Skillet Berry Cobbler (Paleo & Vegan)

I’m feeling nostalgic today, so this recipe post is dedicated to my family.  But what does berry cobbler have to do with my family?  Well, since my immediate family lives in the same city, attends the same church, and gets together often for dinner parties and game nights, I have the pleasure of cooking for them a lot!  And one of the desserts I’ve made several times for our gatherings was berry cobbler.

I love this Skillet Berry Cobbler because it’s rustic, simple, and served family-style.  Warm, juicy mixed berries are covered with soft, almond flour biscuits, and sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar.  Mmmmm.  I topped the cobbler with a simple, fluffy coconut almond whipped cream.  This dessert is paleo and vegan, so it’s great for occasions where there are special diets and food allergies in the mix!  Skillet Berry Cobbler was inspired by MY family and now I encourage you to share it with YOUR family!   It would be a lovely dessert to make on Mother’s Day!

My brother and I have been so fortunate to grow up in a supportive, Christian home, with parents who’ve given us more than we could ask for or deserve.  They have so positively impacted and shaped us into who we’ve become, and have passed on the example of what a healthy marriage should look like.  I’m so grateful that they’re still involved in our lives, since sometimes I miss our carefree childhood years.  

Thinking of my family while writing this post is make me all nostalgic!   I know Mother’s Day is just around the corner and I love my mom so much, but I wanted to give a special shout out to my brother, too, since we not only share our love for our mother, but also share so many wonderful childhood memories.

I so often still feel like a kid on the inside at times, but was it really us who ran around the yard with our Super Soakers, watched Nickelodeon together, tried to skate on rollerblades, jumped into piles of leaves, and challenged one another to various (old-school) Nintendo games??  Feels like a totally different lifetime – one that I wish I could revisit now and then.

My brother is my only sibling and we’ve always been really close.  I can count on him to make me laugh, share a love of good coffee and peanut butter banana pancakes, listen intently, offer wisdom beyond his years, and just get me, since we’ve spent so much of life together as kids.  One of my favorite things about my relationship with my brother is when we witness something funny or unusual that no one else around us seems to notice.  We’ll give each other a look, know what the other is thinking, and burst out laughing.  In short, my brother is not just a brother, but one of my best friends.

So, dear brother, this one is for you!  Now, let’s get to this delicious cobbler recipe I promised you, as I return from my trip down memory lane!

To begin, preheat your oven and grab a cast iron skillet.  If you don’t have one, a regular baking dish will work just fine.  I just love any excuse I can find to use my skillet! 🙂  I chose fresh blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries for my cobbler, but you can use whatever berries you like!  You can also use frozen berries, but they will require a longer bake time.  I personally preferred the fresh.

Place your berries directly into a skillet or baking dish.  Add the sugar, starch, lemon juice, and extract and give it a good stir to incorporate.  The sugar helps the berries release their juices, so do this part first and let them sit and macerate while you make the biscuits.

In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients first (I get my almond flour online here) and then add the melted coconut oil and unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice).  Stir gently until all of the liquid is absorbed.  I started with 1 1/4 cups of almond milk and then added an additional 1/4 cup since my mixture was still a bit dry.  See how it goes for you.  You want a soft dough that is slightly crumbly, but is wet enough to hold together.

Once your biscuit dough is made, top your berries with mounds of it.  I formed 8 biscuits for my cobbler, but you can top the berries with the dough in whatever way you want.

Before I baked the cobbler, I sprinkled each biscuit with some sparkly raw cane sugar and a dash of cinnamon.  I generally don’t bake with real sugar, but I love the look of raw cane sugar as a garnish for desserts!  It just gives some extra texture and color once it bakes.  It’s optional, but I liked it best this way!

While the cobbler bakes, throw together an easy whipped coconut almond cream to serve with it.  I used a can of coconut cream from Trader Joe’s that I had refrigerated overnight to firm up.  Whip it on medium/high speed using a KitchenAid mixer.  Once it’s light and fluffy, add the maple syrup and almond extract and whip it again for a few seconds until it was well-mixed.  The whipped cream is totally optional, but it’s really good with the cobbler!

Once the cobbler was a nice golden brown, with the berries bubbling away, pull it out and let it cool off for 15-20 minutes before diving in, if you can stand to wait!  (You can even make this recipe a day ahead and reheat it to serve.)

 My family likes eating this best slightly warm or room temperature, with a big scoop of coconut almond whipped cream.  It’s also good cold, since Mark and I will sometimes eat the leftovers for breakfast!  Whatever you don’t eat, just store in a covered container in the refrigerator and it should keep for several days.

Give your family some love this week (especially the moms out there!) and show them how much you care by treating them to a big batch of Skillet Berry Cobbler!  

Skillet Berry Cobbler (Paleo & Vegan)

 

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Created by: Joanna Smith

Serves: 8

Ingredients

For the Berries:

• 6 cups of mixed berries
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the Biscuits:

• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (or Paleo baking powder)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1¼ to 1½ cups unsweetened almond milk
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• Sprinkle of cinnamon and raw sugar (optional)

For the Coconut Almond Whipped Cream:

• 1 can of coconut cream, chilled overnight
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place berries in a large cast iron skillet or 9 x 13'' baking dish.
3. Sprinkle coconut sugar, arrowroot starch, almond extract, and lemon juice on berries, then mix gently and let berries macerate in the sugar mixture.
4. In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients of the biscuits together. Add melted coconut oil and almond milk and stir until you have a wet, soft dough that is slightly crumbly, but holds together.
5. Spoon biscuit dough over top of berries. Sprinkle raw cane sugar and cinnamon over biscuits, if using.
6. Bake cobbler for 40-45 minutes, or until biscuits are browned and berries are hot and bubbly.
7. While cobbler is baking, whip coconut cream until light and fluffy, using a stand mixer. Add maple syrup and almond extract and whip again until incorporated. Refrigerate coconut almond whipped cream until cobbler is baked.
8. Serve cobbler warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Notes

~I used fresh berries in this version, but you could also use frozen. You don't have to thaw them before baking, but note that they will require a longer baking time.
~We usually eat this cobbler warm or at room temperature, but the leftovers are also good cold, right out of the refrigerator! 🙂
~If you don't like almond extract, just substitute vanilla extract.

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