This simple, yummy peach cobbler recipe is easy to adapt to what you have and is made with real food!

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When we were very, very broke, we ate peach cobbler all summer long.

Why?

Free produce. Free is important when you have $25/week for two people.

How?

While working at a garden nursery, the owner let me take home all of the marred and overripe peaches after work. Since fresh, local produce goes bad quickly, we took home boxes and boxes of them.

Later, when I had young kids, I found a produce truck down the street. Every week, I spent $10 at Hassad’s produce stand. Because I was such a consistent customer (and maybe because he had a crush on me – Chris insists he did), Hassad gave me all of the bruised and overripe produce at the end of the day. We froze so many peaches, I’ll never look at them the same again.

This wasn’t the easiest way to get fresh produce. I had to cut away a lot of bruised bits and mushy fruit.

But it was free, so it was perfect.

Homemade Peach Cobbler

We used the free peaches in cobbler and peach crisp. We froze the extras and used them after peach season to make smoothies and more peach crisp.

Because I wanted to save money and eat healthy at the same time, we used simple, whole food ingredients – whole grains, raw sugar or maple syrup, real butter – and we usually ate the leftovers for breakfast with yogurt.

How Do You Make Peach Cobbler from Scratch?

What is the Difference Between a Cobbler and a Crisp?

A lot of us use these terms interchangeably, but cobblers and crisps are very different desserts – although honestly, both are incredible and basically satisfy the same craving for a baked fruity thing with ice cream.

You make cobbler by baking fruit with a thick biscuit or pie-crust type topping.

You make crisp by topping sliced fruit with a crispy, crunchy crust that usually involves oats as well as flour.

In general, I think crisp is easier and more budget-friendly if you have food allergies. You can easily make it gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. Our favorite real food Apple Crisp recipe is here! You can make it with peaches too (just swap the apples for peaches – easy).

Cobbler is perfect if you prefer that biscuit/cake-like topping instead of the buttery, crumbly, oat texture of crisp. My recipe is made with whole grains, naturally-sweetened, and is egg-free.

Both are amazing with vanilla ice cream. or yogurt.

Real Food Peach Cobbler

Real food is kind of a vague term for food that is more natural and clean-eating centered than, say, peach cobbler made with a box of biscuit mix.

We make our peach cobbler with whole grains, real butter, naturally-sweeteners (honey or maple syrup), and it’s egg-free! You can find all of these ingredients at your local Wal-Mart or your health food store. Do what works for you.

Whole Grain Flour

For this peach cobbler, use whole wheat, spelt, sprouted spelt, or half whole wheat and half white flour. One of the weird things we do to save money and eat healthy is grind our own flour. This helps us get the best quality flour we can at the lowest price.

Natural Sweetener

You can make this recipe with maple syrup, honey, raw cane sugar, sucanat, turbinado, coconut sugar, Monk fruit, or plain white sugar.

I prefer maple syrup in this recipe.

If you use granulated sweetener, cut the flour back by 1/4 cup. And generally speaking, coconut sugar is not very sweet. It will give the cobbler more of a breakfast feel.

Real Butter

We are butter people here, and we have not found a good butter substitute for this recipe. If you are dairy-free, I recommend trying a vegan butter or skip to making Peach Crisp with one of the dairy-free substitutes there.

Milk

Use whatever milk you have for this recipe – cow, goat, almond, oat, coconut, etc. You can even thin cream or half and half with a little water. Each kind of milk will lead to slightly different results, but they will all taste great.

Vanilla

Vanilla is a yummy addition to peach cobbler, but if you’re on a tight budget, good vanilla can get expensive. Vanilla is optional in this recipe.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Peaches, cinnamon, and nutmeg go together perfectly, but some of us prefer it plain. These ingredients are also optional.

Baking Powder

If you don’t have baking powder, you can substitute 1 teaspoon baking powder with 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

Salt

Nothing special here. We use sea salt, but use whatever you like!

What Kind of Peaches are Used for Cobbler?

Fresh, in-season peaches are best, but you can use frozen if you thaw them first. I don’t recommend using fresh peaches that are out of season. In my experience, they likely won’t taste very good and might not even ripen properly. If it’s not peach season or you can’t get good fresh peaches where you live, frozen is a fantastic option.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are typically picked at their peak ripeness and then frozen immediately. Research says that freezing vegetables and fruits helps preserve their taste and nutrients better than canning.

So, fresh local peaches are best, but if you can’t find those, use frozen (thaw them first), and if you can’t find frozen, canned work too. Preferably, use peaches canned in juice, not syrup.

Skins or No Skins?

I always leave the skin on my peaches when I make cobbler. Call it lazy or call it health-conscious (extra fiber!). If a dessert is too fussy, I won’t make it very often, and my family would like me to make peach cobbler as often as possible.

If you want to remove the skins, use this method here or use the quick boil method described in the recipe.

How Do You Know if Peach Cobbler is Done?

Peach cobbler is kind of tricky because you want a balance between those jammy baked peach slices and the crunchy, golden-baked edges. Bake the cobbler until the batter next to the peach slices no longer looks runny and the edges are a dark golden brown.

Peach Cobbler Is:

Easy

Real Food

Naturally-Sweetened

Seasonal

Whole Grain

Egg-free

Delicious

Perfect

Everything you want in a peach cobbler

Not Just Peach Cobbler

How Peach Cobbler Helps Us Save Money & Eat Healthy

We’ve made peach cobbler ever since our $25/week grocery budget days. There are a few reasons for this.

1. We used to get bruised and overripe produce from the farm stand where I worked and later at produce stands we shopped at regularly. Cobbler is the perfect way to save bruised peaches.
2. As far as desserts go, cobbler is somewhat health-conscious.
3. The ingredients besides the peaches are inexpensive and easy to keep on hand.
4. If you have peaches that need to be used yesterday, prevent food waste by making peach cobbler.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #cheapskatecook and @cheapskatecook on Instagram. 

You Might Also Like:

• 5 Easy Ways to Use Summer Peaches (no canning and no cobbler)
• Real Food Apple Crisp
• Strawberry Breakfast Cake
• Cheesy Stuffed Tomatoes
• Mix-in-the-Pan Berry Oat Bars

What You Can Do Now:

Do you eat ice cream with your fruit cobbler?

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