Blackberry Cobbler

In honor of Pi Day yesterday, I made this blackberry cobbler. Ok, so it's not really a pie, but close enough... just don't tell anyone ;) I got this recipe out of my Taste of Home annual recipes. My mom gets them in the mail every year and she decided she didn't want this one so she gave it to me!

Coincidentally, this was already on our list of things to make this week. I was bored yesterday and thought to myself, "What a great day to make a pie (cobbler)!" Michael LOVES blackberries or anything with a mixture of berries in it, so of course he loved it :)

I didn't have the utensil you need to cut butter in to a flour mixture, so I used a fork. Breaking the butter out of it's block was difficult, but once I got it in to smaller chunks, it wasn't that bad. That being said, I'm definitely going to buy one next time I'm at the store (and think about it).

Also, we use fat-free milk, so there was no 2% available in our house when I went to make this. I don't know if it made a difference, but there were no complaints! The recipe actually had you mixing the berry filling first in the directions, but the topping directions say to drop it on to a hot berry mixture. I figured the best way to get a hot berry mixture is to make it second, so I reversed the order of the directions for the recipe. My suggestion is to read through the entire recipe and get everything ready before you start to cook anything so as not to burn the filling.

Topping
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup 2% milk

Filling
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 Tbsp butter

• Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Stir in the milk just until moistened.
• In a large saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil.
• Combine the cornstarch and water until smooth; stir in to fruit mixture. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes (or until thickened).
• Pour mixture into a greased 8 inch square baking dish. Dot with butter.
• Drop the topping, by tablespoonfuls onto the hot berry mixture.
• Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown.
• Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream.