I'd Like Some Ice Cream With That Cobbler

A few months ago I posted the recipe for my favorite peach cobbler; in that post I mentioned a variation that a friend of mine had come up with, making it into a yummy pear cobbler with one substitution (pears for peaches) and one addition, cinnamon. This weekend I found myself trolling the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator looking for something to make for a "goodie". When I spotted the jar of pears, I knew what a treat I had in store.

Ingredients:

• 1 c flour
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c milk
• 1 stick (1/2 c) butter or margarine
• canned peaches or pears (these can be commercially canned or home canned)
• cinnamon (forgot to include this in the picture)

Put the butter or margarine in a 1 to 2 Q baking dish, and place in the oven while it preheats

Meanwhile, mix the flour, sugar, milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon into a thin batter

Once the butter is melted, pour the batter into the melted butter in the baking dish.

Add sliced fruit of your choice--peaches, or in this case pears; you could probably do this with apples, as well.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, more or less (in this case I needed more--I used a 1 Q baking dish, which makes for a thicker "crust" and takes a little longer to bake--about 40-45 minutes; a larger dish makes a thinner topping and takes a shorter time to bake. A round dish takes longer, too, for the middle to cook.

Now for the part that sets this apart from other cobblers. Sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon, then dot with a little more butter. (For peach cobbler, leave off the cinnamon, just sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.)

Return to the oven for just a few more minutes (I usually turn the oven off at this point--the residual heat is more than enough to melt the butter and crystallize the sugar) This step adds the lagniappe--that little something extra that makes it special!

And then--just cool slightly (if you can stand the wait) and enjoy. You can add a little cream on top, or better yet, ice cream (neither of which was on hand when I made this!) Vanilla goes great with peach cobbler, but I can almost taste Blue Bell Cinnamon flavor with the pear.

Ummmmm!

Good cooking, and good eating!

For more recipes, see Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, or Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!