Southern Blackberry Cobbler
Have an abundance of fresh blackberries on your hands? This easy southern blackberry cobbler has juicy blackberries and a golden buttery crust in every bite.
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I adore some good, old fashioned fruit cobblers. Especially in the summer when ALL the fresh fruit is at peak season. While peach cobbler still ranks as my all-time favorite, I do like to mix things up a bit. My little guy claims that blackberries are one of his favorite fruits, so I decided to treat him to a homemade blackberry cobbler.
Looking for more blackberry recipes? Check out this post for Blackberry Pie.
Ingredients and tools you’ll need
With only seven ingredients, you’ll have this easy blackberry cobbler recipe whipped up in no time. To make this easy recipe, you’ll need:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 4 cups fresh blackberries
- 2 cups white granulated sugar, divided
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- Whipped cream or ice cream, optional
- 2.6 quart baking pan – roughly the size of an 8 x 8 square baking dish, but another shape in a similar size can be used.
Melt the butter
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter in bottom of the baking dish. Once the oven has come to temp, place the baking dish in the oven and leave it in there for 5-7 minutes, just until the butter has melted completely.
Prepare the berries
Rinse the berries under cool water and drain. Dump them into a large mixing bowl. Add one cup of sugar to the berries and stir to coat them in the sugar. Set the berries aside.
Make the crust
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the remaining cup of sugar, the flour, baking powder, milk and salt. Whisk the batter ingredients together until it is lump free.
Assemble and bake the cobbler
Pour the batter mixture over the melted butter in the baking dish, but resist the urge to stir everything together. In fact, don’t stir it at all. Next, pour the berries with the sugar on top of the batter. Again, don’t stir it! As the cobbler bakes, the berries will sink to the bottom and the cobbler crust will rise to the top. Trust me on this. If you stir everything together you will ruin the magic.
Place the baking dish on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil to collect any drips from the cobbler filling. Bake the cobbler for 45 minutes to one hour until the top crust is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble. The filling will be HOT right out of the oven. It may also be a little runny at first, but don’t worry. The liquid in the filling will thicken as it cools, so you may want to let the cobbler sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. It’s not cobbler without a scoop of vanilla cream to go with it. But if you prefer, you can also serve the cobbler with whipped cream.
Storage, freezing and reheating
Storage. Allow the cobbler to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. This delicious dessert should be eaten within four days.
Freezing. The baked cobbler can be frozen. However, it may slightly affect the texture of the crust and the filling could end up a bit more runny. Make sure to store your cobbler in an oven safe dish (some glass or ceramic dishes can’t go directly from the freezer to the oven.) Cover the top of the pan with foil, then freeze on a level surface. Consume the cobbler within three months.
Reheating. Quick and easy method — pop individual servings in the microwave for 1- 1:30. The crust won’t be as crisp, but if you are in a hurry this is the quickest way. If you want that right out of the oven texture, then of course, you’ll need to reheat it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Bake the cobbler for 20-30 minutes until heated through.
If reheating from frozen, I don’t recommend thawing first. In my experience, putting the frozen cobbler directly in the oven helps the cobbler to retain some of it’s pre-frozen texture. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cobbler for 45 minutes or until heated through. Check the cobbler every 15 minutes to make sure the crust isn’t getting to brown. If that’s the case, loosely cover the top with foil.
Frequently asked questions
I feel ya on this one. I love the taste of blackberries, but I can’t stand all those little seeds. While you can remove the seeds during prep, the process will break down the berries. You’ll end up with juice and berry pulp instead of whole berries. For this reason, I tend to skip removing the seeds, but if you’re adamant, here’s how to do it.
My go-to method is to use a food mill. A food mill is a hand crank device used for straining and pureeing foods. You fit the food mill with one of three perforated blades. As you crank the food mill, it presses the food against the blades. The perforations on each blade are smaller than the next. The finer the blade, the more that’s extracted from the food. You will likely need to pulse the berries in a blender or food processor first to break them down a bit. Then run them through the mill. The blade with the largest holes will remove the skins, the second largest will extract most of the seeds. The smallest will remove all of the seeds but you will be left with mostly juice.
The second method is to use a mesh sieve or colander. Pulse the berries as mentioned above. Transfer them to the colander fitted over a large bowl. You may need to use the back of a spoon to extract as much juice from the blackberries as possible.
Can I use frozen berries?
Yes, you can use frozen berries. You don’t even need to thaw them first.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes, you can make this cobbler up to a day in advance. Follow the reheating instructions discussed above under Reheating.
More fruit cobbler recipes you might enjoy
More summer dessert recipes
Southern Blackberry Cobbler
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
- 2 cups sugar divided
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- Whipped cream or ice cream optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the butter in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Place the dish in the oven and allow the butter to melt, about 5-7 minutes.
- In the meantime, gently combine the blackberries with one cup of the sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, blend remaining sugar, flour, baking powder, milk, and salt. Pour mixture over the melted butter. DO NOT STIR!
- Pour the blackberries over the flour. DO NOT STIR!
- Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until crust has risen to the top and is golden brown.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
