Fresh peach cobbler should be the epitome of summer, with plenty of sweet peaches topped with tender biscuits. But peaches’ biggest asset their sweet, flavorful juice can be a big liability in baking. To avoid a watery filling, we first sautéed a portion of the peaches in our Dutch oven, starting them covered to encourage them to release their liquid, then uncovering the pot to allow the juices to evaporate and the fruit to lightly caramelize, deepening its flavor. To keep the filling from becoming too mushy in the oven, we reserved some peaches to add after sautéing. A cornstarch–lemon juice slurry thickened the filling just enough without making it sludgy or bouncy. Tasters liked the rich flavor of buttermilk biscuits, but the usual method cutting cold butter into the dry ingredients to give the biscuits a flaky texture resulted in overly delicate biscuits that fell apart when baked on the juicy filling. To fix this, we swapped out the cold butter for melted butter, which made for sturdier biscuits that stayed crisp through baking. You can substitute 4 pounds of frozen sliced peaches for fresh; there is no need to defrost them.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 pounds peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, and cut into ½-inch wedges
- 6 tablespoons (2⅔ ounces) sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch
- 1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons (2⅔ ounces) sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-
For the Filling
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add two-thirds of peaches, sugar, and salt and cook, covered, until peaches release their juices, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until all liquid has evaporated and peaches begin to caramelize, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining peaches and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Whisk lemon juice and cornstarch in small bowl until combined, then stir into peach mixture. Remove pot from heat and cover to keep warm. For the Topping
- Whisk flour, 5 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Using wooden spoon, stir in buttermilk and melted butter until dough forms and no dry flour remains; do not overmix.
- Combine remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Pinch off dough into rough 1-inch pieces and space them about ½ inch apart on top of hot peach mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake, uncovered, until topping is golden brown and filling is thickened, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Remove pot from oven and transfer to wire rack. Let cobbler cool for 20 minutes before serving.
