Easy Cherry Cobbler

If you read my post from yesterday, you saw that we were having chili for dinner last night.  I was extra hungry, and it tasted good to me.  However, the plans changed a little bit late in the afternoon.  I had planned to have cornbread with our chili, since that's what we usually do.  But I talked to Mr. Forest Manor on the phone before he left work, and we both decided we wanted fruit cobbler for dessert.  I felt that would be too much with cornbread, so we just had tortilla chips with our chili in order to save room for dessert.  Priorities, priorities.  ;)

This is the easiest recipe in the world, but it's one of our favorites.  It definitely falls into the comfort food category, and since we were all about comfort food last night, this was a natural choice.  When I first moved out on my own, many years ago, my mom made copies of some of her everyday recipes that were my favorites and put them in a small binder for me.  I've carried it with me all these years, everywhere we've lived.  That binder is a piece of home with memories of my mom's good meals, and it has major sentimental value to me.

When I was growing up, Mom always made peach cobbler with this recipe, and I did too for many years.  Then I branched out ;) and made cherry cobbler, and I think it's now our favorite.  I also have some frozen strawberry pie filling that I made from fresh strawberries back in the summer, and I plan to use that next time.

Here's the recipe for easy fruit cobbler.  If you live below the Mason-Dixon line (or even if you don't), you've probably made this cobbler or know someone who has.  It's so common in the South, that I'm almost embarrassed to share it.  However, here's the recipe in case there's still someone out there who hasn't yet made it.

- 1 stick of butter or margarine

- 1 cup of self-rising flour

- 1 cup of sugar (you can certainly use less than 1 cup; 2/3 cup would probably be fine)

- 1 cup of milk (I used 1 percent)

- 1 can of fruit, such as peaches with syrup, or cherry or strawberry pie filling

Preheat your oven to 375°.  Put the butter (or margarine) in a baking pan of your choice.  My mom and mother-in-law use an 8"x10" baking dish; I've used this round CorningWare® baking dish for years.  Melt the butter in the oven.  While the butter is melting, mix your flour and sugar together, then add the milk.  Stir briefly.  Don't over mix; your batter will be thin and should still have lumps in it.  When the butter has melted, remove from the oven and pour your batter over the butter.  Spoon your fruit of choice over the batter, but don't stir it in.  Pop it in the oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes.  I had to bake mine about 40 minutes.

When it's done, it should be golden-brown on top and it will have pulled away from the sides of your dish.  

Scoop out with a spoon and enjoy while it's hot.

This is not an elegant dessert, but it is colorful and delicious.

To make it more decadent even better, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (more comfort food).  I love the combination of tastes and textures here. The warm, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside cobbler combined with smooth, melting ice cream is hard to beat, in my humble opinion.  I haven't made this easy dessert in a while, so we were both happy campers last night.  Best of all, this cobbler re-heats beautifully in the microwave.

That's it folks -- easy, peasy.  I hope you give this a try; I think you'll enjoy it.  :)  I'm linking this post to "Foodie Friday," hosted by Michael at Rattlebridge Farm and the "Home Sweet Home" party, hosted by Sherry at The Charm of Home.  I hope you'll stop by these blogs to see lots of great recipes and ideas.  Thank you for your visit, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

XO,

    Denise