Dutch Oven Three Berry Cobbler

As an adult, I am exercising my right to make dessert two nights in a row…well…because..I can! Cobblers are one of my favorite desserts, but I usually save them for special occasions because they can be time consuming. I took bits and pieces of different cobbler recipes and added my own twists and voila! Delicious berry cobbler! The secret to the success of this dessert is the dough. Usually, traditional cobbler dough is made, chilled, rolled out, and then baked. I cheated and used Bisquick so the dough takes 3 minutes to make. Honest to God it tastes just as good. I still love my homemade dough cobblers, but on weeknights when I have a craving, I will turn to this recipe. I always have berries on hand because I put them in smoothies, but you can definitely use frozen fruit as well. If you do though, just add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, instead of 1, in order to ensure the sauce is thick enough.

 Dutch Oven Three Berry Cobbler:

Serves 4-6 || Total cooking time: 1 hr and 45 minutes || Active time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for filling:

·      1 pint fresh blueberries

·      1 pint fresh raspberries

·      1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced (about half a container of strawberries)

·      1 cup sugar

·      1 Tbsp cornstarch

·      2 Tbsp lemon juice (half a lemon)

·      zest from half a lemon

Ingredients for topping:

·      2 ½ cups baking mix, such as Bisquick

·      ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp sugar

·      ⅛ tsp baking powder

·      ⅛ tsp salt

·      ¼ cup (1/2 a stick) butter, melted

·      ¾ cup milk

·      cinnamon for dusting, optional

In a bowl, toss the fruit with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest. Let the filling sit for 30-45 minutes at room temperature to allow the berries to macerate.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, combine the baking mix, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and milk.

Using a dutch oven, generously grease with butter or nonstick spray. Add the berry mixture to the dutch oven. Take large dollops of dough and evenly drop it around the cobbler in a circle and one dough ball in the middle (you should have 7). Brush half and half (I only had skim milk, so that’s what I used) over the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until bubbling and browned. Start checking the dough after 30 minutes and remove it from the oven as soon as the dough is cooked through and browned. For my oven, exactly 40 minutes did the trick. Let sit for about 10 minutes and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!