This apple cobbler is an old fashioned dessert made with an apple filling that is topped with sweet buttermilk biscuits. A quick and easy treat that’s perfect to make when apples are in season!
When my apple tree is full of apples in the fall months, I use them up by making apple crisp, fried apples, apple pork chops, apple pie filling, or this delicious and decadent cobbler recipe.
There are so many great dessert recipes to make with apples, and I have to say, this cobbler is one of my favorites. It’s a lot less work than a pie, and I love the combination of the sweet, juicy apples with the fluffy biscuit topping.
This apple cobbler recipe is in my regular rotation for fall desserts along with pumpkin meringue pie and pear custard pie. There are so many amazing fall flavors!
Table of Contents
Apple Cobbler Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice. water, baking powder, salt, butter, buttermilk, vanilla extract and coarse sugar.
How Do You Make Apple Cobbler?
First, make the filling by tossing cubed apples with sugar, flour, spices, lemon juice and water. Place the apple mixture in a baking dish, and then it is ready for the topping. Make the cake like topping by stirring together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add small cubes of butter to the flour mixture and use a pastry blender or two forks to cut the butter into the mixture. Pour in buttermilk and vanilla extract, and stir it all together.
Place spoonfuls of biscuit topping onto the apples and and sprinkle coarse sugar on top. Bake the cobbler until the topping is brown and the fruit is tender. The cobbler is ready to serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or your other favorite toppings.
Tips For Apple Cobbler
- Make sure your apples are cut into similar sized pieces so that they cook evenly.
- Use coarse sparkling sugar for the topping – it won’t melt like regular granulated sugar and it has that beautiful crystalline appearance. You can find this sugar in the baking aisle with the bottles of sprinkles.
- This dessert can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Since this cobbler is best served warm, you will want to reheat it. You can warm this cobbler in the oven at 325 degrees F for about 25 minutes. You can also microwave individual portions of cobbler for approximately 30 seconds until warmed through.
- I like to serve this dessert as a sweet ending alongside hearty main course options such as biscuit chicken pot pie, lemon thyme chicken, lentil soup or pasta e fagioli soup.
Quick Tip
This recipe works best with a tart baking apple variety. If you’re using a sweet apple, such as Honeycrisp, you may want to reduce the sugar in the filling to 3/4 cup.
Recipe FAQs
The difference between an apple cobbler and a crisp is the topping. While both desserts have a tasty apple filling, a cobbler has sweet biscuits on top while a crisp has a loose mixture of sugar, flour, oats and nuts. A cobbler is a is a softer, richer dessert, while a crisp has a hearty almost crunchy texture.
Firm and tart apples are best for a cobbler. They pair well with the sweet and soft biscuit topping. The most commonly used apples are Granny Smith apples. You can also use Cripps Pink (Pink Lady), Braeburn or Cameo apples. For a sweeter dish, try Golden Delicious apples.
Apple cobbler can be stored at room temperature for up to 8 hours. After that point, I recommend you refrigerate it.
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Apple Cobbler Variations
Apples pair well with other fruit to make fantastic cobblers. To change up traditional apple cobbler, try these variations.
- Berries: For the filling, mix together 6 cups of diced apples and 4 cups of berries such as raspberries, blueberries or blackberries.
- Pears: Use 7 cups of diced apples with 3 cups of diced and peeled pears to make the cobbler filling.
- Peaches: To make the filling stir together 5 cups of diced apples with 5 cups of diced peaches.
- Flavorings: You can add more ingredients to your cobbler such as nutmeg, ground ginger, finely grated lemon peel or dried cranberries. You can also use brown sugar in the filling instead of granulated sugar.
This recipe combines a saucy apple filling with sweet and fluffy biscuits. You can’t go wrong with this classic and satisfying dessert.
More Delicious Apple Recipes
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Apple Fries
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Apple Cinnamon Cake
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Fried Apple Pies
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Apple Cobbler
Ingredients
For the apple filling
- 10 cups apples peeled, cored and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons water
For the cobbler topping
- 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter cold, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar
- cooking spray
- vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9' x 13' pan with cooking spray.
- For the filling: Place the apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice and water in a large bowl. Toss to coat.
- Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan in an even layer.
- For the topping: Place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. Add the butter to the bowl and use a pastry blender or two forks to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the batter looks like small coarse pebbles.
- Pour the buttermilk and vanilla extract into the flour mixture. Stir to make a batter.
- Place spoonfuls of the batter mixture over the apples. Top with the coarse sugar.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and apples are tender. If the biscuits look like they're browning too quickly, you can cover the dish with a piece of foil.
- Let cool for at least 20 minutes, then serve, with ice cream and caramel sauce if desired.
Notes
- Make sure your apples are cut into similar sized pieces so that they cook evenly.
- Use coarse sparkling sugar for the topping – it won’t melt like regular granulated sugar and it has that beautiful crystalline appearance. You can find this sugar in the baking aisle with the bottles of sprinkles.
I have made this before and it is absolutely delicious!
I was wondering if I could make night before and put in fridge to make next day?
Yes that should be fine!
The topping on this recipe is out of this world! This was delicious and perfect for the season.
Why have I waited this long to try apple cobbler?? This is so good, it will definitely be a part of my fall baking 🙂
I don’t believe I’ve ever had a buttermilk topping on cobbler before, it sounds fantastic in this easy to make apple cobbler. I can’t wait to enjoy a plateful of this deliciousness.