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This delicious Cherry Cobbler is ready for the oven with just 10 minutes of prep. You’ll love the from-scratch buttery topping baked until golden brown and the piping hot, bubbling cherries beneath.
I approach the recipes on Culinary Hill with an “editor’s eye.” The recipes on the site are all related and are constantly considered within the context of each other. For example, If we have the most amazing mashed potatoes, they better be the same mashed potatoes that show up on our Shepherd’s Pie (and they are).
In the case of cobblers, I was looking for “one cobbler recipe to rule them all.” We used to have several different versions of cobblers depending on which fruit it was, but they were all completely different. How can I say each one is “the best” when there can only be one “best”?
The way I see it is, we need to spend the time figuring out the ideal cobbler recipe and work to make sure it’s interchangeable with most fruits. They still need to be tested individually, of course, so we can account for variations (like strawberries have more water than other fruits, so there is no orange juice in that recipe).
But overall, I want all cobblers to be made the same way, the best way we possibly can. So here we are, my favorite cobbler recipe Cherry Edition, and I hope you love it as much as I do.
(Looking for the “original” Cherry Cobbler recipe? Download the PDF here.)
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Cherries: Aim for 1 ¼ pounds (4 cups) of cherries before pitting. You’ll have about 1 pound (3 ½ cups) cherries after pitting. Choose any variety: Sour Montmorency cherries are on the tart side, while Bing and Hudson cherries are sweeter. Rainier and yellow cherries are lighter in color but full of flavor. They all taste great in this cobbler.
- Butter: To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Then cook the butter at 10% power for 1 minute. Gently press on the butter with your finger, and if it still feels too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.
- Vanilla ice cream: Store-bought or homemade; either is a treat. Whipped cream would also be dreamy.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, add cherries, orange juice, and sugar, and stir to combine, then pour into a 9-inch square or round baking dish.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working in batches, add ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time, beating well after each addition. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter over the cherry mixture (I like to use the OXO small scoop, a #70 portion scoop, heaped).
- Bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Cherry Cobbler, enough for 6 (1-cup) servings.
- Storage: Leftover cobbler is safe covered at room temperature the same day you bake it. Beyond that, store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 more days. Reheat if desired before serving.
- Freezer: Bake the cobbler according to the recipe, then cool completely, wrap in freeze-safe plastic wrap or foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
- Original Cherry Cobbler recipe: Do you prefer the old version I used to have on the site? I hear you! You can download a PDF of the original Cherry Cobbler Recipe here).
Recipe FAQs
A cobbler is a fruit dessert where biscuit-like dough dropped by the spoonful onto fresh fruit and baked. After it’s baked, the golden brown top resembles a bumpy cobblestone road, thus the name “cobbler.”
To pit cherries with an empty wine bottle and a wooden chopstick, position the cherry on the mouth of the bottle. Hold the cherry carefully, then poke the chopstick through the cherry where the stem would be. The pit should pop right out of the fruit and (hopefully) into the bottle, and you are left holding a pitted cherry.
Yes! Just thaw frozen cherries overnight in the refrigerator and proceed as directed.
I love the easy-release and portion size simplicity (and you can find them on Amazon for about $16), but if you don’t already have one, you don’t need to buy one just for this. Just substitute a regular tablespoon (or any spoon you want, really).
You can download the original Cherry Cobbler recipe in PDF format. I changed the recipe in May 2022 because I wanted something easier and more streamlined. But, I know many of you miss the old one!
Cherry Crisp
This recipe for Cherry Crisp is easy—no, easier— than pie! If you’ve been making cherry crisp with cake mix, this recipe is just as simple and far better. All you need is butter, flour, rolled…
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Cherry Cobbler
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 pound fresh cherries pitted (1 ¼ pounds with pits, see note 1)
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the topping:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened (see note 2)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Vanilla ice cream for serving, optional (see note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, add cherries, orange juice, and sugar, and stir to combine, then pour into a 9-inch square or round baking dish.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working in batches, add ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Drop rounded tablespoons of batter over the cherry mixture (I like to use the OXO small scoop, a #70 portion scoop, heaped).
- Bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cherries: Aim for 1 ¼ pounds (4 cups) of cherries before pitting. You’ll have about 1 pound (3 ½ cups) cherries after pitting. Choose any variety: Sour Montmorency cherries are on the tart side, while Bing and Hudson cherries are sweeter. Rainier and yellow cherries are lighter in color but full of flavor. They all taste great in this cobbler.
- Butter: To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Then cook the butter at 10% power for 1 minute. Gently press on the butter with your finger, and if it still feels too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.
- Vanilla ice cream: Store-bought or homemade; either is a treat. Whipped cream would also be dreamy.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 6 cups of Cherry Cobbler, enough for 6 (1-cup) servings.
- Storage: Leftover cobbler is safe covered at room temperature the same day you bake it. Beyond that, store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 more days. Reheat if desired before serving.
- Freezer: Bake the cobbler according to the recipe, then cool completely, wrap in freeze-safe plastic wrap or foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I’m curious to see what the differences are between the original and updated recipes. Could you please email me a copy of the original? Thanks so much! I have a ton of peaches and cherries I plan to use in a mixed cobbler =)
Hi Lisa, I’ll be updating the recipe to include a link to the old one. Hope you enjoy! – Meggan
Could you send me the original recipe email would be great can not wait to make it thank you in advance
Hi Jim, I’ll get that sent over to you! Hope you enjoy. – Meggan