Grandma’s Double Crust Peach Cobbler
Grandma’s cobblers were the definition of LOVE. Each time I saw one I got all the anticipation of sweet and tart and flaky and delicious. It’s the kind of dessert that gets your mouth to make sounds as you eye your second helping. Fresh peach cobbler expressed so much of Grandma’s heart.
This is a recipe I developed to honor the legacy of my Grandma’s cobbler. In the longstanding Southern controversy surrounding biscuit top or crust, my grandma insisted on crust. And although drained canned peaches or frozen peaches will do in a pinch, my Grandma loved to use fresh in her cobblers. I remember seeing her hands use a paring knife to peel and slice the peaches into a bowl with expert precision and a smile.
It’s my hope that cooking this recipe will bring you the same summertime joy that it brought me and my family. And don’t forget the ice cream!
Double Crust Peach Cobbler
Serves 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
- 2 cups
unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup
whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon
granulated cane sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon
salt
- 2 sticks
(1 cup) unsalted butter, chilled and grated on the large holes of a box grater
- 1/4 cup
cold orange juice, plus more as needed
For the peach filling:
- 8 cups
sliced fresh yellow peaches
- 3/4 cup
dark maple syrup
- 3/4 cup
orange juice
- 2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons
unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons
(1/4 cup) unsalted butter, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon
almond extract
- 1
large egg
Instructions
Make the crust: Place flours, sugar, and salt in a chilled medium metal bowl. Mix gently. Add the grated butter and cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender until the consistency is the same throughout. Add the cold orange juice and use a wooden spoon to combine. If the crust isn’t coming together, add more orange juice 1 tablespoon at a time. Form the crust into two balls. Flatten each ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 to 2 hours.
Take the pie crusts out of the refrigerator so they can soften slightly as you prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Make the filling: Place the peaches, maple syrup, orange juice, and cinnamon into a saucepan and heat on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Sift the flour over the peaches and stir until it is well incorporated. Continue to heat on medium heat until the liquid thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in butter, vanilla, and almond extract.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the pie crusts to a 1/4-inch thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter in two or three different sizes (1 to 3-inches) to cut out hearts. Gather and reroll out the scraps as needed to cut out hearts until the crust is all used; set aside.
Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with butter. Roll the second pie crust to a 1/4-inch thick. Measure and trim the crust to fit into the bottom of the baking dish. Transfer to the baking dish.
Ladle the peaches onto the bottom crust in an even layer. Pour the liquid over the peaches. Place the heart-shaped pie crust pieces over the peach mixture in a pleasing overlapping, graduated pattern. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush the egg onto the hearts.
Bake for 30 minutes. Check and cover the hearts loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil if they are browning too quickly. Bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the cobbler from the oven, uncover if needed, and let cool for 20 minutes for the filling to set before serving.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Jocelyn Jackson’s passion for culturally significant food, social justice, creativity, and community is rooted in a childhood spent on the Kansas plains. Her family would always sing a song before sharing a soulful meal. Jocelyn founded JUSTUS Kitchen to continue to create healing food experiences that inspire people to reconnect with themselves, the earth, and one another, with the goal of collective liberation. And she still begins every meal with a song. Trained as an attorney and environmental educator, she enjoys using her role as a cook activist to build beloved community.
Jocelyn is also a co-founder of the People’s Kitchen Collective (PKC) based in Oakland. It is a large-scale community dining project that uses food and art to address the critical issues of our time while centering the lived experiences of Black and brown folks.
PKC was named “Rising Star Chef” by the San Francisco Chronicle, honored on the YBCA 100 list, and was presented with the advocate award at CAAMFeast.