Receta Easy, But Different, Peach Cobbler

by Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner

A bushel and a peck ~ that’s how much we love fresh peaches here! I knew it was time for 'summer-time comfort food' last Saturday when a bounty of great looking Michigan peaches was on display at the farmers’ market! Great Michigan peaches!You know ~ a cobbler was never meant to be a pretty thing... It requires less precision of crust and placing of the filling.  The dish was ‘cobbled’ together by early American settlers utilizing fruit that Native Americans had been eating for centuries.  Ripe pieces of fruit were topped with generous clumps of biscuit dough and baked over an open fire until golden brown.   Cobblers quickly became included into the settler fare, many favoring to eat the sweet treat for breakfast, as a first course, or as a main dish.  It wasn’t until the 19th century that cobbler was classified as a dessert. The first printed recipe of ‘cobbler’ listed the concoction as “Peach Pie-or cobbler as often termed” in the Kentucky Housewife by Lettice Bryan.  The use of ‘cobbler' to describe the mixture may also have been the slang use of the word, given more for its appearance, since the crust resembled the cobblestone streets of colonial America.  Chuckwagon, source unknown The cooks, as far back as 1796 early America, as well as the later 1860’s chuckwagon cooks on the trail, maintained an array of valuable spices in a tin toleware box guarded under lock and key.   Toleware spice boxFor intensifying flavors, they cooked with an assortment of spices, including cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice (a combo of mace, nutmeg and ginger) adding a pinch of ginger or orange peel to contribute a savory tang in their delicious dishes. I’m sure peach cobbler was a favorite in their repertoire, it’s homey, nothing fancy and liked by most of us.   I came upon this somewhat unique recipe here using pancake mix and Splenda and made it.  To tell the truth, Bill and I thought it was a “run-of-the-mill” peach cobbler, and wished I had used one of my old stand-by recipes instead, as the peaches were nearly perfect. Before spicesAfter spices, bakedSprinkling spices over the cobbler before baking seemed peculiar to me, but I proceeded with the recipe as directed ~ you never know, it might work! We thought the result was "so-so" with the glob of spices ~ it looked somewhat better than it tasted... It would've helped had I opened the oven and looked at it after it had baked a while; time enough to stir the spices in, maybe:  lesson learned with the whole process! Should you make this recipe, which was good otherwise, be sure to swirl your spices with the peaches…            Author: PamPrint Recipe Easy Peach Cobbler prep time: 15 minscook time: 40 minstotal time: 55 mins Another peach cobbler recipe... Ingredients: 4 cups sliced peaches, about 8 medium peaches (can use frozen also) 1 cup complete pancake mix ½ cup, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or Splenda Sugar Blend 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon Dash ground nutmeg ½ cup milk ¼ cup butter Instructions: Heat oven to 375°. Place butter in 8 x 8-inch baking dish, and place in oven to allow butter to melt. Add pancake mix, Splenda or sugar and milk. Stir to combine with melted butter, batter will be lumpy. To peach slices in a small bowl,  combine spices with 1 tablespoon reserved sugar, spread over batter. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until batter in the center of the cobbler is set. Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. NOTES: Recipe adapted: https://rippedjeansandbifocals.com/8269-2/ Enjoy!