of fresh thyme/chopped rosemary to the biscuit topping.
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Classic Peach Cobbler
What You Need:
- Cookie Scoop (3 tbsp capacity)
- 9 inch pie dish
Ingredients:
Peach Filling
- 2 ½ lbs peaches, peeled and cored about 10 medium-sized peaches
- ¼ cup white sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) 3 tsp
- 2 tsp lemon zest from ½ lemon
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Cobbler topping
- 4.4 oz AP flour 1 cup
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp lemon zest from ½ lemon
- 57 g unsalted butter chilled and cubed (4 tbsp)
- ½ cup chilled cream 35% fat
- 2 tsp raw sugar
Instructions:
Peach Filling
- Preheat oven to 400°F / 205°C. Butter an 8 or 9 inch round baking dish, or an 8 x 8 square baking dish. Set aside until needed.
- You can choose to peel the peaches or not (this is optional). Slice the peaches into equal-sized pieces (about 12 slices from 1 peach). Place them in a bowl.
- Add sugar, salt, cornstarch, zest and lemon juice into the bowl, and toss to combine with the peaches.
- Place the filling ingredients in the prepared baking dish, and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until the peach filling is bubbling. (This can take between 15 - 25 minutes).
- Prepare the cobbler topping while the filling is baking.
Cobbler topping
- Wipe clean (with a paper towel) the bowl that you used to assemble the filling.
- Place the flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt, and zest in the bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the chilled, cubed butter and use your hands to rub the butter into the flour. Break the butter into pieces. Make sure to leave pea-sized butter pieces in the flour as well.
- Add the cream and stir it in to combine. Mix just until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Peach Cobbler
- When the filling is bubbling, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and place it in on a heat-proof surface.
- Using a 3-tbsp cookie scoop, scoop the biscuit topping over the surface of the filling, with ½ inch space between scoops.
- Sprinkle some raw sugar over the scooped biscuit (optional).
- Return the dish to the oven, and bake for a further 15 - 20 minutes until the topping has turned golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately, with ice cream or your choice of topping.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Helen says
Making this tonight and reading your tips. You say”make sure the baking powder is fresh”, yet there is no baking powder in your list of ingredients for the topping. Typo?
Dini says
Hi Helen!
Thank you for pointing this out! The recipe has now been fixed.
Thank you again 🙂
Sylvia Sanfilippo-Cohn says
Easy and delicious.
Dini says
I’m so glad you liked the recipe Sylvia, thank you for letting me know!