Cherry Cobbler

I know, I know. I vowed not to fiddle with Grandma’s recipes, but this time, I had no choice. First, I couldn’t find the main ingredient at my grocery store. (Does your store sell canned cherries?) Second, I wasn’t sure if the canned cherries in the original recipe were tart or sweet. I almost put this one in the nope, not doing it pile, but Cherry Cobbler sounded awfully good. Also, I had a hunch that my husband would like it because he loves cherry pie and apple crisp, and this dish sounded like a yummy mashup of the two. 

I wouldn’t know for sure, though, until I tried it out. 

How to Make Cherry Cobbler

The biggest reason I decided to go ahead with this test was that I had sweet cherries in my freezer. When I was in a smoothie kick, I would add a few cherries to my fruit smoothies, and no other sugar or juice was needed. I measured out a generous two cups of frozen cherries, figuring that would be equivalent to a can. (You can tell by the amount of frost on the cherries just how long ago my smoothie kick was.)

Next, I needed some “juice.” Again turning to what I had on hand, I found some Izze sparkling juice in my cupboard and used that. It sort of looked like cherry juice. I think water would also have worked well.  

I combined it with the cherries in a saucepan and added the rest of the filling ingredients. However, I did decrease the amount of sugar because I knew how sweet those cherries were. 

 I stirred and cooked this mixture over medium heat until it was bubbly and quite thick. I set that aside to cool while I prepared the crumbs. 

Into a bowl, I added the flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, and oats. 

Next, I cut the butter in with a pastry blender. 

Half of the mixture went into the bottom of a greased 9 x 9-inch pan where I pressed it flat. 

 I spread the cherry filling over the crust. (Even without the optional food coloring, it turned out to be a gorgeous, deep red.)

I then sprinkled the rest of the crumbs over top. 

The pan went into the oven and came out bubbly, golden brown, and smelling marvelous. I couldn’t wait to dig in. 

The Verdict

Warm from the oven and topped with vanilla ice cream, this dish is quintessential comfort food.

It was also delicious the next day, cold and topped with a dollop of whipped cream from a can. I would make this again in a minute, but I will give you a couple of caveats. 

If I'd been the one to name this dish, I would have called it a crisp instead of a cobbler. It doesn’t have the buttery batter or biscuit-like crust most cobblers have. If that’s what you’re hoping for, this is not that. There's also a high ratio of crumbs to filling, so if you like a crisp with lots of crumbly topping, this is perfect. However, if you enjoy more filling and fewer crumbs, you could cut those ingredients in half and still have a tasty dish. 

Try it for yourself and see what you think.