Were you new to cooking or eating and came to Smitten Kitchen for a reasonable understanding of what a cobbler is and is not, well, you would find neither reason nor understanding — about cobblers or, let’s be realistic, many other things. There were, before today, four cobbler recipes in the archives and all of them represent different interpretations of what Wikipedia calls “a dessert consisting of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling before being baked.” Is this a good time to mention that Smitten Kitchen Keepers, which will be out in a mere but-who’s-counting 129 days, has two additional cobbler recipes in it, one I make for breakfast and a savory one for an incredible summer dinner?
So why Cobbler No. 7? Because for the last three summers, this has been my dessert cobbler go-to, simple to make and with leftovers that hold up perfectly for days in the fridge. It’s easy to jump in: We’re not peeling fruit, nor are we expected to guess what the fruit will weigh once we pit it, as if anyone is able to calculate it in their head on a screaming hot day at an open-air market. It doesn’t take long to assemble; there are no rolling pins or cookie cutters. The topping is my favorite cream scone with the sugar and butter bumped up a little, messily Tetris-ed over superripe plums, although any kind of stone fruit works here. In the oven, the cobblestones cobblescones find each other, some tumbling over like blocks, sopping up some of the bubbling juices below, and browning on top. Their centers stay perfect, halfway between cake and cookie, but with a rich crumb and light almond flavor. I keep the sugar low because I like the contrast of the bracingly tart plum juices with nonnegotiable vanilla ice cream I’m melting over the top. But should you not want ice cream on your cobbler — who hurt you?! — you can adjust accordingly.
Previously
6 months ago: My Favorite Lentil Salad
1 year ago: Deviled Eggs
2 years ago: Pasta with Pesto Genovese
3 years ago: Frozen Watermelon Mojitos
4 years ago: Corn Fritters and Bourbon Peach Smash
5 years ago: Hummus Heaped with Tomatoes and Cucumbers
6 years ago: Corn, Bacon and Parmesan Pasta
7 years ago: Tomato and Fried Provolone Sandwich
8 years ago: Easiest Fridge Dill Pickles and Grilled Peach Splits
9 years ago: One-Pan Farro with Tomatoes and Hot Fudge Sundae Cake
10 years ago: Bacon Corn Hash
11 years ago: Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones
12 years ago: Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint, Thai-Style Chicken Legs, Peach Blueberry Cobbler, and Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons
13 years ago: Light Brioche Burger Buns, Blueberry Boy Bait, and Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza
14 years ago: Chocolate Sorbet
15 years ago: Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Plum and Cream Scone Cobbler
- 2 1/2 pounds (1.15 kg) unpitted fresh, ripe plums, any variety, or other stone fruit
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 to 2/3 cup (100 to 130 grams) granulated sugar (see Note)
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch (30 grams) or 3 tablespoons (25 grams) tapioca flour/starch
- 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for counter
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces, or 115 grams), unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (225 grams) heavy cream, divided
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) coarse or turbinado sugar
Fruit
Scone topping
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt. Add butter and use your fingertips or a pastry blender to work the butter into smaller pieces, until the largest is the size of small peas. Add your almond or vanilla extract and all but 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream (i.e. you’re adding 15 tablespoons) and stir into the butter-flour mixture until it forms larger masses. Knead once or twice with hands if needed to come together.
Sprinkle counter with flour and turn dough out onto it. Flour the top of the dough and pat it out to a generous 1/2-inch (1.25-cm) thickness. Use a knife to cut dough slab into 1 1/2-inch (3.75-cm) squares. Arrange squares over fruit in pan, spacing them slightly. Brush tops of scone squares with remaining 1 tablespoon heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake cobbler for 40 to 45 minutes, until scones are puffy and browned on top and fruit is bubbling juices up around the pan.
If you can bear it, let cobbler cool for 15 to 20 minutes before digging in. Fruit will thicken as it cools. Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top; nothing else will do.
Yum!! Would sour cherries work here with the higher amount of sugar?
Absolutely.
If converting for dairy-free, what would you recommend for the heavy cream? Coconut cream? (Vegan butter will easily sub for regular butter.)
I was going to make your peach crisp for dessert for Saturday night, but now I’m torn. . . I think I need to try this new recipe! Either way, I know the leftovers will make a delicious breakfast.
I just made this. Thank you great taste, easy and bubbly under the scones. My boyfriend like it also. Lovely. I writing you from Austria and you are always my first choice in searching recipes 😘.
Made this with peaches this eve! Came together quickly and the taste was fantastic.. only used 1/3rd cup of sugar since the vanilla ice cream was a must!
I have not actually made this…yet, I really just wanted to be first in the comment section. I love cream biscuits/scones from Food 52 origins. I will actually make this and report back.
All of these photos are so beautiful that I’m immediately adding plums to my grocery list so I can make this tonight.
Your crispy peach cobbler is on my Top 5 best desserts I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to try this!
As a Southerner I normally disapprove of square biscuits, but these are so pretty over the red fruit!!
If I were to use nectarines as that’s what I have, how much sugar would you recommend?
I made this with nectarines and raspberries yesterday. I used the 2/3 c sugar because I didn’t have any ice cream in the house (based on the sugar note in the recipe). It is perfect and not too sweet at all.
I made it with peaches, which are just nectarines with fuzzy skin. I used 1/3 cup sugar and they’re perfect.
I used peaches last night, with the low end of the sugar recommended. As Deb predicted, it was a tiny bit tart, but went very well with ice cream. I’m actually thinking about playing with this to make it breakfast friendly – maybe even less sugar (!), and whole wheat in the scones. I imagine that with yogurt and honey, that would make for an excellent breakfast! (This would probably work very well as written with the low amount of sugar, but I want to play around with the grains.)
Oooh this looks fun. Might have to pop over to the farmers’ market and grab some peaches and plums. Or cherries. Or all of them?
For me personally? I can see a cinnamon ice cream taking this to an even more sublime level than vanilla.
Cobblescones?! Heart-eyed, chuckling.
The rhyme won’t work for some UK scone-makers and -eaters, though, and isn’t language grand? I appreciate it when you apply the Deb treatment to language. 😍
Ha ha. Yes! Although I myself am firmly in the scone-stone-phone-bone camp:-)
I too, loved “cobblescones” this may join our own private family lexicon! Love your sense of humor Deb.
This looks delicious! Can I make it with frozen fruit?
How’d you know my plum tree is ripe and I need a recipe? Genius!
Could a gal toss in a bit of almond flour and perhaps a smidge of whole wheat flour?
I don’t know about your subs, but I’m gluten free and will try a measure for measure flour instead
I do this to many recipes. I don’t love the way almond flour works and biscuits, but I love my biscuits with whole wheat, rye, or buckwheat flours-I usually do 1/2 whole grain—it impacts the texture some, but I still like it. I want to try rye with peach, and buckwheat with Plum.
Is this good when eaten the next day? Or only nice while still warm? :)
Deb, you should be so proud of yourself…..3 cookbooks lined up nicely next to each other. And each recipe so delicious and soooo easy to follow. Every one of your recipes I make is an instant hit and hear ‘may I have the recipe?’. I am proud of you. Mazel Tov.
ps….I wear my earrings alot and appreciate your sharing
This is delicious! I have been using your cream biscuit recipe as topping for “cobblers” for a couple of years, so I am very happy to see an authentic recipe for such. Peaches need less sugar than plums, and even pears and apples work if sliced thin. In the winter you can make a butternut squash-caramelized onion cobbler (much like the galette in your first book) and it works perfectly as well. Thanks!
Ooo-savory cobbler! We make “tuna under biscuit” which is part pot pie and part tuna pasta casserole. These drop scones would be perfect there (minus sugar, plus garlic and smoked paprika and or thyme).
I made this today because I happened to have ingredients in the house. I used nectarines and added a pint of raspberries because they were starting to go soft. I made a half recipe. It is so good!
Made this with fresh peaches and sweet cherries, it turned out so good! The tops of the cobble-scones looked too brown but they were the perfect amount of done. Would definitely make again, way easier than other cobbler recipes!
Made this today with in-season peaches, added a bit of ground cardamom to the fruit…OMG. I love this topping. I usually make crisps, but the texture of the cobbler topping here is so much better!
Made whole recipe of scones & baked half as scones. only had about 1 1/4 pounds of fruit, so made the cobbler in pie dish. Only took about 20 minutes baking in my convection oven at 385. I checked it, started to put it in for another 15, but decided it looked like both scones and cobbler would burn if left much longer. Fruit was definitely bubbling.
Delicious! I halved the recipe tonight and used half plums and half sweet cherries. I used the upper end of the sugar amount (1/2 for my serving) and it was perfect. Perfect balance of sweet and tart, especially with the vanilla ice cream on top!
I made this today with peaches – recipe as is.
It is sooooo good, and easy!
What amount of sugar did you use? I have 50+ peaches in my house and have this on the docket for the week.
I made this with gluten free flour and the sub worked really well here in case anyone else looking to try (my husband was super excited since he’s gf and this was a birthday treat for him)! Not enough plums so subbed half of them with some gooseberries from our CSA, definitely feels like a flexible recipe. Thank you!
Thanks Cait. Which gf flour did you use?
Yes please to all your variations of cobblers!!! I won’t turn on the oven in summer for much, but a baked fruit dessert steals my heart. Your photos are lovely on this post and the recipe looks fab.
Made this for my bday instead of a cake. SO GOOD. Used a mix of peaches, plums, apricots and threw in a handful of raspberries. Will be my go-to cobbler from now on!
That sounds amazing too!
I made this over the weekend, and it was delicious! I subbed in peeled peaches and upped the fruit to 3 1/2 pounds and the cornstarch to 4 tablespoons. My peach pie-loving hubby thinks this is a VERY close second, and it’s way easier to make.
I made this the day she posted it and it is excellent! I used six plums but forgot to weigh them, and forgot the vanilla in the scone topping. I thought this was excellent and it wasn’t hard at all!
How well do you think damson plums would work? I usually make jam with them, but our tree is now producing way too many for just jam. I imagine they’ll need the high end of sugar, if not more. But they are also much drier. How might you account for this?
I think it would work just as well. Are they more tart ?
Very much so. You’d never want to eat them fresh. But they make a spectacular jam. High in pectin too.
I just made this with a mix of plums, cherry plums, apricots, and cherries; I didn’t have any heavy cream on hand, so I used the last of my buttermilk for the scones, and whole milk to brush the tops. Phenomenal, and so easy. I’ll definitely make it again, but next time I may add a handful of golden raisins to the filling. Stellar recipe, Deb.
Made this last night! One with cherries and one with nectarines and they both were delicious! Love summer fruit!
Let the cobbler cool for at least 15 to 20 minutes before savoring the sweet treat. As it cools, the fruit will thicken. There is no substitute for a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream on top of this dessert.
There are LEFTOVERS????
This recipe is simply delicious. The perfect amount of sweetness and the perfect amount of tartness. It’s the perfect dessert for a snowy day.
Will you be capable of waiting 6 months before your next cobbler? ;o)
I would like to make this for dinner guests on Saturday, but it is crazy hot and I’d like to make it early in the day, then warm it before serving. Should I bake for less time in the morning, then reheat? How best to reheat–covered in foil? Has anyone reheated? Thanks!
I did this the other day – baked the cobbler in the afternoon, left it on the counter and warmed it at 250 for about 15 minutes. It was so delicious. Perfect way to prep in advance and have one last thing to do at the last minute. A huge crowd pleaser.
I’m already looking forward to making this, but I just have to say how much I love your writing.
this cobbler was lovely and turned out perfectly. good balance of sweetness and tart, the scone dough was so excellent it was hard to not eat it all raw. however. what outshines all of this was my sheer delight at the phrase COBBLESCONES. i had a friend over while making this, and mentioned the cobblescones, and he stared at me for a solid 30 seconds before saying “I don’t know what to do with the way that makes me feel. i feel loved. I feel at peace” in the tone of a man who did not know he was broken until he was healed. thank you deb for a moment of peace in these troubling times
Good recipe. Thanks
Next time, I would make twice the amount of plum filling or halve the scone batter. I would love a higher fruit-to-scone ratio!
I used the 2/3 cup of sugar, and it was still very tart – yummy with a scoop of vanilla.
I made this tonight with fresh peaches, and it’s now my favorite cobblery thing. I ended up with a 50/50 ratio of batter to fruit, and it’s so delicious. This recipe can definitely handle as much fruit as you throw at it.
I didn’t have cornstarch, so I used 3 tbsp of flour in the peaches. I also didn’t have turbinado, so I used brown sugar instead.
I made this with rhubarb instead of stone fruit. It was the first time I have loved a fruit cobbler instead of wishing it was a fruit crisp. Those cobblestones are heavenly!
This was fantastic! I made it with cherries with the higher amount of sugar. The scone recipe was also pretty forgiving – I didn’t realize my heavy cream had gone bad until I was at that step, so I subbed a mix of plant-based milk (Ripple) and butter. The dough was a little wet but baked up deliciously.
I made this tonight with plums and cherries, as written- so delicious! It was a big hit. Thank you for your wonderful, reliable recipes!
Made this today using plums, nectarines and blueberries. Amazingly easy to prepare and baked quicker than recipe. The cobblestones were the best topping I have ever tasted on a cobbler, and I was raised in the south of the U.S. and grew up on every version of cobbler there is. I believe between my sister and myself, we have made every version of scones that we have found and Deb’s Cream Scones recipe is the best there is. I will use this topping for all my fruit cobblers and crisps. Excellent recipe!
Made a half recipe, with mostly plums and some sweet cherries. It smells wonderful and tastes even better (agree with the strong rec for vanilla ice cream, it’s a requirement!!). Another SK fave!
Fantastic recipe! I added about a tablespoon of very finely chopped crystallized ginger to the biscuits. Otherwise made them as written. They are very fluffy and light. I made them a couple of hours before baking and kept in the freezer until needed. Used more fruit: a combination of peaches and plums. Kept the sugar and starch the same. My 9by13 baking dish was filled to the rim with fruit. if you use more fruit, make sure to put the a baking sheet underneath your pan, because the fruit will bubble over. The filling shrinks considerably once it’s done, so the ratio of the filling to topping is perfect. If you almost double the fruit, you might want to add more sugar. I didn’t because we like things a little on the tart side, plus, we did eat it with ice cream. This recipe will feed a crowd. Definitely a keeper.
I am currently facing an overabundance of yellow plums, apricots, peaches, AND cherries from my CSA, so this recipe is a lifesaver! I’m going to make it tonight and I have high hopes.
I made this dairy free using Earth Balance buttery sticks (the soy free ones) and coconut cream. It turned out great! Deb’s cream scones are my absolute favorite so I was pleased that the dairy free subs still held up. (Full disclosure I also subbed frozen peaches – frozen at extreme ripeness from last year, arrowroot powder, and accidentally only added 1/3 c sugar to the fruit. Still great!). I would definitely make this again and try other fruits!
This looks yum! I also want to add blueberries and some dried fruits! Can’t wait to try this out!
Has anyone else had this come out with very wet, sticky dough? Wondering if my flour/cream proportions are off?
I weighed out my dry ingredients but used a measuring cup for my wet, and mine was very sticky too. Not sure if that contributed, but I did find they baked up just fine.
I made this with peaches and the higher amount of sugar, adding a pinch of lemon zest and a pinch of apple pie spice to the fruit just ’cause. I also used coffee cream (18%) instead of heavy, which was also… no longer good enough for coffee and closer to buttermilk. (Supply chains, amirite?)
The dough on the scones was definitely stickier than I expected but I added enough flour to ensure they weren’t too sticky to pat down and soldiered through. They baked up GORGEOUSLY. An absolute knockout.
An adaptation for a household of two: I made the entire cream scone recipe and froze the resultant 1 1/2″ squares. We make smaller batches with whatever stone fruit (and figs) and reduce the sugar/tapioca flour/lemon juice accordingly. A nice dessert with ice cream and then a breakfast treat with yogurt. The scones come out beautifully risen and there is no risk of soggy/gloopy left-overs.
I made this with plums from the Santa Monica farmer’s market (that weren’t too sweet). I used a little under 2/3 c. sugar and thought the overall sweetness of final dish was a little too much so if I made them again, I’d reduce the sugar; and I used maybe closer to 2 Tbsp turb sugar on the tops of the scones so that would add to sweetness. I really really wanted to like this as I love SK recipes and make fruit crisps and tarts a decent amount. The scones in this just didn’t do it for me (unlike most other people that made this) and this didn’t get devoured. I do agree with someone else’s comment, that it could have had more of the fruit in relation to amount of scones (or reducing scones by half).
I love your humor and all your stories. Happy when I saw you on YouTube. I just made this. Thank you great taste buttery and just enough sweet, easy and bubbly under the scones. My boyfriend like it also. Lovely. I writing you from Austria and you are always my first choice in searching recipes 😘. Today wanted something with plums and baked. Eat a small price but tomorrow i can’t wait 🤤
I made this over the weekend, and immediately fled the hot kitchen to a pool party. It was still hot when I got there. Yum!
This was aMAzing! I love how the fruit is infused with the pigment from the skins while baking. It was still tart and sweet with the 2/3 c of sugar – I appreciated the notes on the sugar content. I liked, too, that it was a sketch of a recipe and could be pushed in a few directions with different fruits.
Instead of rolling out the dough, I dropped it onto the fruit instead. It gave it more rustic feel, saved a few things from washing and got me into the pool faster.
This was a great recipe because it held my attention and it was enthusiastically received by both adventurous and more conventional palates.
Made this last night with 2.5 lbs of mixed fruit – 60% plums and 40% local seconds of peaches! After reading through the comments section, I opted to squeeze this into a 7×11 glass pan (2 qt) to up the depth/ratio of fruit, and then only made a half batch of cobbler for the top (perfect amount). I’d recommend at least a 2.5 qt pan for these ratios as it ALMOST bubbled over. I baked the fruit by itself for 10 minutes while mixing up the topping – figured this would reduce over browning that anyone else had mentioned. Pulled the fruit out, added the cut top to it, and baked for another 30 minutes – just right! Golden-brown puffed scones, and plenty of bubbling fruit. Realized while reading through this that I forgot to add vanilla to the scones – will do that next time, but not a huge miss. I serve leftovers for breakfast with plain greek yogurt instead of ice cream. This came together so fast with minimal ingredients – will be making again!
Oh my! I would love to try this recipe as soon as possible but one problem I have is that my 6 years old son is a plum monster. When you mention the “leftover plums” I was like; what leftovers? Jokes aside, this is a dessert I would love him to try. Thank you for sharing.
I halved the recipe and made it with plums, cherries, and a couple of strawberries I had laying around. It was PERFECT. I used a little less of the upper amount of sugar and found that the sweetness was perfect for my husband and I. I also baked it for the recommended amount of time so the scones wouldn’t get too soggy if we kept it for a day or two!
Hi Deb, Can this be made the day of to bring to a friends for dinner? Thank you, Pat
I made this today with some farmers market peaches and some week-old blueberries that were looking a little sad and it is heavenly! My peaches were plenty sweet but I still added closer to 2/3 cup of sugar and I definitely could have used a hair less. Definitely use almond extract in the scones if you have it and don’t skip the sugar on top. This might become my new go-to fruit dessert!
What a great idea! It came out perfectly and was just tart enough, and the scones sent it over the top!! :)
This plum cobbler looks amazing! What type of plums are those? They look like mini grapes!
They a mix of sugar plums, very juicy.
So tasty! I used a combo of peach + plum. Will mostly do scone toppings for my cobblers from now on!
Such an easy and versatile dessert! I make lots of crisps and battered cobblers, but I tend to stay away from biscuit-y variations because I have trouble with underbaked middles. Then I found your amazing, super easy “cobblescone” topping and am SO stoked! I made an 8×8 half batch but threw in an extra plum. Every bite was perfection, especially with that creamy scoop of vanilla on top of the golden topping and bubbly jewel-toned fruit. Perfection!
I made this and while it was devoured, and we all loved the topping, we all agreed it could have used more fruit. It ended up being a thick layer of (delicious) cobbler and a thin layer of fruit kind of clinging to the bottom. I even second-guessed myself whether I weighed the fruit correctly but I’m pretty sure I did! If I make it again (which I very well might!), I would double the fruit.
I love this recipe. I have to admit I doubted you at first with the cream in the scone topping but they are a delight, so airy and soft-crumbed. This cobbler has joined the long list of Smitten Kitchen recipes that are in heavy rotation in our house. Really looking forward to the new book, hoping it’ll arrive here in Ireland soon.
This sounds like a delicious and warming pudding and a great way to use up an abundance of seasonal fruits.
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There is nothing to be just wondered if I call it versatile and with all the properties to get you soaked right into yeah and it tastes devours you with it’s crisps and creamy vanilla top.
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This appears to be tasty! Can I use frozen fruit instead?
Thank you for providing such an informative essay on this subject. This has truly made me think, and I’m looking forward to reading more.
Lovely simple recipe that feeds a crowd AND is utterly delicious. Used Miyoko’s plant-based butter (equal volume swap). Made this once with smaller plums (Italian style?) and once with fatter pluots and both times it turned out amazing with crisp tender top and juicy bubbly filling. Can’t wait to keep experimenting with seasonal fruit (autumn, winter). Depending on how sweet the fruit is, can get away with using 60 or 75% of the indicated sugar for the fruit portion. Love how the scone top remains not soggy even after reheating. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
I have made this and several variations since it was published last year. Always absolutely amazing. Made a pear-apple version for Thanksgiving and once again, amazing! I may never make a pie again!
It’s December. Do you think this would work with apples. pears and maybe some cranberries?
Absolutely.