Blackberry cobbler is the perfect recipe for any hot summer day. Perfectly sweet and tart, with a golden biscuit topping, it’s the ultimate easy dessert. Top with a frosty scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and you’ll be in 7th heaven!
Craving more delicious easy desserts? You simply have to try my Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp, Sour Cream Lemon Pie, or Raspberry Fluff!
Blackberry Cobbler
As we head into summer, so many wonderful types of produce are at their peak, with blackberries being among them. Plump, juicy, and the perfect mixture of sweet and tart, these berries are amazing on their own (or whipped up into a blackberry mojito!), but truly are at their best when baked into a homemade blackberry cobbler.
CLASSIC, OLD-FASHIONED DESSERT
What exactly is blackberry cobbler? Everyone has their own idea of what a cobbler is. Traditionally speaking though, cobbler is a baked fruit dish that’s topped with a biscuit-like top. When baked, the biscuits create a “cobbled” look, similar to a cobblestone street.
Some versions can be have a cake-like topping, though I prefer to stick with the traditional method for this blackberry cobbler recipe.
HOW TO MAKE BLACKBERRY COBBLER
You won’t believe how easy it is to make such an iconic dessert!
- Combine berries, cornstarch, sugar & a bit of water. Simmer a few minutes until thickened.
- Combine topping ingredients and drop over blackberry mixture.
- Bake and enjoy!
Crazy easy right? Serve warm and top with vanilla bean ice cream (or go for my FAVE, bourbon vanilla no churn ice cream!).
WHAT ABOUT LEFTOVERS?
Most of the time we don’t have ANY leftovers and the dish is scraped clean, but in case you do, here are the best ways to store them.
REFRIGERATOR:
- This cobbler keeps for a few days, and is best store in the fridge. Warm it in the oven/microwave before serving.
FREEZER:
- Blackberry cobbler can be frozen, with some changes. Freezing a whole, assembled cobbler (baked or unbaked) isn’t recommended, as the topping will be soggy and not bake properly.
TO FREEZE –
- Mix together the filling, place in your baking dish, cover and freeze for up to 2-3 months.
- When you’re ready to bake the cobbler, bake the filling first for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot and bubbling.
- Mix together your biscuit topping, add it to the top, and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
This method will yield a cobbler that tastes as close as you can get to a freshly baked cobbler!
ALTERNATIVE METHOD
If you have a little more time, prefer a thicker cobbler, or would rather not to turn on your stovetop, there’s another way you can make this blackberry cobbler.
- Combine blackberries, sugar, 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and cinnamon and stir well in baking dish. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, so they can soften a little and produce a little bit of a syrupy liquid on the bottom of the dish.
- Make biscuits as specified and bake as directed.
This easy blackberry cobbler dessert is just begging to be served at all of your summer gatherings, and I promise you, you won’t regret making it!
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Ingredients
COBBLER
- 24 oz fresh blackberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional but recommended)
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup water
TOPPING
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter, grated or finely cubed
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
Instructions
- Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.
- In a large saucepan, combine the blackberries, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil.
- Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into fruit mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2-5 minutes or until thickened.
- Pour into prepared baking dish.
- For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two forks until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto hot berry mixture.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Serve warm, with whipped topping or ice cream if desired.
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Chef Tips
- Buttermilk amount will vary from individual to individual. You want the dough to be moist enough to hold together when pinched between a few fingers, but not moist enough that it's wet.
- For a thicker cobbler, combine blackberries, sugar, 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and cinnamon and stir well in baking dish. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, so they can soften a little and produce a little bit of a syrupy liquid on the bottom of the dish. Add topping and bake as directed.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally posted on Spend with Pennies, where I contribute recipes.
Elizabeth says
Can you use strawberries instead of blackberries? I made this recipe with blackberries and it was the best I ever had!
Amanda says
I’ve not tried it, but I would think you could 🙂
Elizabeth says
Thanks! I will try it and let you know.
Elizabeth says
Just wanted to let you know I tried this recipe with strawberries. Perfect! I used the alternative method both times. Only thing I changed was cutting back the sugar a little when using the strawberries because I feel they are naturally sweeter than blackberries. Thank you for such an awesome recipe.
Jennifer says
I lost my similar recipe some time ago. Just made this tonight. I did alter by using the zest of 1 lemon and juice of half a lemon in the berry mix. Used the thicker version, also added about a cup of whole berries after the mix had macerated. And i used heavy cream rather than buttermilk. Wish i could add a photo, its lovely.
Lulie says
I made this twice and both time it came out great! I was afraid of the “too watery” comments so both times I cooked the blackberries/cornstarch/sugar and cinnamon on the stovetop until thickened-per instructions. I didn’t add any water though. Love the biscuit topping, which comes together easily and quickly in the food processor. Both times we had it with vanilla ice-cream—big hit with everyone! Thanks for the recipe!
Patricia says
Excellent biscuit recipe but not crazy about the cinnamon. May leave out next time. Overall, very good. Will make it my go-to cobbler recipe:)
Avis says
Hello miss chunkychef. I’m so glad you left the complaint about this being to runny at the top. Because of that I payed attention to the notes and did what you said to make it thicker, so thank you for that.
I made this yesterday with the fresh picked berries we harvested recently. I’ve been making different recipes of cobbler trying to find one my husband really liked. Voila! Your recipe is the winner, winner chicken dinner! He really loved the biscuit in it. So I have now added it to my recipe book. Thank you so much!
Kenzie says
Just made this cobbler for the second time this month! We have a blackberry bush that is exploding with berries and this was a delicious summer treat. Thanks for the recipe!
Gardening Gal says
I just made Amanda’s Blackberry Cobbler recipe for the second time and it is absolutely delicious. We have a large patch of blackberries and on our property and can’t wait to go out there and pick more to put in the freezer for this winter!
Kathleen says
I made this back in June and was disappointed. I even made it with fresh picked blackberries from my backyard. The sauce was very very thin and the biscuit topping was unnecessarily complicated and was not delicious. I should have just made biscuits and put them on top. I did not see the tip for a thicker sauce until after I made it. I brought it to a party and noticed that most that tried it did not finish their plate and threw it away. I gave this 2 stars but you are not publishing my comments. Why do you only publish comments that give you 5 stars? My comment is sincere and based on true, actual experience. I followed your recipe exactly as written.
Amanda says
Hi Kathleen, I’m sorry you didn’t have a good experience with this recipe and didn’t see the tip about the thicker cobbler version. I always advise people to thoroughly read through everything stated before making a recipe. Comments on this site are moderated automatically, so unless you’ve previously left a comment that was approved, your comments will be held in limbo until reviewed. I honestly didn’t see your prior comments, or I would have addressed this on those. We’re a family team here at The Chunky Chef, and slow down a bit to enjoy summer with our children, so sometimes it can take a while to get through the vast amount of comments we receive. However, I resent the implication that I only publish comments with 5 stars. The comments that are on this post are from people who actually love this recipe, so they rated it accordingly. To only publish 5 star comments/reviews would be extremely unethical and just simply not how I run my business. Enjoy your day.
Marilou says
I will be making this for 8 servings. Should the pan be larger than 8″?
Amanda says
As written, it serves 8. But that’s going to depend on how large you want those 8 servings to be. If you want large portions, feel free to double the recipe and use a 9×13″ pan.
Jackie says
Getting ready to make this. If I do the thicker version do cook the berries or only mix and let sit?
Amanda says
Just mix and let sit 🙂
Courtney L says
This was AH-MAZING! My fam and I went and picked fresh blackberries at a nearby u-pick farm, and we decided cobbler it would be. Absolutely love your recipes; yours is my go-to smoked pork butt recipe. And now it’s my fave cobbler recipe!!
I subbed whole milk for the buttermilk since I didn’t have any handy, and it worked just fine (but the next time I’ll plan in advance lol)!
Joli says
Saco is a great dry powdered buttermilk with several years shelf life. I’ve been using it for 5 years. Mix milk powder in with dry ingredients and water for the milk in with wet. But I’ve used powdered milk since I was 4 years old living in Quebec Canada on a US military base and fresh milk not available most of the time. It’s great in baking and you never run out. Biscuits, cobblers, ciabatta bread, muffins, cakes, cornbread. Everything! Powdered milk the greatest invention. And glad I found powder buttermilk at the grocery.
Dia says
I followed the tip for a thicker cobbler, using 3/4 cup of coffee instead of water and adding mint, cardamom, and cinnamon. So, so good. The Chunky Chef always has good recipes. I look here first.
Margie says
Loved this cobbler, the berry mixture was a bit thinner than I had anticipated. So next time I’ll try the thicker version. I had some coarse sugar I sprinkled over the biscuits topping and it was very good! Thank you for posting this amazing recipe.
Gary Taylor says
I have tried to make it on my own but did not turn out good so I looked at different recipe s still not satisfied I found yours and I love it I highly recommend your recipe to EVERYONE THANK YOU FROM GARY TAYLOR
Lauren Foster says
I try new recipes every week and have only ever left a handful of reviews, but this one is absolutely worth the five stars and then some! This cobbler is absolutely beyond fantastic! This is my first recipe from your blog and I cannot wait to try more!!!
Lauren Foster says
I just made this for the third time tonight and it keeps better and better each time I make it! My husband says it’s his favorite dessert he’s ever had so it’ll definitely be something I will always make! I am super confused by the negative reviews. Thinking it must be user error. This recipe is incredible!
kris says
Delicious! Tried this tonight and it was a hit, even with my super picky mother! The cinnamon really adds a nice touch.
I am used to less sweet desserts so may trim a bit of sugar out next time but that would be the only change. Thank you!
Liz Berman says
This will be my go to recipe from here on out when we have fresh-picked wild blackberries. I’ve made a lot of blackberry cobblers over the years, trying lots of different recipes. This one is both easy, AND delicious, and comes out like good old fashioned cobbler (not cake-like as some “easy” recipes are). Thanks, Chunky Chef!
Liz White says
I’ve been on the hunt for a blackberry cobbler like my mama made growing up in Texas without any success. She unfortunately passed and I was not able to get her recipe which was not written down. 🙁 This has come the closest and my family and I love it!! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is super delicious and while I would not classify it as easy, it is certainly not complicated. LOTS of dishes! lol Tonight was my 3rd time to make it but, it had been awhile since I last made it so I should have followed the recipe more closely instead of relying on my memory. lol I added the cornstarch and water to the berry/sugar mixture up front instead of after they boiled to thicken. I ended up with small clumps of cornstarch but nobody seemed to mind. The perfectionist in me was kicking myself though. The biscuits always turn out yummy but I always end up with extra dough for some reason? Even though I completely cover the top like in your photos. Maybe I’ll try a bigger pan next time. I’m also going to try to make the alternate version to make it a little thicker. So, do I cook the biscuits separate and then add to the top of the berry mixture in that version? Or after letting the berry mixture stand add the dough to the top and bake like the other version? Thanks in advance for your help! Liz
Liz White says
Me again! Sorry…it does look like you specified that you add the dough topping and bake as in the first version. Do I stir up the berry mixture before adding the topping though? Thanks!
Amanda says
Yep, I’d give the mixture a stir, add the topping and bake as directed 🙂
H Johnson says
I have frozen wild blackberries from Wisconsin ….these are very small! Do I need to add more berries since they are small and will break down quicker? Should I do the standard recipe or the one that is thicker? Thank you
Amanda says
I really can’t say for certain without seeing them and being there with you. But I would probably use a bit more berries… the standard versus thicker is really just a preference, so it’s up to what you like best in a cobbler 🙂
Michelle CA says
Absolutely perfect and straightforward! I read all the comments first, so doubled and used a 13×9, cut sugar in berries by 1/4 (i do this with most desserts for my own preference), added juice of 1/2 lemon and lemon zest in berries, and used half-&-half soured with the other half lemon (in lieu of buttermilk). Also cinnamon seemed likewise unusual so i used cardamom.
Dinner party attendees devoured in no time. It was so darn good! Thank you
Samantha says
Awesome recipe!!!! The berries came out perfect! Literally! Chunky Chef, please help, my topping came out a bit bitter.. What did I do wrong that could have caused this? Too much buttermilk? Not enough sugar?
Thank you so very much for sharing this!!!
The Chunky Chef says
Hmmm, I’ve never had that happen before! Usually bitterness in biscuits is from too much baking powder, but this amount is well within the recommended amounts, and the addition of an acidic element (like the buttermilk) usually counteracts any potential bitter taste. How fresh was the baking powder? That’s the only thing I can think of that could have caused it, but you can certainly add additional sugar if you’d like.
Rachel says
This is a coworker’s “birthday cake” every year and it is always devoured before the day is through. Excellent recipe and wonderfully easy.