Blue Ribbon Blueberry Cobbler

Does it ever bother you that blueberries aren’t actually blue? Sure, they appear so from the outside, but deep down they’re just a purple mess masquerading as royal blue perfection. Aren’t we all. There’s nothing a good-quality coat can’t hide. This cobbler, though, celebrates the internal mess – it’s actually quite lovely to Jackson Pollock your plate in the deep, runny purples and red-tinged violets of blueberry guts or gaze at the ethereal glow of a fuchsia stained glass pie plate. The neat little circles of topping that crown the entire mess just furthers our affinity for this self-reflection-in-cobbler: lighter, slightly crunchy clouds of biscuity dough that tuck everything in nicely and make sure our mess of a day isn’t oozing out of our exterior put-together appearance. Why not celebrate the mess and scoop out a huge glob of this delightful end-of-summer treat – you deserve it.

In all seriousness, this was our first time actually making gluten free cobbler – the least-gluten-free-friendly version of the fruit-topped-with-more-carbs dessert. Crisps and crumbles are fast and easy to convert as they rely on other crunchy mix-ins to add flavor and texture to the topping. Cobbler, though, is supposed to be “biscuit” like, and if you’ve ever tried to replicate the “real” biscuit tag line of “light and fluffy” in a gluten free version, you know that it’s not a piece of cake. This cobbler does a decent job in that department, though gluten free biscuits certainly are a different breed from the normals and shouldn’t be directly compared.

If you like more topping-to-filling, we recommend making an addition half of the dough and rolling it out a bit thicker than listed in the recipe, giving you heftier clouds of biscuit on top of the heaps of soggy berries. And by all means, don’t just stick to blueberries. Have at those other lovely late-summer fruits that are lingering in grocery stores, or mix and match to make a beautifully-eclectic cobbler we all would want a piece of.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Blue Ribbon Blueberry Cobbler

A classic blueberry cobbler

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: biscuit, blueberry, cobbler

Servings: 10 people

Calories: 150kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Pie pan

Ingredients

For the biscuit topping:

• 1 3/4 Cup gluten free flour 1-1 mix with xanthan gum
• 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
• 1/2 Cup almond meal
• 1/4 Cup white sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup chilled cubed butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp melted butter for brushing on top
• 2 Tbsp white sugar for dusting top

For the filling:

• 9 Cups fresh blueberries
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 Cup white sugar
• 1/3 Cup corn starch
• 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. In a 9×13 pan, or two pie pans, put the 2 Tbsp butter and set in the oven to melt for 3-4 minutes. Take out and push the butter around to coat the pan, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, lemon juice, zest, corn starch and sugar. Toss carefully with a spatula to combine, then set aside.
• Make the topping. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Toss in the chilled, cubed butter and knead the butter into the flour mixture using your hands. Work quickly and thoroughly until dough is combined. In a small bowl or 2-Cup measuring cup, whisk together the cream, vanilla, and egg until blended. Pour into the dough and stir together using a stiff spatula. It will be very liquid at first but will pull together as you stir (don’t over-stir).
• Dump the dough out onto a heavily-floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough and pat down and together until it is flat and 1/2-inch thick. Use a champagne glass or other narrow-mouthed glass to cut circles out of the dough and place them neatly together over the top of the blueberries, completely covering the top of the cobbler. If you have extra dough, you can re-combine it and add more circles if there is space.
• Last but not least, brush the melted butter over the top of the biscuit topping generously, then sprinkle the top with the extra sugar.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 400°, then lower to 350° and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until topping is golden brown and berries are bubbling. Be sure to let cool almost completely before serving. Best with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cobbler!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber