Peach Cobbler Recipe

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Because I can hardly turn down a request from a Southern Gentleman:

A dusting of powdered brown sugar *see note
Two cans sliced peaches, drained – I use the kind with a hint of raspberry

1 Cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Cup sugar
2 sticks of butter, softened but not runny

1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla – the pure extract, please – if you’re using imitation, get off my blog

I put mine in an oval plan that’s smaller than a 13 x 9 x 2, but larger than 8 x 8. Figure it out.Preheat oven to 375.

At the bottom of your baking pan, sprinkle the powdered brown sugar. I like to coat the bottom. Some people use cinnamon or powdered sugar. I don’t. Add your drained peaches and make them all snuggly in the pan. If you’re like me and like peaches, add a half of a third can. I promise not to tell. Set it aside and let the brown sugar and peaches get to know each other.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. If you don’t have a sifter, whisk the hell out of it with either a whisk or a fork. I understand that not everyone has a whisk or a sifter, but you can get a free fork at McDonalds.

In another bowl – dear god, use a sauce pan if you’ve used all of your clean bowls – cream the butter with the sugar. It sounds dirty, but you’re just making the sugar easier to deal with, like slipping your aunt mouthwash at Thanksgiving because your mom has locked up the liquor. I’m probably the only kid who ever wanted mom to give me the mixer spoon after she mixed the sugar and the butter while making cookies. It probably explains my bad heart and short attention span now, but oh well. Sugary buttery goodness. If you lick the spoon, please wash it before proceeding to the next step.

Add the sugary butter (or buttery sugar) to the flour and blend it well. Fold in the beaten egg and vanilla. You’ll probably be a little generous with the vanilla, because a teaspoon for me always ends up being more, like three teaspoons. No one has complained yet. By fold, I mean gently stir in – if you beat it in, you’re beating out the fluffiness of the egg and the cobbler won’t rise. I’m not taking responsibility for your heavy-handedness.

Now you’re looking at this bowl and your pan of peaches and you’re thinking – “I rock”, and sure you do, but you haven’t put the cobbler on the peaches yet. You have to make that bowlful stretch over the whole of those peaches. You can do it. It’s like defusing bomb, which we all know you’ve done hundreds of times. Go spoonful by spoonful and spread it carefully over the top of the peaches. Try to leave a few holes as possible. If you haven’t been a bastard with the folding, it should rise just enough to be forgiving of the holes. When you’ve finished obsessing over it, the timer on your preheated oven should be just about going off.

In it goes for 45 minutes (less or more depending on age of oven and the last time it was cleaned) or until golden brown. Let it set out for about ten minutes because it can be hot and everything tastes like crap with a burnt tongue.

*Note – I went on a cookie making bender about two years ago and bought a bunch of brown sugar. Of course, one can never make enough of anything before the brown sugar becomes as hard as a rock. There are various remedies for making it soft again from sticking it into microwave with a pan of water to reciting baseball stats, but I would just buy a new box, which only compounds my problem of confectionery projectiles. I own a Magic Bullet – the kitchen appliance, not the … other appliance. I took all of my hard brown sugar and pulsed the hell out of it until it was powder. I now use about half as much when I cook and it never gets hard, because I can keep it in a smaller plastic container with an air tight lid. Sure I could have done this originally with the brown sugar, but shut up.