Recipe Social
▶ Watch this video on YouTube ↗

Original video by @BrianLagerstrom — all credit to the creator.

Brian Lagerstrom

Skillet Peach Cobbler with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

Ripe peach chunks are cooked down into a thick, deeply concentrated pie-style filling, then crowned with tall buttermilk drop biscuits that bake up crispy, flaky, and dark golden. Served warm from the cast iron with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the fruit.

⏱ 120 min10–11 biscuits (one 12-inch skillet)Americanpeachcobblersummerbiscuitscast iron

Ingredients

For the Peach Filling

  • 950 gripe peach chunks · 7 cups / 2 lb; cut into roughly 2-inch chunks
  • 60 ggranulated sugar · 1/3 cup
  • 60 gbrown sugar · 1/4 cup packed
  • 5 gsalt · 1 tsp
  • 25 glemon juice · 5 tsp
  • 5 gvanilla extract · 1 tsp
  • 25 gcornstarch · 3 Tbsp
  • 20 gcold water · 4 tsp, for the slurry
  • 50–120 gadditional water · about 1/4–1/2 cup, only as needed for firm or underripe peaches

For the Biscuits

  • 155 gunsalted butter · 11 Tbsp; diced into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen
  • 180 gall-purpose flour · 1 1/2 cups
  • 145 ggranulated sugar · 3/4 cup
  • 3 gbaking soda · 1/2 tsp
  • 7 gbaking powder · 1 1/2 tsp
  • 7 gsalt · 1 1/2 tsp
  • 120 gbuttermilk · 1/2 cup; or sub 110g milk plus 15g sour cream
  • —demerara sugar · for topping

For Serving

  • —vanilla ice cream

Steps

  1. 1

    Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with convection off. Lightly spray a 12-inch cast-iron skillet (a 9x13 pan works too).

  2. 2

    Dice the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and put it in the freezer while you make the filling.

  3. 3

    Cut the peaches into roughly 2-inch chunks and toss them with the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Let stand about 5 minutes to macerate and draw out moisture.

  4. 4

    Preheat a saucier over medium-high heat, add the peaches and their liquid, and cook 5–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit softens slightly and the released juice reduces by about a third to a half. If the peaches are underripe, add 100–150g water and increase the sugar by about 10% to allow more cooking time.

  5. 5

    Mix the cornstarch with the cold water until smooth, then stir it into the simmering peaches while stirring constantly. Return to a full boil and cook about 30–60 seconds, until thick enough to leave a sturdy trail behind a spatula.

  6. 6

    Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and vanilla; the filling should be thick and pourable.

  7. 7

    Scrape the filling into the prepared skillet, spread it evenly, and let it cool while you make the biscuits.

  8. 8

    Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the frozen butter and pulse 20–30 times until the butter is broken into lentil-sized pieces. (No food processor: grate the frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater and fluff it into the dry ingredients.)

  9. 9

    Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, pour in the buttermilk, and toss gently with a fork just until no dry flour remains and distinct flecks of butter are still visible.

  10. 10

    Portion the dough into 10–11 tall mounds of about 50g each and place them on top of the filling, spaced about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle each biscuit with a strong pinch of demerara sugar.

  11. 11

    Bake at 425°F for 25–28 minutes, until the biscuits are deeply golden and crispy and the filling is bubbling hard between them.

  12. 12

    Rest 45–60 minutes, then serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Creator's notes

Cooking the fruit before baking is the key move — raw-fruit cobblers bake up soupy under a crisp biscuit top. Keep the butter frozen and the filling cooled before topping so the butter doesn't melt and kill flakiness. Frozen peaches work if you thaw, strain, and reduce the juice first; canned peaches are not recommended, but if you must, drain the syrup and cut the sugar by about 30%. Don't sub white sugar for the demerara topping — it melts instead of staying crunchy.

More from Brian Lagerstrom

All recipes →