GOOD OLD FASHIONED PEACH COBBLER

I love peach cobbler....the old fashioned kind that my mother made.  

Seems like nowadays when you see a recipe for cobbler, it is made by mixing a thin batter, pouring it in a baking dish, and then spooning the fruit on top. It makes a good cobbler, but when I think of cobbler, I think of the kind my mother made.

I had these peaches that I bought on our trip in Mississippi from Alabama. They looked ripe, but of course they aren't. They have to pick them early so they can ship them to sell all over the country. The best way to ripen them is by putting them in a single layer in a brown paper sack, turning down the top, and forgetting about them.  

Well, almost. After a couple of days, I will open the sack and smell. When they smell like peaches, they are ripe.

This evening I decided to make a cobbler like my mother would have made from the peaches. The recipe I used actually isn't my mother's recipe, but one I found in a cookbook once when visiting my Auntie Gert.  

The date I have written on the bottom of the card is 1985. I knew it had been a while because I also wrote on the card that I had gotten the recipe from a cookbook of Auntie Gert's. I haven't called her Auntie Gert for a long time. It started that way, but then I dropped the Gert and just called her Auntie.

I have read the recipe card so many times and I am not sure I made it the way I was supposed to. I really don't think I did, but it turned out great the way I did it. The next time I make it though, I plan to make the one thing my mother did differently....pour half the peaches in the dish, lay half of the dough strips on top crisscrossing, top with rest of peaches and end with the other half of dough strips crisscrossing on top. See NOTE below.

I did make a few changes, but what else is new. The card says it also works with berries also. Will have to try it with blackberries......I love blackberry cobbler, too.

PEACH COBBLER

4     cups sliced peaches
3/4  cup truvia baking blend or 1-1/2 cups sugar
3     cups of water, or just enough to cover fruit
2     teaspoon vanilla
2     tablespoons flour
1/4  cup water
1     stick of margarine

Blend the flour and 1/4 cup water in a bowl with a whisk til smooth.

Place peaches, sugar, water vanilla, flour mixture, and margarine in a metal pan or boiler and 

bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes while mixing the dough.
(I covered the pot....the recipe didn't say to.)





Dough:

1-1/2     cups flour
1/4         teaspoon baking powder
2/3         cup shortening
2 - 3       tablespoons cold water

Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add the shortening and combine.

Add the cold water. Stir to a thick mixture. (I just used my fingers.)  Form a ball.

Cut the ball in half.

Spread a little flour on a surface (I use my tempered glass board)

Kneed a little of the flour in the dough so you can roll it out fairly thin. Cut with a knife into strips.

Place  the strips over the peaches. Dip peaches and juice over the dough. Let cook a few minutes.

Roll out remaining dough (spread a little more flour on the surface) and cut into strips.

In a deep baking dish, pour the peaches.  (This was the part I didn't like and will do differently next time...making sure the slightly cooked dough was spread out. Mother's way is much easier.)

Lay the strips across the top of the peaches.

Dot with a little margarine.

Bake in a preheated oven (425 degrees F.) for 30 minutes.

Can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but it taste great just by itself, too.











NOTE:  My mother made her peach cobbler by pouring about half of the peaches in the dish and then layering the strips over the top. Then she carefully poured the rest of the peaches on top of that. She finished it off with the rest of the strips of dough on top. After making this by the recipe, I think Mother's method is better. You have to be careful that you have the slightly cooked strips spread out in the dish so you don't have too much dough in one place as I explained above.