There are few tasty summer treats as delicious as strawberry cobbler made with farm stand strawberries. I keep it with my Easter dessert recipes but it’s really great all year round. I’ve made it for Memorial Day, 4th of July and probably all the other holidays. The very best Easter recipes are the ones you can use anytime.
Now, there’s always strawberry sheet cake and strawberry cream cake if you’re partial to more of a bread type treat. Strawberry cheesecake salad is also a sweet refreshing dish that dresses up a holiday meal but its kinda’ hard to beat a good old-fashioned strawberry cobbler.
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What I Love About This Recipe
- It’s easy and quick to put together and always a family favorite.
- Candied cake-like topping
How To Make Strawberry Cobbler Recipe
Whipping up this sweet cobbler is super simple. Just mix up your filling and toss it in a dish. Then mix up that cake-flavored topping and spoon it on top. Sprinkle with sugar for that extra something and toss it in the oven.
Easy Strawberry Cobbler Recipe Notes
One of the best tips I can give you is just to toss heaping spoonfuls of your yummy cakey topping onto your dish. If you cover the entire thing then it’ll steam instead of bake and you’ll have a lotta’ runny liquid in there. Leave some gaps. Trust me on this one.
You’ll also want to be sure not to overmix your topping. Once you pour the boiling water in, stir it just until it comes together.
Ingredient Notes
Strawberries – Personally, I prefer making this cobbler with fresh farm picked strawberries but frozen will work too. You’ll still want to ensure they’re as dry as you can get them before macerating.
- I simply spread out layers of paper towels or clean dish towels and let the strawberries sit for 10 minutes or so. I gently turn them over a couple of times during the drying time, so that any excess water is absorbed and removed.
- Slice them or quarter them depending on the size of the berries and your preference. I personally like them cut simply in half or quarter, rather than thinly sliced, so the cooked fruit is still a little chunky even after it’s cooked.
- After you cut the strawberries you allow them to macerate in the sugar. During this process, the strawberries will release a lot of their juice. This is a good thing. All of that juice is an integral component of the flavor and texture of the cobbler. Obviously, the juice isn’t like the extra water from washing the strawberries. By all means, add all of it!
Frozen Strawberries – The most important thing about using frozen berries is to make sure that they don’t have any extra water/moisture clinging to them. It’s one of those things that often occurs in frozen fruits. If you’re in doubt, you can add more instant tapioca.
Thickener: Let’s face it, there are a lot of variables when it comes to thickening a cobbler or fruit pie. Because of this, you need to know your results may vary a bit. It’s tricky to achieve a thick, non-runny cobbler or pie filling.
- One of the easiest things you can do, to help keep your filling nice and thick, is to not add any unnecessary liquid to the cobbler. Especially any liquid like water that doesn’t even add any extra flavor to the cobbler.
- The funny thing about using thickening agents in fruit cobbler or pies is that most experienced bakers have very strong opinions about them and which ones should be used. In my experience, when I use enough flour or cornstarch to thicken the cobbler to my liking, both leave a distinct, gluey, very unpleasant flavor and a gummy texture. Interestingly, I haven’t ever had that experience with other fruits and often use both of them with great results.
- To thicken this cobbler, I add 3 tablespoons to 1/4 of a cup of instant tapioca and have been really pleased with the results. If you’re using early spring strawberries, they probably won’t be extra juicy, so I’d use 3 Tablespoons to the cobbler filling to thicken it. If you’re using late summer strawberries, which naturally contain a lot more juice, I’d use 1/4 quarter cup of the instant tapioca to the filling.
Sugar: Okay so ultimately the amount of sugar you’ll use in this recipe will vary on the sweetness of the strawberries. Very often late-season strawberries are naturally higher in sugar than those that have been picked in the earlier part of the season.
- If your strawberries are super sweet, or you just like your fruit cobbler, less sweet, feel free to cut back on the sugar. For my taste, 1/3 cup is the amount I generally use.
Accouterments: This amazing recipe is beyond delish all on its own. Warm or room temperature it’s totally strawberri-a-lious! It’s really scrumptious with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or a big ole scoop of vanilla or french vanilla ice cream.
Storing Tips
Your sweet succulent cobbler will be fine on the counter for a couple of days if you cover it loosely with plastic wrap. If you cover it too tightly, you could end up with moisture which will lead to spoilage. Keep it out of direct sunlight or toss in the fridge to play it safe.
Can You Freeze This?
Yes, you sure can! Admittedly, the strawberries are a little softer and the cobbler isn’t as thick when it thaws because the strawberries release moisture as they thaw. It’s best to slow thaw in the fridge.
Make Ahead Tips
Be sure you have enough time for the strawberries to dry after washing them. They’ll also need time to macerate in the sugar blend. Mmm! Once that’s done, the recipe only has a 15-minute prep time so there’s not much to do ahead.
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
Your sweet scrumptious cobbler will be fine in the fridge for 3-4 days if you don’t eat it all before then. Trust me, it’s hard with this one.
Serving Recommendations
You can serve this with like Italian pasta salad, grilled chicken marinade, anything! But if you are a strawberry fanatic, you can try strawberry pie, strawberry pretzel salad, and drink strawberry frose!
Recipe Variations
There are a few different things you can do with this recipe, especially if you start with fresh juicy strawberries. Here are a few thoughts.
- If blueberry cobbler floats your boat, then make one of those instead of a strawberries. When they’re in season I love baking up a good ‘ole Southern blueberry cobbler for the FAM.
- You can choose between Bisquick Peach Cobbler and Southern Peach Cobbler. It’s a fantastic follow-up to strawberry since peach season comes afterward.
- If fruit cobbler puts a smile on your face, then you can always try a raspberry cobbler or choose from a myriad of other sweet summer favorites. I’ve got a great recipe for an easy cherry cobbler that’ll knock your socks off!
Strawberry Cobbler
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh strawberries quartered
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup instant tapioca
Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup boiling water
Sugar Topping:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 X 8-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Rinse the strawberries, let whole berries dry, then slice in half or quarters.
- In a large mixing bowl, gently fold together cut strawberries, sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, and tapioca. Pour fruit mixture into prepared baking dish.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together all the topping ingredients, except the butter and boiling water. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the boiling water into the bowl and stir just until the mixture comes together.
- Drop the topping dough by the large spoonful evenly over the fruit mixture. Evenly sprinkle the top of the dough with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar.
- Place the baking pan on a cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the topping is cooked through and golden and strawberries are tender.
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More Easter Dessert Recipes
Here’s some more delicious Easter dessert recipes for you.
- Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies – Its hard to improve on perfection.
- Atlantic Beach Pie – Sweet, salty and totally balanced flavor perfection.
- Peach Cobbler Crumble – The best parts of a cobbler with an added crumble treat.
- Fruit Pizza – It’s a metropolis of deliciousness.
- Lemon Pudding Cake – Sweet, moist and lemony fantastic!
Conclusion
This strawberry cobbler recipe is a must have in your repertoire. It’s one of the easiest 5-star dessert recipes and it’s always insanely delicious. Plus, it’s not just an Easter dessert – I make this one all year round and I bet you will too!
Can frozen strawberries be used? Our strawberry season is over but picked and froze fresh berries whole and unsweetened. This looks yummy!
Hi, Bonnie. 😀 Yes, you can use frozen strawberries. Just make sure that they’re dry before using them. Happy baking!
The stress melter cobbler
This was a delicious dessert ! We used fresh strawberries from our garden. A fun recipe to make with the kiddos too.
Thank you ,so yummy!
Thanks, Alicia! So happy to hear that you and your kids loved it! 😀
The boiling water in the recipe intrigued me so I had to try it. Delicious! In fact the hubby went for seconds.
That makes me so happy to hear, Vicki <3 Thanks for sharing!
Can I use something else cause I don’t like tapioca
Hi Pauline. I’m sure you can, but I’ve only tested the recipe with tapioca. If you bake the cobbler until it’s done, the tapioca should be completely dissolved and flavorless.
I used about 2 or 3 teaspoons of cornstarch instead of the tapioca and that really helped to thicken the juices.
Hi! In step 3, you specify “cornstarch” but the incredients list instant tapioca. Also, can I cut the strawberries ahead of time and mix with the sugar or will they get too juicy?
Hi Maury. Ooops. I use Tapioca! I’ve changed the recipe to reflect this. I wouldn’t cut the strawberries ahead of time. I’m afraid they’ll get too juicy! Enjoy
Hi – can’t wait to try this – you say you use tapioca as a thickener and it is listed under ingredients, but directions say cornstarch
Hi Karen. Ooops. I use Tapioca! I’ve changed the recipe to reflect this.
Sounds delicious. Does the brown sugar go in the topping or mixed with the berries? It is listed under the topping, but directions say to mix with berries.
Sorry about the confusion! I need to fix that. The brown sugar goes in the topping only 🙂