Blackberry Skillet Cobbler is my new favorite summer dessert both because of how amazing it tastes and how insanely simple it is to prepare. Hot bubbling fruit underneath a blanket of crackling sweet topping with a prep time under thirty minutes? Sign me up!

Let me illuminate for you how quickly this recipe comes together.

Brown some butter. Mix some basic ingredients. Add fruit. Sprinkle with brown sugar. DO NOT MIX OR TOUCH. Bake. Done.

The most difficult part about assembling this cobbler is exercising restraint and not mixing all the things together before you put it in the oven. But you must. not. mix. Be strong! Be brave! I believe in you!

And then, to add to the fun, this cobbler allows you to perform a magic trick. Place the cobbler in the oven with the batter on the bottom and the fruit on top. Say some magic words and set the timer for forty-five minutes. Presto-chango, when it comes out of the oven the crust is on the top and the fruit has moved to the bottom! Ta-da!!!

For my next trick, I will be making the entire thing disappear. Can I get a volunteer from the audience?

A 12-inch cast iron skillet is the pan of my choice, but if you do not own one, you can certainly use an eight or nine-inch square baking dish. The baking time will be longer in a smaller pan, so please plan accordingly.

Can you eat this without ice cream? Sure. Should you eat this without ice cream? I don’t even know how to process that question. Do yourself a favor and pick up a half-gallon of Blue Bell to make this cobbler the ideal way to end a summer meal.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 pound, 1/2 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound fresh blackberries (approximately 3 cups)
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You will need either a 12-inch cast iron skillet or an 8-inch square baking dish.
To brown the butter, melt the butter in a small sauté pan set over medium heat. The butter will gently melt, then foam, then sputter, and the begin to boil. Once all of the water has evaporated, the milk solids will begin to brown. Once they are a nut-brown color, remove the pan from the heat. This process can take up to ten minutes, but once the butter begins to brown, it can burn in a matter of seconds. Watch it closely!
Pour the browned butter into the bottom of the empty cast iron skillet (or baking dish), scraping all the browned bits from the pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and vanilla until combined. Pour the sugar and milk mixture on top of the browned butter in the bottom of the pan, but DO NOT STIR. Just let it be, in whatever imperfect form it takes.
Add the blackberries to the pan, distributing the fruit as evenly as possible over the butter and batter. It should look a bit disheveled. Sprinkle the entire pan evenly with the brown sugar. Resist the urge to mix!
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (or up to an hour if you are using a square baking pan), until the cobbler is uniformly golden brown on top and the fruit is bubbling underneath.
Serve warm with ice cream, or at room temperature.

Notes

Just about any fruit works well in this recipe. You can use fresh peaches, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or a combination of whatever you like. You can also use frozen fruit. I suggest thawing it first, and if there is a lot of liquid left from the thawing process, drain that off before adding the fruit to the pan.

Blackberry Skillet Cobbler