• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fermenting for Foodies

Health, Taste and Tradition

  • Fermentation
    • General Information
    • Beans, Nuts & Seeds
    • Beer, Wine, & Cider
    • Dairy & Cheese
    • Fermented Fruit
    • GF Sourdough
    • Trad Sourdough
    • Probiotic Beverages
    • Vegetables
    • Supplies
  • Healthy Meals
    • Appetizers
    • Baked Goods
    • Breakfasts
    • Condiments
    • Main Dishes
    • Sides & Salads
    • Soups & Stews
    • Desserts
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Fruit-Sweetened Treats
  • Cookbook

Simple Sourdough Cobbler: A Healthy Treat!

A simple fruit cobbler recipe with a delicious sourdough topping
Simple and delicious sourdough cobbler with five flavours!
Five varieties of sourdough cobbler with quick bread topping
Simple-sourdough-cobbler-gluten-free-vegan-made-with-sourdough-discard

This sourdough cobbler is a wonderfully quick and simple dessert. It is similar to a pie or a crisp, with a biscuit-based sourdough topping.

Sourdough-cobbler-with-five-fruit-flavours-apple-cinnamon-ginger-peach-vanilla-pear-mixed-berry-strawberry-rhubarb

Five Fruit Flavors!

This simple sourdough cobbler is delicious with any type of fruit. Feel free to use whatever is in season. Or try one of my favorite combinations:

  1. Apple Pie: Use 2 1/2 lbs of fresh or frozen apples, thinly sliced or cubed. Add in 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves.
  2. Ginger Peach: Use 2 1/2 lbs of fresh peaches. Flavor it with 1 tsp of ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
  3. Vanilla Pear: Mix 2 1/2 lbs of fresh or frozen pears flavored with the seeds from 1 vanilla pod or 2 tsp of vanilla extract.
  4. Mixed berries: Use 2 1/2 lbs of your favorite berries, fresh or frozen, with a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.
  5. Strawberry rhubarb: Mix 1/2 lb of rhubarb with 2 lbs of strawberry. Add up to 1 cup of sugar to balance the tartness of the rhubarb.

Sourdough Cobbler toppings

The tangy fruit flavor of cobbler is even more amazing when served with a rich and creamy topping. It’s the perfect way to balance the sweet and acidic nature of the fruit!

Here are a few recommended serving options:

  • Cultured whipping cream is quick, easy, and probiotic!
  • Classic instant custard is perfect for a vintage-inspired dessert.
  • Date-sweetened caramel sauce is delicious drizzled over apple cobbler.
  • Vegan custard is a delicious dairy-free alternative
Print

Sourdough Cobbler

Quick sourdough cobbler with pear, apple, peach, berries.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.8 from 14 reviews

Sourdough cobbler is just like a pie, only better! It is quick and simple to make with apples, pears, peaches, or berries. See the section above for five of my favorite fruit combinations. The recipe includes a quick alternative for anyone who doesn’t have a sourdough starter.

  • Author: Emillie
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Sourdough
  • Cuisine: Traditional
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Units Scale

Fruit Filling

  • 2 1/2 lbs of fruit
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar (may need up to 1 cup for tart fruit)
  • Spices or other flavors (see the section above for suggestions)

Sourdough Biscuit

  • 3/4 cup of flour (gluten-free or all-purpose flour, see notes)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 Tbsp butter (or margarine)
  • 1 cup sourdough starter (see notes for an alternative)

Topping

  • 2 Tbsp melted butter (or margarine)
  • 3 tsp sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to  375F (180C).
  2. Chop the fruit into thin slices or bite-sized pieces. Mix the fruit with the sugar and spices, and spread it out on the bottom of an 11-cup baking dish.
  3. Combine the flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl.
  4. Cut the butter into the flour until it is evenly distributed, like a coarse meal. I usually do this by rubbing in the butter with my fingers, but you can use a pastry knife.
  5. Mix in the sourdough starter to form a sticky dough. Avoid overmixing, you just need to bring the dough ingredients together.
  6. Top the fruit with the cobbler biscuit dough.
  7. Brush the top of the biscuit with melted butter, then sprinkle on some sugar.
  8. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the dough is cooked and the top is nicely browned.
  9. Serve with cream or custard.

Notes

  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, then mix 1 cup of buttermilk with 1 cup of flour and let it sit out on the counter for 24 hours to ferment.
  • This recipe also works with sourdough discard. Just make sure the discard isn’t more than a few weeks old. Otherwise, it might not taste very good.
  • I usually bake this recipe with a gluten-free sourdough starter and my gluten-free flour mix. 
  • Feel free to replace the brown sugar with your favorite sugar alternative. I usually use date sugar.
  • For a vegan and dairy-free cobbler, replace the butter with margarine.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 288
  • Sugar: 21.4g
  • Sodium: 315mg
  • Fat: 15.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 37g
  • Fiber: 2.7g
  • Protein: 2g

Keywords: summer, spring, fall, winter fruit, apple, pear, peach, blueberry, strawberry, gluten free, egg-free,

Filed Under: Baked Goods, Fruit-Sweetened Treats, Gluten-Free Sourdough, Traditional SourdoughTagged With: Apple, Berry, Blueberries, Cherries, Cream, Fruit, Peach, Pear, Sugar Free

Previous Post: « Gluten-Free Sourdough Waffles
Next Post: Savory Cheese And Onion Muffins (GF Option) »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

Sugar-free options for sourdough cultured granola bars
Sourdough Granola Bars (GF & Vegan Options!)
No added sweeteners banana bread
No Sugar Banana Bread (GF Option)
Healthy chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes (Date-Sweetened & GF Option)

Healthy Apple Muffins
Healthy Apple Muffins (GF & Refined Sugar-Free)
Healthy morning glory muffins are fruit-sweetened for a sugar-free snack
Healthy Morning Glory Muffins (With GF Oats)
Simple, no-cook mincemeat. A delicious Christmas tradition!
The Simplest Mincemeat: No-Cook & Sugar-Free

Comments

  1. Chickenmom6 case

    December 13, 2019 at 2:22 pm

    My biscuit top didnt look like yours maybe the sourdough starter is different hydration It was super yummy!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      December 16, 2019 at 10:35 am

      Great! I will admit that I make it with GF oat flour, so that might make the difference.

      Reply
    • Renee

      December 16, 2020 at 6:38 am

      I made this and used my persevered Apples and home made apple sauce. My topping I dropped from a spoon turned out Amazing will make again for summer B-Days.

      Reply
      • Emillie

        December 16, 2020 at 8:15 am

        Great! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
  2. Jilian

    May 5, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Mine starter was crumbly, but I want it like yours!!! Would we add liquid to the mix if we have a crumbly dough after the starter? My starter is on the thicker side.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 5, 2020 at 2:11 pm

      Yes! With sourdough, it’s always good to use your instinct. Depending on your flour, indoor humidity and hydration ratio, you may need to adjust. Enjoy!

      Reply
    • Jessica

      June 21, 2020 at 11:58 am

      I love that the majority of flour is from my starter. I made a mistake and added the starter before incorporating the butter so I carefully kept cutting the butter with a knife in the wet dough and still turned out great. I used fresh GA peaches and it was perfection.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Emillie

        June 22, 2020 at 12:47 pm

        Ooh… fresh peaches… 🙂

        Reply
  3. Max Wesslock

    May 11, 2020 at 6:06 am

    I have a question about the weight of the starter. Anyone who has active sourdough starter will know that a cup of it can fluctuate in weight. (When it rises/sinks) Is there a weight that you would use or just 1 cup. I am super excited to use this recipe but did not want to mess it up.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 11, 2020 at 10:41 am

      I haven’t made this by weight, however, it doesn’t need the precision of bread as it’s more of a cake-like topping. However, 1 cup of sourdough starter usually weighs around 8 oz. Good luck!

      Reply
    • Sonia

      September 10, 2020 at 5:23 am

      Max, I completely agree – 1 cup is very relative. Have you tried it by weight? If so, I’d love to hear what you did.

      Reply
  4. Anonymous

    May 11, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    What if I only have bread flour? Will that work?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 12, 2020 at 9:47 am

      Yes! I just recommend a lower gluten flour to keep the topping cake-like. Bread flour might make it more bread-like, but that’s fine. 🙂

      Reply
      • Amy

        September 24, 2020 at 9:31 am

        I love this recipe. It’s a winner and a staple at our house now. I think my family is starting to like my discard more than my fed sourdough, with sweet treats like this. 🙂 Thanks!

        ★★★★★

        Reply
        • Emillie

          September 24, 2020 at 12:14 pm

          Thanks! 🙂

          Reply
  5. Vania

    May 19, 2020 at 1:32 pm

    Hi there! I am two months on to sourdough making. I have come up with a gew challenges. One is fed versus discard. Can you use discard or do you neef a fed starter? If fed, then how long since being fed? I keep mine in the fridge, then feed it for bread, and I keep my discard separatly in another container.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 19, 2020 at 3:00 pm

      It does take practice to figure out the right level of feeding and baking. I generally keep a very small sourdough starter in the fridge then feed it up right before baking. I also have a lot of sourdough recipes that call for loads of starter, so if I have too much starter then I can use it up. Your discard is probably just really hungry sourdough. (Especially since it’s only 2 months old.) If you want to use it up, give it a good feed then make some quick sourdough recipes like this one: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/sourdough-biscuits/ You can also make sourdough pancakes, waffles, etc. Here’s some more recipes: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/category/types-of-ferments/sourdough/ Cheers!

      Reply
  6. JC

    May 22, 2020 at 7:44 am

    Here is baking powder in the recipe but the instructions do not have it being added anywhere. Should this be added with the baking soda?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 22, 2020 at 9:44 am

      Yes! Oops, I will edit that today. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Anonymous

    May 22, 2020 at 10:26 am

    My dough came out a biscuit consistency. Should it have been more cake batter like instead? I just put it back n the oven.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 22, 2020 at 11:04 am

      It is a biscuit dough… so biscuit-like is good! However, it should be cooked through (test with a toothpick). Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Jan

    June 11, 2020 at 10:17 am

    Emilie, do you roll this out or drop by spoonful on fruit mixture? Yours looks so nice and smooth as if rolled. Biscuit dough tends to be bumpy or lumpy.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      June 11, 2020 at 10:41 am

      I will admit mine is more smooth because it’s GF! 🙂 Gluten dough will be thicker and bumpier. In general, I drop it from the spoon over top of the fruit. For the picture, I used an oat-based sourdough and spent a little more time smoothing it out. Cheers!

      Reply
  9. kaelyn

    June 23, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    Just made this with sourdough discard, rhubarb and vegan butter and WOW it is so delicious! I added ginger and cardamom to spice it up and I’m obsessed with the texture of the topping – kind of custardy where its absorbed the sugary rhubarb bottom but crisp on top. Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      June 24, 2020 at 10:04 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  10. Molly

    July 5, 2020 at 11:44 am

    I made this recipe last night with peaches and it was AMAZING. I used a square pan. I rolled it out like the picture but mine wasn’t quite as pretty lol. I topped with home made whipped topping. I used regular all purpose flour because they all I had. The topping was SO good.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 5, 2020 at 1:26 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  11. Sandy

    July 6, 2020 at 6:34 am

    My dough was made with all purpose flour and a more liquid starter just out of the fridge. It was very wet. The end result was similar to an upside down peach cake. It could not have been any tastier especially since I put a small scoop of peach ice cream on top. Such a treat with minimal effort.

    ★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 7, 2020 at 7:43 am

      Great! Interesting how the consistency changed with a more liquidy starter.

      Reply
  12. Lisa Michaels

    July 11, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    Love this recipe! I’ve used it many times now and it’s always delicious. My family loves it.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 12, 2020 at 5:32 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  13. Anonymous

    July 18, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    This recipe is FABULOUS-I used a whole stick of butter in the dough and ended up adding a little more discard. I did this so the dough came together enough for me to kind of shape it with my hands into a rectangle, then I draped it over the fruit (I did a mixture of blackberries and peaches tossed with just a tablespoon or two of white sugar and a little grenadine). Then I drizzled the top of the dough with maybe a tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkled with sugar. It was perfectly baked at 40 minutes. Thank you for a wonderful way to use up discard! This is the best cobbler I’ve ever made!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 19, 2020 at 6:51 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  14. Sherry Hudson

    September 1, 2020 at 3:49 pm

    I’m wondering about how the biscuit is added on top of the fruit, it is rolled out? Dropped by spoonful?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 1, 2020 at 8:04 pm

      I generally drop the dough on in spoonfuls then spread it out with the back of the spoon. If your dough is stiff enough to roll, then feel free to do that. Enjoy!

      Reply
  15. Jennifer Hwang-Pang

    September 13, 2020 at 9:29 am

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made one change to the oil and use apple sauce instead. The end result was delicious and oil free. Thanks a lot.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 13, 2020 at 2:34 pm

      Great suggestion! Thanks.

      Reply
  16. Peacock

    September 20, 2020 at 11:06 am

    I love this recipe. I use traditional flour and cold plant butter for a biscuit topping, or if you melt the butter (don’t over mix) you get more of a thick pancake with a smooth top. Love it both ways, FYI.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 22, 2020 at 11:15 am

      Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  17. Melanie L.

    October 30, 2020 at 6:36 pm

    Might be the best Apple Cobbler I’ve ever made!! For Real, I just ate half the pan. So good, and I’ve always got Sourdough Discard yo use. My new favorite recipe ❤️❤️❤️

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      October 31, 2020 at 11:31 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  18. DylansMama

    February 6, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    The was a delicious recipe. However, I think maybe you need to add a little flour to the fruit before baking in order to thicken the juices. When mine was done it was more like a yummy biscuit floating on a deep lake of juice. I mean there was so.much.juice. I love juice. But this was a few cups worth of juice and it was the consistency of water (or juice!), not thickened at all. Having said that, it was still tasty. Next time (and there will be a next time because, as I said, the flavor was delish) I will sprinkle the fruit with a few tablespoons of flour before baking. (I used a mixture of fresh berries and apples.)

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 7, 2021 at 4:51 pm

      Hum… interesting, I’ve never had that much liquid. But adding a few tablespoons of cornstarch to the fruit probably will help!

      Reply
  19. Nina

    February 15, 2021 at 11:00 am

    All your recipes look wonderful. am looking for an answer regarding substituting sourdough discard instead of sour cream. Is that possible? There are so many really good recipes calling for sour cream and not using any milk or water. Can I somehow incorporate the discard into these recipes? You appear to be quite knowledgeable about sourdough starter/discard recipes. Have a super day.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 16, 2021 at 10:52 am

      Hi Nina,

      Sourdough discard is fairly different from sour cream. You could certainly use it instead of sour cream in a recipe… but you would need to adjust for the differences. The discard basically adds flour and water to a recipe. The loss of sour cream means less fat. The overall acidity should be the same, but you’ll have to make other adjustments. There are loads of recipes using sourdough discard… is there something you’re particularly interested in?

      Reply
  20. Rose Boyd

    February 22, 2021 at 7:32 am

    Hi,

    I enjoyed making and eating this cobbler, thank you. Can I add sugar to the biscuit recipe? I used GF wholemeal bread flour so think made it taste so very savoury and in need of being sweeter. (With a white flour it’s prob sweeter tasting). Thanks again, yum x

    Reply
  21. Rose Boyd

    February 22, 2021 at 9:30 am

    Doh! Ignore me, just realised my mistake. I didn’t put sugar in with the fruit. That’s cooking with a toddler for you. Thanks very much, I’ve show horned some in to the cooked dish and perfect sweetness now

    Reply
    • Emillie

      February 22, 2021 at 1:07 pm

      I’ve been there! However, I was going to say, you could add sugar to the topping! I’m not a sweet tooth, so there’s usually room for more sugar in my recipes. Enjoy!

      Reply
  22. Stephanie

    March 12, 2021 at 2:54 pm

    I made this with bread flour and used about a total of 1/4c of maple syrup instead of the sugar and it was so so so good! I split the syrup and put some into the apples and some into the biscuit batter – it came out more like an apple cake. I also used one part butter and one part syrup for the topping at the end. It will definitely be a new regular for us!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 12, 2021 at 4:39 pm

      Maple syrup is a delicious swap! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  23. Karyn

    March 23, 2021 at 7:59 pm

    I just made this with organic frozen berries and gluten free flour, and it turned out so well! My new favorite cobbler. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 24, 2021 at 8:02 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  24. Tari

    July 31, 2021 at 10:42 am

    I haven’t made this yet, but found your site while googling “sourdough peach cobbler.” I clicked on it because it looked so delicious. When I make sourdough baked goods, I like to ferment the dough at least 7 hours (if there is egg in it, I refrigerate) so all the flour gets fermented for better digestion. Can I make the dough and leave out for that time, then top fruit and bake? I read through the comments and didn’t see that anyone did that.
    I’ve had good luck with several muffin and cookie recipes using the overnight fridge ferment method.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      August 4, 2021 at 8:15 am

      Yes! Feel free to do a long ferment. (Sorry it took so long to reply… I was camping. If you did it, let me know how it went!)

      Reply
  25. Emily

    August 6, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    Excellent recipe! Made it exactly as instructions recommended with sourdough discard and peaches. Was delicious with a light flavor and not too sugary. Had it with a small scoop of vanilla custard on top. Look forward to trying the other fruit cobbler options.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      August 9, 2021 at 9:24 am

      Sounds delicious!

      Reply
  26. Tracey

    October 4, 2021 at 11:57 am

    This turned out delicious! I will definitely make it again! My husband said he prefers a slightly more sweet topping so I may add some sugar to the flour mixture next time. I’m also wondering if an egg might make it more fluffy?

    Reply
    • Tracey

      October 4, 2021 at 11:58 am

      I should also add, I used a home-bottled apple pie filling for the fruit base.

      Reply
    • Emillie

      October 4, 2021 at 1:46 pm

      You can definitely add an egg and sugar. It’s great to take a recipe and make it your own. Enjoy!

      Reply
  27. Jen

    March 8, 2022 at 8:22 am

    I made this with apples and pears, added pinches of ground clove and ginger, used half coconut oil and half grapeseed oil (no butter in the house), and whole wheat flour (no white in the house). The dough was very thick and I pulled and prodded it with my fingers to spread it over the fruit and then sprinkled a tiny, little bit of sugar on top. It was delightful!!! Excellent use of sourdough discard and a wonderful treat, to boot. Thank you so much for this recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 9, 2022 at 7:37 am

      Glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  28. Clydia Kissinger

    May 27, 2022 at 6:07 am

    Sounds delicious! Do you think I can double this recipe? I need enough for a larger group. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emillie Parrish

      May 27, 2022 at 12:06 pm

      Definitely! Cobblers are perfect for a large group because they will still bake nicely no matter how large they are!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Emillie, an island-dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed to feed your microbiome.
Read More →

Check Out My Cookbook!

Fermenting Made Simple Cookbook

Want healthy recipes right to your inbox? Subscribe to our mid-month newsletter!

Thank you!

Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription.

Affiliate Disclosure

In order to run this site, Fermenting For Foodies sometimes earns an affiliate commission on the sales of products we link to. We only feature items we genuinely want to share, and this is an arrangement between the retailer and Fermenting For Foodies. Readers never pay more for products. Thank you for reading!

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Sponsored Content
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Fermenting for Foodies