Russell Family Peach Cobbler

It's the perfect time of year to make my grandmother's peach cobbler. The recipe does not have exact measurements and that's half the fun of the dish. Originally, my grandmother would have made homemade pie crust but today, in an attempt to shortcut the recipe and save time, I recommend purchasing a roll out pie dough like Pillsbury Pie Crusts. If I had my grandmother's pie dough recipe I would share it- perhaps it will surface sometime soon. The best part of this recipe are the dumplings of leftover pie crust found in the middle of the cobbler.

You'll need the following:
deep casserole dish that is approximately 6 inches wide
1 pie crust, chilled, rolled out to desired width.
a little bit less than 1 cup of sugar
1 - 1 1/2 cups water
Roughly 1 heaping tablespoon of all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (we always use salted butter in our family)
ground nutmeg
3-4 cups peeled, sliced, and seeded Free-stone peaches

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (375 works too).

Start by cooking peaches and butter in the water (the water should just barely cover the peaches) over medium heat on the stove top. While the butter melts and the peaches cook, mix the flour with the sugar. Add the flour/sugar mixture to the peach mixture and continue cooking until the peaches are soft. After about 15-20 minutes check the consistency. The peaches should be soft but not falling apart. Check the sugary sauce. If it's too sour for your taste you'll want to add a little bit more sugar- but it's your preference.

Set aside to cool. Coat a deep casserole dish with butter (or Pam works). Cut the pie dough to fit the casserole dish but save the leftover pieces of dough for the dumplings. Put half of the peach mixture into the casserole dish, place the scraps of dough over the peach mixture and repeat with the other half of the peach mixture. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top layer of peach mixture. Lastly, top the cobbler with the pie crust and cut slits into the top for ventilation.

Bake until the top crust is golden brown. Cook for at least 45 minutes.

The cobbler is best when still warm but not hot. My family can't decide if it's better with or without homemade vanilla ice cream. I am a purist. I like the cobbler "as-is."


I received a ton of overly ripe peaches from my favorite produce stand in Weaverville, NC. In an attempt to cook them before they all spoiled I made two cobblers and plan to take one to a friend (hence the disposable tins). A good tip, especially by the end of August, talk to your produce man about the possibility of free or discounted overly ripe peaches. Don't be afraid to cut off the overly ripe parts of the peach flesh. These will actually make a much sweeter cobbler.