Heavenly Cobbler.

After all that Easter feasting, I'm sure the last thing you want to think about is food.

Yet here we are, Monday morning, thinking about food. Well, you may not be, but I sure am! We enjoyed a delicious dinner last night of barbecued chicken, italian rice salad, herb drop biscuits, deviled eggs, and apricot cobbler - talk about a belly full! I ate so much, Stuart had to roll me like a giant beach ball to get me to the computer to type this!

That may be a slight exaggeration, but none-the-less, here we are.

We spend yesterday morning at church reveling in the wonderful truth of Christ's resurrection. Afterwords, we were able to spend time with family & friends. Truly, a joy. And what better way to celebrate than with tasty food - more specifically, the apricot cobbler. So, I'm going to share my favorite cobbler recipe with you. Adapt to your tastes, as you wish.

You will need:
- Roughly six cups of fruit (or enough to fill a 13x9 inch pan three-fourths of the way full)
- 1 cup sprouted whole wheat flour (find it here) - plus more as needed
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup buttermilk (or supplement - I used kefir)
- 4 tablespoons melted and cooled butter
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Step One: With the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees, place your fruit in a large baking pan and stick it in the oven. Let it hang out there until the fruit begins to release it's liquid (usually 20-25 minutes). I used apricots that I harvested and froze last year, but use whatever kind of fruit you have! Peaches, apples, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, cherries, etc. And it's fine to put them in the oven frozen - just spread 'em out as best you can. If you are using a tart fruit, than drizzle some honey over it before you put it in there. I like a tart cobbler, however, so I usually let it be. Do as you wish.

2. Step Two: While the fruit is baking, mix the wet ingredients together (butter, buttermilk/kefir, vanilla, and honey). I modified this recipe to utilize a natural sweetener - honey. Because of this, the dough mixture ends up a little, well, wetter, than normal. Counterbalance this by adding a little extra flour at the end (enough to get it to the normal doughy-consistency). Stir, stir, stir to incorporate that honey!

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3. Step Three: Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt).

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4. Step Four: Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in tenderly. That's right, I said tenderly. If this dough is too wet to pick up in chunks with your fingers, add a little bit more flour. I added about another half of a cup to get it to the right consistency.

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Ah yes, see that? Not too liquidy. And now, I get to lick my finger!

It's part of the quality control process. Trust me.

5. Step Five: When the fruit is done, remove it from the oven. Then, pinch the prepared dough into little dollops all over the fruit. You can do large biscuit sized dollops if you wish, or little small bite-size ones. You could even spell your name out in dough, if that's what you fancy.

 

It's up to you. Isn't that fun!

 7. Step Seven: If you want to die of happiness, serve a scoop of the warm cobbler with a scoop of real vanilla ice cream. Eat. Then, proceed to die of happiness.

I've tried a lot of different cobber toppings in my day and this one is hands-down the best. I've made it for lots of gatherings and it is always a favorite. The biscuit topping is just sweet enough to compliment the fruit, without being so sweet you go into shock after eating it. More refreshing than heavy. I like that in a dessert.

I really did have a pretty photo in my head of this cobbler. I was going to stage it with one of my new linen napkins and it was going to look beautiful. But, as I served it in the middle of dishes, putting Georgia to bed, and serving six guests, somehow - the photo opportunity was lost. Forgive me.

This is stupid. You can't even see the succulent, juicy fruit that is hiding beneath this sweetened, toasted dough.

Dangit, Shaye. You fool!

Despite my forgetting to take a beautifully staged photo (and thus enticing you into making this cobbler), just trust me - it will be worth your time. Your belly will thank you. Your kids will thank you. Your husband will thank you. Your... well, I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I'm going to go and re-evaluate my life now. 

Wish me luck!

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

Heavenly Cobbler

• ~6 cups fruit (or enough to fill a 13×9 inch pan three-fourths of the way full)
• 1 cup sprouted whole wheat flour – plus more as needed
• ½ cup raw honey
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅓ cup buttermilk (or supplement – I used kefir)
• 4 tbsp melted and cooled butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

1. With the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees, place your fruit in a large baking pan and stick it in the oven. Let it hang out there until the fruit begins to release it's liquid (usually 20-25 minutes). I used apricots that I harvested and froze last year, but use whatever kind of fruit you have! Peaches, apples, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, cherries, etc. And it's fine to put them in the oven frozen – just spread 'em out as best you can. If you are using a tart fruit, than drizzle some honey over it before you put it in there. I like a tart cobbler, however, so I usually let it be. Do as you wish.

2. While the fruit is baking, mix the wet ingredients together (butter, buttermilk/kefir, vanilla, and honey). I modified this recipe to utilize a natural sweetener – honey. Because of this, the dough mixture ends up a little, well, wetter, than normal. Counterbalance this by adding a little extra flour at the end (enough to get it to the normal doughy-consistency). Stir, stir, stir to incorporate that honey!

3. Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt).

4. Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in tenderly. That's right, I said tenderly. If this dough is too wet to pick up in chunks with your fingers, add a little bit more flour. I added about another half of a cup to get it to the right consistency.

5. When the fruit is done, remove it from the oven. Then, pinch the prepared dough into little dollops all over the fruit. You can do large biscuit sized dollops if you wish, or little small bite-size ones. You could even spell your name out in dough, if that's what you fancy.

6. If you want to die of happiness, serve a scoop of the warm cobbler with a scoop of real vanilla ice cream. Eat. Then, proceed to die of happiness.