Peach Cobbler-Texas Style

My husband's grandpa is so sweet.

He lives about 2 hours away from us, and every summer, a peach farm from Colorado brings a truckload of peaches through his town. He always buys us a case and sends it our way. I'm talking huge, ripe, sweet, and super juicy, farm-grown peaches.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Last year, we weren't able to eat them all (a case holds about 50 big peaches).

This time I was determined to not let that happed, so I decided to find a peach cobbler recipe.

Apparently there is a great debate whether cobbler should have a pastry style crust, or dumplings. I'm all crust, all the way, baby. I found this recipe, altered it just a bit, and it was delicious. And I don't even like cooked fruit.

Here is the recipe I used, with the teeny modifications I made. All I did was add some cinnamon to the peach mixture, and put the first crust under the cobbler, rather than in the cobbler. Oh, and the recipe calls for a 9 inch square baking dish. I used a 9x13 rectangle glass pyrex dish.

Pastry Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping and rolling

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Peach Filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

Pinch salt

10-14 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices 

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the Crust:

Place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough just comes together.

Remove dough and knead lightly on a lightly floured surface until it just comes together. Divide the dough in half and form into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Once dough is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and roll each disk into a 9x13-inch rectangle approximately 1/4-inch thick. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and return to the refrigerator to chill until ready to assemble.

For the Filling:

Melt butter in a large high-sided saute pan over medium heat. Add the sugar and water and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, peaches, and flour and cook for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove one crust from the refrigerator, and place in the bottom of 9x13 dish.

Bake until crust is golden brown. (This took me about 25 minutes or so...just watch it and get it as golden as your heart desires.)

Place the peach mixture on top of the golden crust, using a slotted spoon. I had quite a bit of juice left that didn't make it into the cobbler. I wanted that bottom brust to not get soggy, and it didn't! :) Top the peaches with 2nd layer of dough. Place on a baking sheet and brush the top crust with heavy cream, sprinkle with sugar (and cinnamon, if so desired) and return to the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbly. (This took 30-40 minutes for me.) Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

This stuff is sooo good served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Or even cold, straight from the fridge the next morning from breakfast. Yes, I speak from experience, people!

Today I am thankful that we still have our grandparent's in our lives, but sure do miss the two we have lost.