Peach (and blueberry) Cobbler

I almost made a crisp--not a cobbler.  I actually wasn't sure what the difference was until I read about it online.  A cobbler has a biscuit topping and is called a cobbler because when the biscuits are baked they look like cobblestones.

Well I thought that was great and all but I like a sweet brown sugary streusel more. Biscuits are good but they aren't as sweet in my opinion and are tad more involved to make.

So when I decided I wanted to make a cobbler and then actually realized what one was...I was like..."F" that! But then I simmered down and decided that it might be a good experience to actually make a cobbler.  Plus, I might like it more than I was anticipating.

I found a recipe in the cookbook that I have--the one that divides recipes according to the four seasons, The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook.

Its been a great cookbook to me. Every time I think of a classic dessert I want to make, I flip through it and--so far--find what I'm looking for. The one thing about this recipe is that although it's named "Peach Cobbler," it has some blueberries in it.

So I don't know if that's an actual "classic" peach cobbler or not.  But I wasn't opposed to it--blueberries are a great addition to just about any fruit dessert.

And the biscuit topping that I thought would be a little more intensive than a crisp's crumble topping really wasn't bad.  You just cut some butter into the flour, add some buttermilk, cut some circles out of the dough and then drop it on top of the fruit.  Easy as pie--or cobbler in this case.

Recipe ever so slightly adapted from The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook:

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs peaches sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch wedges and peeled if you want--I didn't (I used a combination of white and regular)
1c blueberries
1/4c granulated sugar
1/4c packed brown sugar
3T corn starch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt

Biscuit topping:

1 1/4c all purpose flour
3 T granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 T cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes--divided
1/2c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
coarse sugar for sprinkling

-In a large bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients and toss well so that all of the fruit is well coated
-Pour the filling into an 8x8 inch baking pan and set aside
-Preheat the oven to 375 F
-For the biscuit topping, in a large bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients
-Using a pastry blender, your fingers or two forks, cut in 4T of the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal or "pea-sized" chunks
-Add the buttermilk and vanilla and stir to combine
-On a lightly floured surface roll out the biscuit topping so that it is about 1/2" thick
-Using a 2 1/4" round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter of some sort, cut out 9 rounds--or as many as you can
-Drop the rounds of dough atop the filling
-Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the dough and the remaining butter over the entire pan
-Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling is bubbling
-Remove from oven and let it cool a bit--but serve warm and maybe with some whipped cream?  Like I did?  Yeah!