I LOVE peach cobbler. I love this peach cobbler because it’s the one my momma made for us all the time when we were little. It’s got just the right ratio of cakey-dough versus peaches and there’s plenty of those buttery, chewy edges because you bake it a 9 1/2 x 13-inch pan.
I called momma at the beauty shop one day to ask her for the recipe, and Gay Nell, her cousin and a great cook herself, was there getting her hair done. Just hearing them go back and forth about measurements and oven temperatures was a soothing and much-needed trip back home. I felt like I was sitting there with perm rods in my hair waiting for the solution to set. “Now, is it 1 cup of self-rising or 3/4 cup, Gay Nell? I can’t remember,” Momma eventually said. “Oh, you’ll figure it out and it’ll be fine.” You know mothers never have measurements, do they? But she was right. I set in to figuring it out and made it several times until I settled on one cup of flour and 300 degrees.
So, grab some fresh peaches while they’re still in season, pop this in the oven while you’re eating your dinner and when it’s time for dessert, it’ll be piping hot and fresh. And don’t forget the ice cream!
Ingredients:
2 heaping cups peeled, sliced, ripe fresh peaches (about 2 large peaches)
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons cold butter, divided
1 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
Sugar, for sprinkling on top
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (very important)
Instructions:
1. Place peach slices in a large bowl and sprinkle in the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir well and set aside while preparing the pan and batter.
2. Put butter in a 9 1/2 x 13-inch baking pan and place in cold oven. Set oven to 300 degrees, allowing butter to melt as oven heats up. Butter may need a little longer to melt once oven has reached temperature, so leave the pan in the oven until it’s melted.
3. While butter is melting, mix flour, sugar, and milk in a large mixing bowl until very smooth. Pull pan from oven and pour mixture evenly into the butter in the pan—don’t stir. Butter will be pushed to the edges and batter should fill in the rectangular shape.
4. Drop peach slices (they’ll be juicy at this point and that’s good) one at a time on top of the batter, distributing evenly. Don’t stir. Sprinkle some sugar evenly all over the top, probably a tablespoon or two.
5. Bake for about 50-55 minutes. Edges should be brown due to the butter and the center should be golden brown. Serve hot from the oven with vanilla ice cream.
Nan’s notes:
Don’t skip the step of covering the peaches in sugar for a few minutes. That, in essence, marinates them in their own natural juices and it softens them as well. I used fresh peaches, but my mom always made this with canned peaches. If you do that, skip the step of sprinkling in the sugar and allowing to sit. Use two (15.25 ounce) cans of sliced peaches, drained. Or if you want to add a little of the juice, do that when you drop the peaches in. You may need to back off the milk in the batter in equal amounts if you add in more moisture. Also, you may want to lower the amount of sugar you use as well, due to the sweetness of the peach juice and the sweetness of the ice cream. It’s up to you…you’ll figure it out and it’ll be fine 🙂
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