Cobbler and Crisp Recipes

Handy shortcuts make this recipe a breeze. Cooking the fruit in an oven-safe skillet cuts the bake time (and the number of dirty dishes). Refrigerated biscuits form the simple topper.

Plums release their sweet-tart ruby goodness in this summer bake. It is flavored with Chinese five-spice—a blend that typically includes fennel, peppercorns, star anise, cloves and cinnamon.

Traditionally made with apples, a brown Betty is the low-maintenance cousin to cobblers, pies and crisps. Drizzled in butter and dusted in sugar, plain bread cubes morph into dessert croutons that deliciously soak up the peach and blueberry juices.

We gave a classic dessert a new name, in honor of all the people who have cooked in servitude or fought for social justice over the centuries—and we updated the flavors, too, with almond cookies and a splash of bourbon.

The biscuits absorb some of the cooking liquid, but this is still a very juicy dessert. The syrupy liquid tastes divine with vanilla ice cream. The recipe comes from Rendleman Orchards in Alto Pass, Illinois.

A double dose of caramel-baked in with the fruit and drizzled on top-elevates the humble crisp to new levels of indulgence. Mix two types of apples for the best texture. The tender apples cook down and create a sort of thick sauce; the firm apples hold their shape. Boiled cider, which you can purchase at specialty stores or online or make using our recipe, adds an extra splash of apple flavor to this dessert.

Chocolate chips in a cherry crisp! Why didn't we think of this earlier? Whole wheat flour lends a nutty flavor to the rich topping-and vanilla ice cream is the perfect finishing touch.

Similar to an apple brown betty or fruit crisp, this rustic dessert has a cinnamon topping that blends graham cracker crumbs and pecans with sugar, butter and bread crumbs.When shopping for fresh rhubarb, avoid limp or thick stalks, which tend to be tougher. You can also use frozen rhubarb to create this dessert.

This easy skillet cobbler is bursting with harvest flavor: crisp apples, cinnamon, toasted walnuts and sweet maple syrup.

You can almost remember a misty-morning trip to the orchards and bogs when you taste this riff on a Midwest favorite. A pumpkin-cornmeal biscuit crowns the sweet-tangy fruit duo.

Crumbled shortbread cookies and toasted pecans top succulent red cherries in this easy-to-make dessert.

What's better than a warm biscuit-topped cobbler? A warm biscuit-topped cobbler you have all to yourself.

Barbara Estabrook of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, tops a juicy base with so-tender drop biscuits tasting of almonds-from almond flour! (Purchase it online or at large supermarkets.) 

Bubbling blueberries, raspberries and blackberries cook along with a batter flavored by cinnamon and nutmeg. Top with ice cream or whipped cream if you like.

This creative slow-cooker recipe takes advantage of several shortcut ingredients, including muffin mix and canned cherry pie filling, for an easy dessert.

Pumpkin seeds and almond flour add wholesome nuttiness to this summer dessert, which is drizzled with an anise-flavored spirit (or brandy) before baking. The recipe was created by Nettie Colon, head cook at Chef Camp in Minnesota.

Spiced coconut streusel adds crunch to healthy apples and berries.

Using the beloved pecan pie as a guide, cooks for the restaurant at the top of War Eagle Mill near Rogers, Arkansas, fashioned this cobbler, adding oat flour for a different flavor in the crust. The buttery crust layers in the middle of the syrupy filling, for a variation on the usual crown of topping. A generous measure of pecans adds crunch.

This crunch-topped cobbler calls for 3 cups of blueberries, but if you'd like a double-fruit version, reduce the blueberries to 2 cups and add 2 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries.

Prep this easy dessert in just 10 minutes, then bake for 25 minutes. Crumbled pecan shortbread cookies form the topping over a fresh fruit filling.

A sugared crispy pastry covers sweet juicy berries in this traditional dessert from the Monte Ne Inn near Rogers, Arkansas.O

"This is a twist on a popular dish and is one of my personal favorites," says April Osburn from the Clabber Girl Bake Shop in Terre Haute, Indiana. Thinly slice the apples so they soften in the allotted baking time.

This tangy cobbler is one of the inventive dishes created by The Story Inn, a tin-fronted general store that constitutes almost the entire town of Story in Brown County, Indiana.