Old-Fashioned Berry Cobbler
on Jul 24, 2019, Updated Jan 18, 2025
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This berry cobbler recipe with its tender, flaky biscuit topping, is the height of summer fruit dessert indulgence.
Berries make me greedy. They are so appealing, bursting with color and sweetness. And while they can be quite pricy most months of the year, during the months when they are in season you should grab as many as you can and make this cobbler! It’s a great reason to go berry picking.
A berry dessert feels quite extravagant and excitingly indulgent. This cobbler is the ultimate berry-lover’s dessert. It’s crammed with raspberries and blueberries, though you can also use strawberries, blackberries, or any other kind of berry you like.
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The berries are the star, though the sugar-dusted biscuit-like cobbler crust is a seriously flaky and delicious supporting actor. Instead of doing drop biscuits on the berry filling, or one big piece of top crust, for this cobbler I gently pressed out the dough, and then cut it into wedges.
Don’t forget to top it with some Homemade Whipped Cream!
What's In This Post?
Old Fashioned Berry Cobbler: This berry cobbler recipe with its tender, flaky biscuit topping is the height of summer fruit dessert indulgence.
Berry Cobbler Ingredients
For the Filling:
- Berries – I used raspberries and blackberries. If you include strawberries, cut them in halves or quarters, depending on their size, so they are similar in size to the other berries and easy to get on your fork.
- Sugar – The sweet berries only need a little bit of sugar.
- Cornstarch – Tossing the berries with some sugar and a little lemon juice and cornstarch helps create a little binder so as the berries release their juices they thicken up. You could add more cornstarch, which will create a thicker sauce, but I don’t like to taste the cornstarch, so I keep it to a minimum. The cobbler will be pretty juicy, but that’s what the biscuits are for.
- Lemon juice – I always love a hit of lemon in (well, in anything, really — you may have noticed…) all fruit desserts. In this case, I used lemon zest in the biscuit-y part and juice in the berry filling.
For the Topping:
- All-purpose flour – The dough for this topping is very similar to a biscuit dough, with flour providing the structure.
- Sugar – Some sugar goes in the dough itself, and more gets sprinkled on top of the biscuit-like topping to get crunchy in the oven.
- Lemon zest – Lemon juice would alter the texture of this dough, so just the zest is best.
- Baking powder & baking soda – Helps the biscuit topping rise while baking.
- Kosher salt – A bit of salt in sweet recipes amplifies flavor.
- Cinnamon – A little warmth.
- Unsalted butter – Incorporate cold butter into the dough in pieces so that they melt during baking and make a flaky biscuit-like topping.
- Whole milk – Gets brushed onto the top of the dough to help it get golden brown in the oven.
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream – What is cobbler without a cold, creamy, sweet topping?
How to Make Old-Fashioned Berry Cobbler
- Combine the filling ingredients: Add the berries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice to a large bowl.
- Toss: Combine the ingredients until thoroughly mixed, then transfer to a baking dish.
Kitchen Smarts
It’s really best to use your hands when you are tossing berries in a bowl. No matter how gentle you are when mixing everything, a spoon will probably crush some of them, and you have more control with your hands.
- Make the topping: Pulse together the butter and the dry ingredients in a food processor. Then mix in the milk to finish the dough.
- Press out the dough into a circle, then cut into wedges.
- Assemble: Transfer the biscuit wedges to the top of the cobbler; they should be separated so that the filling can peek out between the dough.
- Bake: Bake the cobbler in your preheated oven for 40 minutes. I wish I had used a slightly larger baking dish, because the biscuit wedges kind of melded back together as they baked and a little more bright berry filling showing would have been pretty. There is always a next time.
Make Ahead and Leftovers
You can make the dough for the topping the day before and then just throw together the filling before adding the topping and baking. I wouldn’t recommend mixing up the filling in advance because the sugar will draw out the moisture from the fruit, making the filling too watery.
You can keep leftovers for up to 3 days in the fridge. Bring to room temp before eating, or rewarm for 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
You can also freeze this dessert after baking — it reheats really well in the oven. Just heat it covered with foil in a 350-degree oven until mostly thawed. Remove the foil and finish heating through, allowing the crust to re-crisp.
What to Serve With Berry Cobbler
More Summer Berry Recipes
- Summer Berry Clafoutis with Whipped Cream
- Simple Raspberry Fool
- Berry Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Patriotic Berry Cobbler with Whipped Cream
- Sour Cream Biscuit Peach and Berry Cobbler
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Old-Fashioned Berry Cobbler
Ingredients
For the Berry Filling
- 7 cups mixed berries (larger strawberries, halved or quartered)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
- ¾ cup whole milk
- Whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream, for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Place the berries in a large bowl and sprinkle over the 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Use your fingers to toss the berries so that they are coated with the sugar mixture. Turn the berries into a deep 9-inch round baking dish (or use an oval one of similar size).
- Place the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Turn the mixture into a bowl, pour in the milk, and stir just until a dough forms. Lightly flour a clean surface, turn the dough onto the surface, and pat it into a 6- or 7-inch round. Cut the dough into 6 wedges, like a pizza. Carefully transfer the dough to the top of the berries, arranging the wedges so that berry filling peeks from between each of the pieces of dough (see the photos if this isn’t clear!).
- Lightly brush the tops of the dough wedges with milk, and lightly sprinkle them with sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and cooked through and the berry filling is bubbling.
- Cool on a wire rack until just warm, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Notes
- If you include strawberries, cut them in halves or quarters, depending on their size, so they are somewhat related in size to the other berries and easy to get on your fork.
- You can make the dough for the topping the day before and then just throw together the filling before adding the topping and baking. I wouldn’t recommend mixing up the filling in advance because the sugar will draw out the moisture from the fruit, making the filling too watery.
- Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before eating, or rewarm for 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
- You can also freeze this dessert after baking — it reheats really well in the oven. Just heat it covered with foil in a 350-degree oven until mostly thawed. Remove the foil, finish heating through, and allow the crust to recrisp.
