With a flaky and buttery biscuit base and a warmly spiced fresh apricot filling, this Fresh Apricot Cobbler is the most delicious way to use up your extra summer fruit!
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Table of Contents
- Why you'll love this fresh apricot cobbler!
- Ingredients
- How to pick fresh apricots
- How to make this apricot cobbler recip
- Recipe pro-tips
- Making the cobbler a day ahead of time
- Making a gluten-free apricot cobbler
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage Directions
- Recipe FAQs
- Save this Recipe for Later on Pinterest
- Tools Needed to Make this Recipe
- More Fruit Dessert Recipes
Move on over apple or peach cobbler: there's a new sheriff in town! She's just as sassy, saucy, full of flavor, and tender. She's warm and pairs well with ice cream or whipped cream and will steal the show at any summer gathering.
Her name is Apricot Cobbler and she is not here to play! Read on to learn more about how to make this new favorite summer dessert and discover a new classic today!
Why you'll love this fresh apricot cobbler!
- Fresh & fruity - fresh apricot flavor is the star of this dessert time show. The brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg complement and bring out the flavor, making it fresh, summery, and perfectly sweet!
- Light & buttery biscuit base - there are no dense biscuits here! A light, flaky, and rich base makes up the foundation of this dessert, making the perfect counterpart to the apricot filling.
- A great way to use up fresh apricots - have too many apricots on hand for summer snacking alone? Treat yourself and your crew to a delicious way to enjoy your bounties of this summer fruit. Just one bite and there's no going back!
Ingredients
- Fresh apricots - you'll need 7-8 medium apricots, or about 3 - 3.5 cups of the freshly sliced fruit.
- Brown sugar - the molasses in this soft sugar adds depth and flavor to the apricot filling.
- Granulated sugar - rounds out the sweetness in the dessert without making it overly sweet.
- All-purpose flour - the foundation for the cobbler dough. Some of the starch in the dough also helps the apricot sauce to thicken up as it cools.
- Buttermilk - responsible for making an ultra tender biscuit cobbler dough!
- Butter - adds a rich buttery flavor to both the dough and the apricot filling.
- Cinnamon and nutmeg - warm spices that add sweetness dimension to the fruit filling.
- Baking soda and salt - add flavor and rise to the cobbler dough.
How to pick fresh apricots
The best fresh apricots are heavy for their size, a deep and even creamy orange color, and are firm but not rock-hard. When the apricots are ripe, the flesh will still be firm but should give slightly when you gently press it with your thumb.
Avoid apricots that are bruised, have indentations from where the fruit is overripe, green spots, or mold growing on them. These are all signs that the apricot is over or underripe, rotting, or just generally not good to eat.
To ripen apricots quickly, place them in a brown paper bag with a ripening banana and roll or clip shut the bag for 1-2 days, or until the apricots are ripe.
How to make this apricot cobbler recip
For the complete recipe and measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook the apricots and sugars in the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Simmer until the apricots are saucy.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until combined.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or a fork, or until the butter crumbles are the size of peas.
- Slowly whisk the buttermilk into the flour and sugar mixture until just combined.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter to the baking dish and melt in the preheated oven. Carefully spread the butter around the pan to coat.
- Gently press the dough into the buttered baking pan.
- Pour the apricot filling over the dough.
- Bake until the biscuits are golden brown and the apricot sauce has thickened.
Recipe pro-tips
- Cut cold butter into the flour mixture. I recommend taking this portion of butter out of the refrigerator just as you need it. You want it cold as possible so it cuts into the flour evenly and makes the biscuit cobbler dough flaky and light.
- Don't over mix the dough. I recommend mixing the buttermilk in until it looks like it's 80% of the way mixed in. Any remaining streaks of flour or moisture will absorb into the dough as it bakes. Over mixing, on the other hand, will make the dough tough or chewy.
- Don't worry about perfectly pressing the dough into the pan. Since this is a bit more of a free-form dessert and the apricot sauce will cover the cobbler dough, you don't have to worry about perfectly pressing the dough into the pan. Just spread it out so it fits into the pan and is generally an even thickness throughout and you will be good to go!
Making the cobbler a day ahead of time
This is a fantastic make ahead dessert recipe for those busy summer nights! To make it ahead, just assemble the cobbler up until the baking step. Instead of baking it, cover the cobbler with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerating it for up to 36 hours before baking according to the recipe directions.
Making a gluten-free apricot cobbler
If you are avoiding or can't eat gluten, it is super easy to make a gluten-free cobbler with this recipe! Just substitute the same amount of 1-to-1 gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour and follow the recipe directions as listed.
My top recommendations for gluten-free flour blends are Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour and King Arthur's Flour Measure to Measure Gluten-Free Flour.
Serving Suggestions
This fresh apricot recipe is best served warm as-is or topped with vanilla ice cream, cinnamon ice cream, or whipped cream.
If you are serving this recipe out of the oven, let the cobbler cool for 10-20 minutes before serving. This will give the cobbler time to cool off and the sauce time to thicken up before serving.
Storage Directions
- Refrigerating: wrap the cobbler baking dish with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for up 3-4 days.
- Freezing: move the leftover cobbler to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 2-3 months.
- Defrosting: defrost the frozen cobbler in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours, or until thawed through.
- Reheating: heat individual portions on medium heat in the microwave for 45 seconds -1 minute, or until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
Apricot cobbler is a baked fruit dessert with a tender biscuit layer under or on top of the apricot filling whereas apricot crisp is a baked fruit dessert with a sugary and buttery oat topping, similar to that of granola, on top of the apricot filling layer.
Yes! You can certainly substitute peaches for apricots in this cobbler recipe. Just substitute the same amount of fruit and follow the recipe directions as listed.
Save this Recipe for Later on Pinterest
Tools Needed to Make this Recipe
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Non-stick skillet
- Silicone spatula
- 8 x 8-inch baking dish
More Fruit Dessert Recipes
- Cast Iron Peach Cobbler
- Strawberry Cobbler
- Raspberry Cobbler
- Gluten-Free Blackberry Cobbler
- Blueberry Peach Crisp
- Fruit & Yogurt Popsicles
- Homemade Lemon Bars
- Blueberry Lemon Bread
Fresh Apricot Cobbler
With a flaky and buttery biscuit base and a warmly spiced fresh apricot filling, this Fresh Apricot Cobbler is the most delicious way to use up your extra summer fruit!
Ingredients
Apricot Topping
- 1 ½ tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 7-8 apricots sliced into ¼-inch slices (or 3-3 ½ cups thinly sliced apricots)
- 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cobbler Dough
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup low-fat buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make the apricots: In a medium-size skillet, melt 1 ½ tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the sliced apricots, brown sugar, sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring regularly, for 4-5 minutes, or until the apricots are saucy and just start to become tender. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Make the cobbler dough: Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a 8 x 8-inch baking dish. Add the dish to the preheated oven for 2-4 minutes, or until the butter has melted. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully stir the butter around in the dish with a pastry brush or paper towel to coat the bottom and sides of the dish.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until combined. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter to the flour and cut it in with a fork or pastry cutter until the butter crumbles are the size of peas.
- Slowly whisk the buttermilk into the flour mixture until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining. Note: we want it to look like the milk is only about 80% mixed in and this is OK! This will keep the cobbler biscuit dough nice and tender; over-mixing it makes them tough and chewy.
- Roughly spread the biscuit dough over the bottom of the buttered baking pan. You want the batter to cover most of the bottom, but it doesn’t need to be perfect. Pour apricots and their sauce over the biscuit dough.
- Bake in the oven for 26-28 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and the apricot sauce has thickened.
