Apple Cobbler

This old-fashioned apple cobbler is filled with tender cinnamon apples and topped with a buttery golden cobbler crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Apple Dessert, Cobbler, fall cobbler, Fall Desserts

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 333kcal

Author Kathleen

2 1/2 pounds (6-8) Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Gala apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon peel grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

Prep. Preheat oven to 375°F (190ºC). Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Combine filling. In a mixing bowl, toss the apples (2 1/2 pounds), lemon juice (1 tablespoon), lemon peel (1 teaspoon), and vanilla (1 teaspoon) together. Sprinkle sugar (1/3 cups), flour (1 tablespoon), cinnamon (1 1/2 teaspoons); ginger (1/4 teaspoon) nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon), and salt (1/8 teaspoon) toss to combine. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Bake. Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Make the topping. In a medium bowl, add all the topping ingredients, except the boiling water. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter (12 tablespoons) into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Pour in the boiling water (1 cup) and stir just until the mixture comes together and is just mixed through.
Assemble. After the apples have been baked for 15 minutes, pull them from the oven and drop large spoonfuls of the dough topping over apples. Evenly sprinkle the top of the dough with 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake. Place the baking dish on a cookie sheet, in case the cobbler bubbles over and drips, and return to the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the topping is golden and baked through and the apples are tender.

Taste your apples first: Apples vary in sweetness, so taste a slice and adjust the sugar if needed for the best balance.
Use a mix of apples: Combining tart and sweet apples gives you a more complex, well-balanced flavor in the finished cobbler.
Don’t skip the initial bake: Giving the apples a head start helps them soften, release their juices, and create that thick, syrupy filling instead of a watery one.
Cut in the cold butter properly: Leave small pieces of butter in the topping so they melt during baking and create a tender texture with lightly crisp edges
Bake until bubbling, not just golden: A golden top isn’t enough—the filling should be bubbling around the edges so you know it has fully cooked and thickened.
Let it rest before serving: Allow the cobbler to cool slightly so the filling sets into that perfect, scoopable consistency.