Celebrate stone fruit season with a quick-fix recipe for Peach Cobbler with Buttermilk Biscuits studded with fresh thyme. Bonus: This recipe works great with fresh or frozen peaches!
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It’s hard to imagine a more summer-friendly dessert than one loaded with the season’s ripest peaches and topped off with pillowy buttermilk biscuits that feature my secret ingredient: fresh thyme!
I’m a big fan of fruity desserts in the summer when berries, stone fruits and melons are at their peak. Whether it’s blueberry galette or watermelon slushies, I try to cram in as many chances to enjoy seasonal fruits as I can! But peach season is my favorite — it only takes eating one mealy, flavorless peach in January to understand how good a ripe peach is at the height of summer.
So it’s no surprise that I have plenty of peach dessert recipes showcasing this fuzzy fruit, including peach slab pie, peach turnovers and even refreshing peach sangria popsicles. This Southern peach cobbler, though, is one that I bring to potlucks or set out after a grilled dinner at home, and usually the skillet is practically licked clean by the time the meal’s over — whether or not it’s topped with a melting dollop of vanilla ice cream!
The Best Peaches to Use
When it comes to good old-fashioned peach cobbler, the best peaches to use are fresh, ripe and juicy. Yellow peaches are my go-to for their perfect balance of sweetness and slight tartness. Look for peaches that give slightly when you gently squeeze them; they should be fragrant and free from bruises. Freestone peaches, which have easy-to-remove pits, are a better choice for baking recipes, because they’re easy to slice.
Frozen peaches work well in this recipe too, which means you can make this dessert year-round. They’re a better choice than canned peaches, which are too soft and will get too mushy when baking.
How to Easily Peel Peaches
Mastering a peach cobbler that’s worthy of a local bakery or restaurant dessert menu requires a few important steps that are a touch time-consuming but 100 percent worth the effort.
First and foremost, peel those peaches! Removing the skins allows the juicy fruit to break down ever so slightly while baking. The result is a melt-in-your-mouth fruit filling that’s naturally sweet and smooth in texture.
You can use a paring knife or a vegetable peeler, but I’ve found the easiest way to peel peaches is with the boiling water method. To easily peel peaches with boiling water, follow these steps:
- Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Have an ice bath (a bowl filled with water and ice) nearby.
- Using a paring knife, cut an X in the bottom of each peach.
- Use a slotted spoon to gently lower the peaches into the water. Work in batches to not overcrowd — four or five peaches at a time is best. Boil for 30 seconds to a minute, just until the skin starts to soften and pull away from the cut mark on the peach.
- Use the slotted spoon to remove all the peaches from the pot and put them immediately into the ice bath. Let the peaches cool in the ice bath for about a minute.
- Peel the skin away from each peach, starting with the X mark. The skins should slip right off.
Topped with herb-studded buttermilk biscuits, this cobbler is a quick and easy summer dessert.
- Prepare the pan. A 10-inch ovenproof skillet, such as cast iron, is a tried-and-true pan for cobbler, but a 13×19” baking dish, either glass, ceramic or metal, also works well. Baking times might vary depending on the dish being used.
- Mix up the filling. Sprinkle the cornstarch and vanilla evenly over the peaches and stir to coat. The cornstarch will turn the juice into a syrupy consistency. Transfer the peach mixture into the greased baking dish.
- Make the biscuit dough. After whisking together the dry ingredients, work the cold, cubed butter into the flour mixture with clean hands, until it has the consistency of wet sand. Add the buttermilk and thyme and stir just until the dough comes together.
- Top the peaches with biscuit dough. Two spoons or a large cookie scoop are the best tools for dropping dollops of dough evenly over the peach mixture. Brushing the dough with buttermilk will help the biscuit topping brown and will also help the sanding sugar adhere.
- Bake and serve. The cobbler is done when the filling bubbles and the biscuits are golden brown. Let the cobbler cool slightly before serving warm or at room temperature.
Peach Cobbler Biscuit Topping
The difference between a crumble and a cobbler is that cobblers have a biscuit topping, while crumbles have an oat-based streusel topping. I’ve adapted a traditional Southern biscuit recipe to top this cobbler, with one twist: A sprinkling of fresh thyme. This variety leans toward the sweet side, but it’s important to note, not too sweet. The addition of the herb is a savory contrast to the sweetness of the fruit and ramps up the fresh, summery flavor (if you like this subtle herb flavor, you’ll probably also like my recipe for Easy Blueberry Galette with Thyme).
A few tips and tricks will help your biscuits turn out perfectly:
- Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Similar to sifting, stirring the flour and other ingredients together with a whisk will break up lumps, combine the baking powder and baking soda evenly into the flour and will aerate the ingredients for fluffier biscuits.
- Start with cold butter and buttermilk. Use butter straight from the fridge. You don’t want the butter to soften or melt before it goes into the oven or the biscuits will turn out heavy.
- Don’t overwork the dough. For the same reason, rub the butter into the flour mixture just until it’s crumbly, and stir in the buttermilk just until it’s combined with the other ingredients. You want those little chunks of butter and pockets of air — overworking biscuit dough will make them dense and tough.
Peach cobbler will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Cool it and store it in an airtight container, or in the original baking dish covered tightly with plastic wrap.
To reheat leftover cobbler, let it come to room temperature. Place the cobbler in an ovenproof baking dish covered with aluminum foil and bake at 325˚F for 10 to 20 minutes depending on the quantity.
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Ingredients
- 8 cups peeled and sliced peaches (See Kelly's Note)
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for greasing baking dish
- 1 cup buttermilk, plus more for toping
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- Sanding sugar, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 13×9" baking dish or 10" skillet with butter.
- In a large bowl, stir together the peaches, cornstarch and vanilla. Pour the peaches, including any juices, into the prepared baking dish.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cubed butter, and using your fingers, work it into the flour mixture until the texture resembles wet sand.
- Stir in the buttermilk and thyme, mixing just until combined.
- Using two spoons, drop eight mounds of the cobbler dough atop the peaches, spacing them roughly 1 inch apart. Brush the tops of the biscuits with additional buttermilk and sprinkle with sanding sugar (optional).
- Bake the cobbler until the filling is bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown and puffed, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Remove the cobbler from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving.
Kelly’s Notes
- Fresh or frozen peaches will work in this recipe. If you opt for frozen peaches, thaw and drain them before proceeding with the recipe as directed.
- Start with cold butter and buttermilk so the butter won’t soften or melt before it goes into the oven.
- Don’t overwork the dough! Too much handling will yield tough, dense biscuits.
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Can this recipe be made on the campfire?
Hi Flo! I’m not sure how the biscuit topping would cook with heat only on the bottom of the skillet so I’m not sure!
Should the butter be cold or softened?
Cold :)
This is absolutely delish and so easy to whip up!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Nancy!