Individual Peach Cobblers

Ok, let's face it... little things are cute.  And the way I see it, we all feel a tad less guilty when eating mini things.  Last week, two friends with no connection to each other mentioned that they were having peach cobbler.  Peer pressure set in, and although peaches are typically a summer fruit, I was determined to find some fresh peaches and make some peach cobbler myself. A few hours later, home from my local Trader Joes - I was ready to bake.


After devouring her personal sized treat, my biggest little critic had just one thing to say, "Delicio"- When I asked what that meant, she looked at me out the corner of her eye, face contorted in her favorite "Mom, don't be foolish" expression and said, "Delicious - of course."  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Here's my recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, butter 6 - 8 ramekins.

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks cold butter
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

Stir together dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in Greek yogurt until all of the flour mixtures is moistened. If you find that your dough is too dry, add a little more yogurt. Turn the dough onto a floured pastry mat (or a piece of waxed paper) and knead about 10 times.  Do not handle the dough too much or the temperature of your hands will melt the butter and cause your dough to get tough.  Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic and refrigerate while mixing the filling.

Filling:

6 - 7 medium peaches

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

dash of salt

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice  (yes, I keep it on hand all year long - if you do not have pumpkin pie spice, you can use apple pie spice, or your own combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)

Peel the peaches and cut them into medium slices.  Mix peaches with other ingredients. The combination of the fruit and the sugar will create a sweet peach liquid.  You should taste to make sure it is to your liking (sweetness, spices)  Remember - you are going to be eating this. Make sure it tastes good to YOU.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut the dough in half.  Place one half on floured board and roll out to about 1/8th of an inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter a little larger than your ramekin,  cut out as many circles as you can.

Line each ramekin with your crust gently pushing the dough up the sides of the ramekin.  Don't worry if it does not reach the top of the ramekin. This is a cobbler, not a pie.  Cobblers are more casual than pies, it does not have to be perfect.  Fill each ramekin with your filling.

Roll out the remaining dough. Using a very sharp knife cut the dough into strips about a 1/2 inch in width.  Cut the strips to the length of your ramekin.

Place the strips in a lattice pattern on top of your filling.  OK... remember, YOU are making this, take liberties with the recipe.  If a lattice pattern is too much trouble for you, find a tiny cookie cutter or bottle cap and cut small circles out of your dough.  Place them on top of your filling.  Sprinkle the top of the crust with a little white sugar.

This step is important - Unless you want to spend a few hours cleaning your oven, place your ramekins on a cookie sheet.  Bake in your preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes.  Watch the oven. You are looking for bubbling sugar around the edges and a golden brown crust.

Sorry to tell you this, but you are going to have to let your mini cobbler cool for just a few minutes before you dig in.  The rest is up to you.  Enjoy it plain or my favorite way - with a tiny scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

One last tip... Cover any leftovers with plastic and refrigerate.  When you are ready to enjoy, simply preheat the oven to 325 degrees and warm up for about 10 minutes.  The taste and quality will be as good as if you had just made them.  Skip the microwave.

Well, this is my first recipe post.  Let me know what you think!  Let me know if you are seriously considering making mini peach cobblers, if you already made them, or if you just love looking at pictures of food.

Enjoy.