Berry Cobbler {Gluten Free, Easy, and Delicious}

I love cobbler. (But really, who doesn’t?)  Peach cobbler is probably the most popular type of cobbler, but a berry cobbler is equally as delicious.

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter Britta came across this recipe in a magazine for a gluten-free cobbler with a berry filling. I was excited to try it because the only kind I’d ever made were apple or peach. I’d never tasted a berry cobbler before, let alone a gluten-free version of one! I couldn’t wait to make it, but once I did, it was gone in a flash! 

This cobbler really is THAT GOOD! Even my oldest son Erik who can sniff out a gluten-free recipe from a mile away, couldn’t tell the difference!

So it is with great glee that I share this mixed berry cobbler recipe with you today, adapted from the original from MaryJanesFarm.org. Whether you decide to make it gluten-free or not, I know you will love it as much as I do!

What Is Cobbler?

Cobbler is a dessert that has a fruit base similar to a fruit pie filling. But instead of a pastry crust, cobblers have a sweet biscuit topping.

What Is The Difference Between A Cobbler And A Crisp?

Crisps and cobblers are made in a very similar way, and the only real difference is the topping. Instead of a biscuit topping, crisps have an oat/streusel topping. It’s more crumbly than a cobbler, and tends to be sweeter.

Why Not Make A Pie?

Pie is great, but cobblers are easier. Like, a LOT easier. And you can dig into them a lot earlier than you could with a pie, because the cooling time is so much shorter.

And when the ice cream mixes with the berry sauce, you may find that you have gone to heaven.

Berry Cobbler Filling

It all Starts with the Berries

We’re going to be making a mixed berry cobbler today. And while you can absolutely use fresh fruit like apples, peaches, or pears instead, I won’t be going into detail about using different types of fruits here.

I personally like to use a mix of strawberry, blueberry, raspberry mix, but you don’t have to make a mixed berry dessert. I certainly wouldn’t say no to a piping hot, homemade, blackberry cobbler made from freshly picked blackberries.

For best results, you want to use fresh berries (preferably organic if you can get them), but you can also use frozen fruit in a pinch! You’ll end up with a tasty fruit filling either way.

Note: If you’re using frozen strawberries, go with sliced rather than whole strawberries. Smaller frozen berries are fine to use whole.

Sugar

One of the nice things about cobbler is how the juice from the fruit turns into a thick sauce as you cook it. You get that juice by adding sugar to the berry mixture and stirring until the liquid starts to seep out.

I use granulated sugar for this, but you can use any sugar you like. Turbinado sugar will give your cobbler a hint of caramel flavor, similar to brown sugar.

Thickener

The sugar helps draw the juice out of the fruit, but in order to achieve that thick, syrupy texture we know and love, you need to add a bit of cornstarch or another thickener.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the berry filling and pour into a 10″ cast-iron skillet, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set that aside as well.

Biscuit Topping

Making cobbler dough is similar to making biscuit dough, because you combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately before mixing them together, and handle the dough as little as possible.

Dry Ingredients

This gluten free recipe uses rice flour, but you can use all-purpose flour instead if you prefer. (If you do use wheat flour, you don’t need to add the tapioca starch. Just add more flour to thicken as needed.)

If you’re wanting to keep it low carb, almond flour works in place of rice flour.

Baking powder, baking soda are our leaveners, and salt brings out and balances the other flavors.

Wet Ingredients

For our wet ingredients, we’ll be using butter, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. I don’t recommend using melted butter, because softened butter works best when you’re mixing it with sugar and eggs.

In a bowl or stand mixer, blend butter and sugar until combined. Add egg, buttermilk, and vanilla, blend until combined. Add the flour mixture slowly to the wet ingredients until well combined.

Pour batter over the berries in the skillet and bake 55-60 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool and serve.

SERVING SUGGESTION: Top with ice cream! I can’t imagine cobbler without ice cream….but that’s just me. :-)

Makes 8 servings.