Sarra Ina Garten’s peach cobbler is a warm, rustic dessert with fresh peaches in an orange-spiked filling topped with buttery drop biscuits and cinnamon sugar. It serves 6 to 8 and bakes in about an hour at 350F (180C).
This is Ina’s Fresh Peach Cobbler from Cooking for Jeffrey. She says she “always made fruit crisps but avoided cobblers” because making biscuit topping on top of prepping all the fruit felt like too much work. Her version uses a fast drop biscuit topping inspired by Mark Bittman that you pulse together in a food processor and scoop right onto the fruit.
The filling has a trick most cobblers skip. Ina dices a quarter of the peaches and cooks them into a thick sauce with cornstarch and orange juice, then folds in the rest as raw wedges. You get a rich, jammy base that holds together on the plate instead of a watery puddle of fruit juice under the biscuits.
Ina Garten Peach Cobbler Recipe
Course: DessertsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes1
hour380
kcalFresh peach wedges in a thickened orange and peach sauce, topped with food processor drop biscuits and a cinnamon sugar crust. From Cooking for Jeffrey, this was one of Ina’s go-to desserts for dinner parties.
Ingredients
- For the Filling:
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4 lbs (1.8 kg) ripe peaches (8 to 10 large)
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3/4 cup (150g) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
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3 tablespoons cornstarch
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1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
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1/3 cup (80ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
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1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- For the Topping:
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1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
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3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (175g) sugar, divided
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
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12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks / 170g) cold unsalted butter, 1/2-inch diced
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2 extra-large eggs
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1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Directions
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Peel the peaches: Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a sheet pan with parchment. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Dip peaches in for 30 seconds to 3 minutes until the skins slip off easily. Transfer to ice water, then peel.
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Prep the fruit two ways: Cut a quarter of the peaches into a large dice and set aside. Cut the rest into wedges and place in a large bowl.
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Cook the sauce: Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, orange zest, orange juice, and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add only the diced peaches, return to a boil, then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until thickened and translucent. Fold the sauce into the bowl of peach wedges. Pour into an 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 2-inch oval baking dish.
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Make the topping: Pulse the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter and pulse 15 to 20 times until pea-sized. Beat the eggs with vanilla in a small bowl, add to the processor, and pulse just until evenly moistened.
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Top and bake: Scoop dollops of dough onto the peaches (it won’t cover them completely). Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Place the dish on the sheet pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. If the topping browns too fast, cover loosely with foil halfway through. The biscuits should spring back when touched.
- Cool and serve: Rest for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
FAQs
Why does Ina cook some peaches and leave others raw?
Cooking a quarter of the peaches with cornstarch and orange juice creates a thick, jammy sauce that holds the filling together. The raw wedges folded in afterward keep their shape and give you bites of actual peach.
Without this step, the filling is just loose fruit sitting in watery juice. The cooked peaches act as a natural thickener so the cobbler scoops cleanly instead of running all over the plate.
How ripe should the peaches be?
Ina says to make this “when local peaches are ripe” because they’ll be easier to peel and more flavorful. The skins should slip off after a quick blanch.
Hard, underripe peaches won’t peel easily and taste starchy in the filling. If your peaches aren’t perfectly ripe, leave them on the counter for a few days in a paper bag until they give slightly when pressed.
Why use a food processor for the topping?
Ina says she avoided cobblers for years because making biscuit dough on top of all the fruit prep was too much work. The food processor makes the topping in under a minute.
Pulse the dry ingredients, pulse in the cold butter until pea-sized, then pulse in the eggs. Don’t over-process or the butter melts and you lose the flaky texture. Scoop it onto the fruit with an ice cream scoop and you’re done.
Can you make this peach cobbler ahead of time?
Ina says to prepare it up to 2 hours before dinner, leave it at room temperature, and reheat while you’re serving the main course.
Don’t assemble it the night before because the biscuit topping absorbs moisture from the fruit and goes soggy. The filling and the topping can be prepped separately earlier in the day, but combine them right before baking.
What is the best substitute for fresh peaches?
Frozen peach slices work in a pinch. Thaw them first and drain off any liquid so the filling doesn’t get watery.
Ina also has a Peach & Blueberry Crumble and a Peach & Raspberry Crisp in other cookbooks, so mixing in berries is already in her playbook. A handful of raspberries or blueberries folded in with the peach wedges adds color and a tart contrast to the sweet filling.
