This sourdough peach cobbler features sweet and jammy peaches topped with tender sourdough biscuits.
It's that time of year when trees are laden and produce markets are bursting with freshly picked stone fruits. It's time for a peach cobbler!
This is the time my youngest son looks forward to the most. He waits for three quarters of the year, peachless and patient (I'm not a fan of buying fruit shipped from overseas, so we wait till it's available locally.) Then when summer hits we load up on fruit.
Sourdough Peach Cobbler
A cobbler is essentially a buttery shortcake on top of cooked fruit. Usually, it's placed over the top of the fruit in rustic pieces, flattened pieces. Last year however I made a cobbler and topped it with buttery American-style biscuits. They are very similar to flaky scones. (I used this Bon Appetit recipe here.)
These biscuits are using sourdough discard starter, which is a starter that hasn't been fed in a while. It means it will be very acidic which is what will help to create tender biscuits.
Learn how to make a sourdough starter
Sourdough Biscuits
The biscuits are made using flour, butter, a little sugar, and salt, discard sourdough starter and milk.
I used my food processor to cut the butter into the flour, then added in the sourdough starter and only enough cold milk to combine it into a dry, slightly crumbly dough.
Then the dough is shaped into a small but fat (2.5cm or 1 inch thick) square and cut into 4 pieces. These pieces are then stacked on top of each other. Stacking them like this, before rolling and cutting the biscuits adds a whole lot of layers.
Then this stacked dough pile is chilled in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
Once chilled, roll the dough once again into a small but fat square, 2.5cm square. Then cut the square into 16-18 small rectangles. These pieces will go over the peach filling. It's best to make the filling before the biscuits are cut, while the dough is still chilling in the fridge. This is so the butter in the biscuits stays cold.
The cold butter will rise and create flaky layers. Learn more about butter in baking here.
Peach Cobbler Filling
The cobbler filling itself is so so easy. Fresh peaches are sliced up, tossed with brown sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla.
I bake this cobbler in a cast-iron skillet (though you can use a baking dish.) Tip the peaches into the skillet.
Assembling the Sourdough Biscuit Layer
Now it's time to add over the biscuits.
Fit them snuggly over the top of the peaches. There should be plenty of gaps though that show the peaches peeking through.
Once the biscuits are on, brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. This gives a delicious little cinnamon crunch.
Then it's time to bake.
Initially, the cobbler goes into a very hot oven, around 200°C, (400°F). This is to give the biscuits a burst of heat, which will encourage them to rise nice and tall. Bake at this temperature for 15 minutes. After that, the temperature is reduced and the cobbler is baked for a further 35-40 minutes until the peaches are soft and the biscuits have browned.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Full Recipe
Peach Cobbler with Sourdough Biscuits
Sweet and jammy peaches topped with the tender and light sourdough biscuits.
Ingredients
Sourdough Biscuits
- 250g all-purpose flour
- 160g butter, cold, cubed
- 100g discard sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2-4 tablespoon cold milk
Peaches
- 8 large peaches
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
Instructions
Sourdough Biscuits
- In a food processor add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter. Pulse it until the butter is cut into breadcrumb sized pieces.
- Pour in the sourdough starter and pulse it together, along with 1 tablespoon of cold milk at a time until it holds together in a shaggy and dry dough. Do not over mix it.
- Tip the dough onto a bench and shape it gently it into a 2.5cm (1 inch) thick square. It may be crumbly.
- Cut the square into 4 even pieces and stack the pieces on top of each other. Wrap the dough up in parchment paper or place it in an airtight container, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours.)
- While the dough is chilling, slice the peaches into 1cm thick slices and remove the stones. Place the peach slices in a bowl and add the cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla. Toss it together to coat.
- Tip the peaches into a 27cm cast-iron skillet (or use a baking dish.)
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Remove the chilled biscuit dough from the fridge and roll it into a 2.5cm (1 inch) thick square. Cut the square into 16-18 small squares.
- Arrange the biscuits over the peach filling. In a small bowl, combine the tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.
- Brush the biscuits with the melted butter, then sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar.
- Bake the cobbler for 15 minutes at 200°C (400°F). After 15 minutes, lower the heat to 180°C (356°F) and continue baking for 35-50 minutes until the peaches are soft and the biscuits have browned.
- Remove the cobbler from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
If you've got no sourdough starter, it can be substituted with buttermilk. Add it in slowly, and don't add too much. Buttermilk will be much wetter than starter so keep that in mind. The dough should be on the dry side.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 341Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 214mgCarbohydrates: 75gFiber: 4gSugar: 32gProtein: 8g
kristel says
looks super yummy!