Best Peach Cobbler

Updated April 17, 2024

Best Peach Cobbler
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Erin Jeanne McDowell.
Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes
Rating
4(3,601)
Notes
Read community notes

Everyone has a different idea about what a cobbler should be. Biscuit-topped? Double-crusted? Cakelike? We’re not here to cast a vote, merely to present a simple Southern cake-style cobbler that makes the most of ripe summer peaches (or the frozen ones languishing in the back of your freezer). All you really need is a bowl, a saucepan, a baking pan and a spoon. This recipe is all about showcasing the fruit, so when you transfer the batter to the pan, it will not completely cover the bottom, nor will it cover the top of the peaches. As it bakes, the batter will rise up along the sides of the pan and through the peaches, developing a crisp exterior and tender interior. If you'd like a taller cobbler with a higher cake-to-fruit ratio, do as many readers do, and double the batter.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings
  • 2pounds ripe peaches or 6 cups frozen sliced peaches (no need to peel)
  • 12tablespoons butter (1½ sticks)
  • cups granulated sugar
  • 1cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (See Tip)
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½cup milk
  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

346 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 40 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 242 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, pit and slice the peaches. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Add the sliced peaches and ½ cup sugar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until soft and syrupy.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup sugar with the remaining 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk until combined.

  3. Step 3

    Add 8 tablespoons of butter to a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and place it in the oven. When the butter is melted, reserve ⅓ cup of the batter and set aside. Add the rest of the batter to the pan, using a spatula to spread it out as much as you can. It will not fully cover the bottom of the pan. That’s O.K.

  4. Step 4

    Spoon the peach mixture evenly over the top of the batter. Using a clean spoon, dollop small bits of the reserved batter over the peaches, and spread around a bit with the back of the spoon. (It will not fully cover the peaches. Again, that’s O.K.!)

  5. Step 5

    Bake for about 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Tips
  • This recipe originally called for 1 cup self-rising flour. If you use self-rising flour, leave out the baking powder, and add ¼ teaspoon of salt instead of ¾.
  • This cake is best the day it's made as the crisp exterior softens when covered with plastic wrap or foil for storage. Still, it makes a great breakfast.

Ratings

4 out of 5
3,601 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Definitely Southern style, and as my family is from Georgia I used Georgia peaches at maximum ripeness. The 9X13 pan is too large for the quantity of batter called for in the recipe. Yes, the batter spreads out but there's still not enough to come out looking like the pic above. A solid recipe, true to Southern cooking standards except it doesn't include a half teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg that would push the results to Southern culinary gold star level. Increase batter/add spices!

Yum - made it twice now. Cut the sugar by 1/2 cup overall and the butter by 2 TBS this time and it came out great. Rich, sweet and decadent both times.

I agree with others to decrease the sugar and butter and to double the amount of batter. Also, you don't need to peel the peaches. I left mine unpeeled and it turned out fine.

IF you don't have self-rising flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the 1 cup of regular flour.

This recipe originally called for self-rising flour, but we recently updated it to call for all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt since self-rising flour is less commonly found in people's pantries these days. If you use self-rising flour, leave out the baking powder, and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

Halved the recipe for an 8 x 8 pan and it turned out to be the best peach cobbler I've ever made. The only changes I made were to add several shakes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to both the filling and batter. It baked in about 35 minutes. Amazingly delicious batter sets this cobbler apart!

This recipe needs twice as much batter.

If I had to pick the most memorable thing I ate during the long pandemic summer of 2020, it would be this recipe. Both my parents are from Georgia and my mom loved peaches more than just about anything else. Pies and cobblers - especially peach cobbler - were staples in our home. Flash forward to a 53 year old man - with both parents gone - and a bucket full of peaches ripening faster than they could be eaten. In my opinion, this recipe is perfect.

Fabulous! I would not, however , describe interactions with the batter as "pour" or "drizzle." Mine was quite thick; it needed to be spooned or pushed. I was worried until I tasted the results. Wonderful.

To remove the skin, scald the peaches with boiling water for a few minutes; boil water and pour into a bowl with the peaches. The skin will slip right off.

I added a cup of blueberries to the recipe, which provided color. I followed the recipe as written. This recipe does not need extra batter. The amount of batter specified was enough to fill up a 9x13 glass baking pan when the fruit was added. This dessert was enough for a dinner party of 8 adults. Served with vanilla ice cream. Very good!

Made it for the first time July 3'19. BIG hit family loved it. Doubled the batter added an extra peach to the filling too. With doubling the batter and having 2/3 cup for the top, during baking, when it rises it completely covers the top. The sugar in the batter carmelizes a bit and it has a lovely crunch.

This is very close to the recipe my family makes. In “middle Georgia”, cobbler is made with the juiciest, nearly overripe peaches bought from a farm stand, ones that would never survive shipment to a grocery store. You can always dial back the sugar, add freshly grated nutmeg, and about 1 tsp of lemon juice as they stew. Don’t skimp on the butter, however, The batter is loose and gooey, sinking to the bottom, but should rise to a crispy top with delicate crumb.

Followed suggestions to cut butter (10 tbs) and sugar and then doubled cobbler recipe, adding about 2 tbs more milk (Paula Dean has equal amounts flour and milk.) Added some blueberries. Used serrated peeler to remove peach skin. Easy. Fresh market peaches are so delicious. Served with local fav vanilla custard. Raves!

I used 9 peaches macerated in 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 stick butter, some nutmeg and a pinch of salt. No flour, no cooking there. For the batter I used 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 2t baking powder, 1t salt and cut in 1 stick of butter. Added 1 c milk and an egg, beaten together. Put some batter on the bottom of the pan, then peaches, then blobbed the remainder on the top. Baked at 350. My husband says it is the best cobbler I have ever made. We eat it with yogurt for breakfast.

I made this last night for a family gathering. Everyone loved it and one texted me today for the recipe. It’s easy and delicious. I read all the comments about cutting this or that but as directed it was great for us!

Made a 1/2 recipe, using frozen peaches, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, self-rising flour, and baking in a 10” cast iron skillet. 4 servings. Delicious.

Loved it! Like other southerners recommended, I added the half teaspoon cinnamon and quarter teaspoon nutmeg to the peaches. I threw in a teaspoon of vanilla as well. I love cinnamon so I added a half teaspoon to the batter as well. Very delicious and a hit at our house.

I’ve made this twice now and failed twice. Not enough batter and the bottom is just soggy while the top is too caramelized. To sweet also. I won’t try again.

Ooh this was good. Palisade peaches are at their best this year and I was ambivalent about using them in this recipe (such a waste of sweet ripe fruit?) but came out delish. Followed others’ advice and used 1 stick of butter, 1 cup sugar. Just right.

Made this last night. Followed directions exactly. Used frozen peaches. Served with vanilla ice cream. Would definitely make again. Will cut back on butter a bit and add a sprinkle of cinnamon to peaches. Delicious recipe!

Halved the sugar, baked in 8x8 glass dish

I used a slightly smaller casserole dish - about 8x12 and did every single other step and it’s really terrific and received rave reviews. And our peaches weren’t ripe at all but still worked great. Very happy about the slightly smaller dish - that size is perfect. Thank you for this one!

A sad soggy mess and unfortunate use of so many perfectly in season peaches

I wasn’t much of a fan of this recipe .. I used fresh peaches and the sugar and butter made the result very heavy, overwhelming the peaches. Overall quantity worked great for a 9x11 pan. Would like to try again, but reducing both butter and sugar by 1/3

I'm not usually much of a fruit cobbler person, but I had some very ripe peaches from a farm share box to use up. I'm glad I made this. It was delicious! I used buttermilk instead of milk in the batter. I added some Saigon cinnamon to the batter, and some Chinese five spice to the peaches, along with a bit of vanilla bean sugar. I used a 9 inch square pan, and there was plenty of batter to cover the top of the peaches. The crust came out with a nice crunch. I will make this again!

So good! I did cut down the butter and sugar a bit and it was still great. Since I didn't have enough peaches, I added frozen mixed berries to excellent result. I will make a half recipe more of the cake mixture as I would have liked a little more coverage on top.

First, do NOT use 8 tbsp butter for the bottom of the pan. Way too much. I followed the recipe to a T, and after serving, there were pools of butter in our bowls. Second, I will halve the sugar next time- the 1/2 cup in the peach mixture entirely overwhelms the taste of the peaches. Third, I have no idea why you would use milk over heavy cream for the batter. Fourth, I have no idea why you would add the majority of the batter to the bottom of the pan. Will 2x the batter recipe next time.

Delicious! Added cinnamon, nutmeg, cut back sugar and halved peaches with full recipe of batter in 8x8 dish based on others’ notes. Used super ripe Colorado Palisade peaches and next time will use more! Only needed about 50 minutes of baking at high altitude.

Too much butter, too little batter. Not worth all the work. How can they get this so wrong when so many people have consistently reported the same problems? I wish I had read all the notes before cooking…that was dumb of me!

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