Blueberry Cobbler in a Toaster Oven is a bit of everyday baking that everyone should have in their repertoire, especially in blueberry season. Not only is it a delicious treat to have around the house or to throw together for guests, but it’s also terrific to bring to a friend.
Mix the berries, mix the dough, assemble, and bake.
Ingredients
- For the berries
4½ cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs AP flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
- For the dough
1¼ cups AP flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1½ tsp sugar
2¼ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Zest of 1/4 lemon
1 cup heavy cream, plus additional for serving (optional)
Ice cream, for serving (optional)
Directions
- Prep the berries
- Place the berries in a bowl and toss with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla. Set aside.
- Make the dough
- By hand, whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the zest and toss to distribute. Add the cream and mix lightly, just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Assemble and bake
- Heat the oven to 375°F, with the rack positioned so that the cobbler will bake in the center of the oven. (For my Cuisinart Exact Heat Convection Toaster Oven Broiler – man, what a mouthful that is – that’s the “A” position, with the rack inverted.)
- Transfer the blueberry mixture into an 8-inch square (preferably glass) baking dish. Use a soup spoon to toss the berries a bit, in an effort to ensure that any loose sugar is even distributed. Spoon the biscuit mixture over the berries. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the juices bubble quite actively and the topping is browned, around 30 minutes.
- Let cool. Serve barely warm or at room temperature (with cream to pour on top or a side scoop of ice cream).
Notes
- Substitute buttermilk, adding an extra two Tablespoons, for the cream.
Social Learning
Of course you can do this in any oven; it doesn’t have to be a toaster oven. But if you’re working with blueberries, it’s probably summer, and who wants to heat up the kitchen?
Adding flavoring to the blueberries isn’t common in a cobbler. In that sense, cobbler vs. pie reminds me of crisp vs. pie. Pies tend to get the “added flavor” treatment, while cobblers and crisps tend to be simpler. When flavors are added to blueberry cobblers, lemon zest seems to be the most common. Vanilla seems less common. Cinnamon seems uncommon – but man, it is a must in my book, because of the way it amplifies the blueberries. By these standard, this cobbler’s pretty fancy.
The filling in this cobbler is looser than pie filling. I get the impression that to many people’s way of thinking, that it as it should be. Still, if you want it to be a tad thicker, there are a couple ways to do it. One of them would be to dot the filling, before adding the cobbler dough, with a Tablespoon of butter, cut into tiny pieces.
The Backstory
Serving cobbler with vanilla ice cream is more than common. However, I’m not a fan of pairing ice cream with desserts like this. I’d rather garnish with a generous bit of sweetened cream – whipped if the cobbler is room temperature, unwhipped if the cobbler’s warm.
My negative opinion of ice cream might have been influenced by the many times I’ve been served a scoop of ice cream so hard that it had to be jack-hammered out of the container, alongside some kind of delicate-textured dessert … often at a restaurant at which I will never again order dessert, or at a kid’s birthday party that I felt I had to go to. If not that, then I’ve encountered the same too-hard-to-enjoy ice cream next to a slice of “would you like it heated up” pie. Good Lord. Hot pie. Microwaved. That’s how you know you’ve died and gone to hell.
In heaven (and at my house), pie is always served either at room temperature, or just slightly – and uiformly so – above it. In heaven (and in my fantasies), ice cream is always served just a few degrees shy of melting, and it stays indefinitely at that temperature … it never completely melts, even under directly sunlight for sustained periods, but instead it just gets a little melty here and there.
I’ve cross-referenced this as an hors d’oeuvre, even though it strictly isn’t. If you were having a very casual cocktail party, you could set this on a buffet and let your guests serve themselves on a small plate. In that case, since it’d be best if you used a thickener, so that they don’t wind up leaving splatters on the floor if they eat standing up.
Blueberry Cobbler in a Toaster Oven
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Look at that colour, it is spectacular! Indeed a beautiful summer dessert. Personally, I love the contrast of cold ice cream and warm cobbler but the danger is brain-freeze. Definitely bookmarking for our next gathering.
Thanks, Eva!
I love cobbler! This looks berry yummy.
Thanks! 🙂
Another winner! Do you have favorite fruits? I guess that mine are blueberries and peaches. I love Bartlett pears too.
Same here! Although I also love apples.
I’ve made a lot of blueberry desserts this year so far because my grandson loves blueberries. I’ll have to add this one to my recipe list. Thank you.
You’re welcome!
I love – LOVE – your definitions of heaven and hell. Mark despises ice cream on fruit desserts (maybe for the same reason?), but I do enjoy it as you do… just shy of melting (unless I am photographing it. The melting happens naturally then…). I love your cobbler and will make it soon. And, guess what? A toaster oven is yet another appliance I don’t have. Honestly, if I didn’t turn on the regular oven when it’s hot outside, I might never bake. It is 110° here today and I just took a blueberry pie out of the oven. So grateful for AC!
110! You could practically just let it bake out on the patio!
This looks delicious Jeff, over here in Australia cobbler isn’t such a thing, but I think it should be. The more I cook the more I think I need an additional small oven, and particularly in Summer they are a great idea. Blueberries are expensive here, so I’m tempted to try this with the frozen variety.
In baking, I never think twice about subbing frozen blueberries for fresh.
Tu postre me parece riquísimo y me gusta ese toque de vainilla y canela, lo hace distinguirse de la clásica combinación arándano+limón.
Tampoco a mi me gusta el helado servido con pastel y seguramente por lo mismo que a ti, siempre su textura es demasiado dura para disfrutarlo.
Un saludo.
GMTA!
I love this blueberry cobbler! What a great idea to bake it in the toaster oven. And adding cinnamon to bring out the blueberry flavor is genius!
Thank you, Shannon!
The local blueberries here have been so delicious. I have a lot in the freezer and what a perfect recipe to make. This cobbler looks delicious! My Ninja is my favorite way to cook in the summer besides the grill.
Thanks, Lori!
I am a fan of fruit cobblers. This one is a beauty. Although, I am happy with a whipped cream, I am still a lover of vanilla ice cream and warm fruit cobbler.
Your cobbler is a beautiful way to celebrate summer.
Velva
Thanks, Velva!
Cobblers are the ultimate comfort food in the dessert world. Okay fine, most desserts are considered comfort foods, but you know what I mean. It’s a warm and cozy dish, and peaches and/or blueberries are my favorite. I love the idea of just drizzling a bit of sweetened cream over it. Yum. 🙂 ~Valentina
Thanks, Valentina! Hope you’re enjoying your summer!
Jeff,
This looks delicious and relatively low in sugar. I love a good cobbler and the toaster oven suggestion is.a bonus