Cherry Cobbler with Chewy Cookie Topping {Fresh or Frozen Cherries}

Cherries are my husband's favorite fruit and, while I'd have an impossible time deciding what kind of fruit is my favorite, cherries are certainly up there. So, from June through August, you'll find at least one bag of cherries in our refrigerator at all times.

The ones we don't eat fresh, straight from the bag, I turn into cherry crumb pie, cherry sauce, cherry crumble bars, roast pork tenderloin with cherry sauce, steak with cherry sauce, and this cobbler.

Out of everything, this cherry cobbler is the easiest to make, requiring only about 10 minutes of hands on time, so it's safe to say that it gets made the most often.

The difference between cherry cobbler, cherry crisp, and cherry crumble

There is a lot of variety in the categories of cobbler, crisp, and crumbles. Much of the time, cobbler refers to fruit pie filling covered with a sweet biscuit-like or pie crust topping. But the topping can also be similar to cornbread, cake, or include both a top and a bottom crust.

In this recipe, the topping is like a chewy sugar cookie and it's my favorite kind.

Likewise, crisps and crumbles are a broad category with a lot of variation. In general, crisps and crumbles include a loose topping that's sprinkled over the filling. As the name suggests, the topping for fruit crisps is crispy. Usually this is also true for fruit crumbles like this peach crumble with coconut and almonds.

Ingredients needed to prepare this recipe

For the cobbler topping:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Brown sugar and granulated sugar
• Unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• Vanilla and almond extract

For the cherry cobbler filling:

• Pitted cherries, fresh or frozen, any kind or combination of sweet and sour
• Lemon juice and zest from one large lemon
• Cornstarch
• Granulated sugar

Additions and substitutions

You can swap the cherries out for pretty much any kind of fruit you like. But also, here are three other cobbler recipes that are very similar to this one but tailored to different kinds of fruit filling:

To make the topping gluten free, swap the all-purpose flour for any kind of one-to-one gluten free flour mix. My favorite brands are Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour and King Arthur Gluten Free Flour.

How to make cherry cobbler: Easy 2-step process

Add all the filling ingredients to a 9-inch square baking dish and stir to mix. Add all the cobbler topping ingredients to a bowl and stir just until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Using your fingers, top the cherries with the cobbler topping, squeezing it together as you do to create some clumps.

Bake until the filling is bubbling all around the edge of the pan and the topping is golden brown and set. 

Pro tip! There can be a lot of variation in how long cherry cobbler takes to bake depending on whether you use fresh cherries or frozen cherries. How juicy your cherries are can also affect bake time. Be patient and keep an eye on it.

Let the cobbler cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve the cobbler warm, at room temperature, or cold. And, a scoop of vanilla ice cream never hurt.

More desserts for cherry lovers

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me.

Happy baking!