This old-fashioned Apple Cobbler is one of my FAVORITE fall desserts. It's made with fresh apples in a cinnamon sauce, with a delicious cake-like topping.
We can't get enough of cobbler recipes at our house. We enjoy peach cobbler and blueberry cobbler all year round, but when apple season comes, it's either homemade apple crisp, apple cobbler, or fresh apple cake; on repeat!
Apple Cobbler
Many apple cobbler recipes are made with a biscuit like topping, I wanted the same old-fashioned cake-like topping that I use in my other recipes! It has a slight crisp on the top and is soft in the center, and pairs so well with the sauce and tender apples in this recipe.
How's Apple Cobbler different from Apple Crisp?
There is a difference between apple crisp and apple cobbler. Just like its name, apple crisp has a crispy crumble topping made with oats. The topping for this apple cobbler is a smooth batter that is poured on top of the apple filling and bakes more cake-like.
Which apples are best for baking?
Any baking apple will work great! I tend to prefer Granny Smith apples but I also like Gala apples, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, or any other tart apple.
To peel or not to peel?
Yes, I like to peel the apples for apple cobbler! The skin doesn’t break down during baking and can make for a tougher texture. (But you can leave the skin on if you want, and chop the apples into smaller cubes!) I use my Johnny Apple Peeler for this part because it does the work for me. It PEELS, CORES and SLICES the apple all at once!
4 steps to easy Apple Cobbler:
Make the Apple Filling: Stir together water, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large saucepan. Stir in apples. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
Make the batter: In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and melted butter, just until combined.
Pour into dish. Add apple mixture to your pan and pour the batter evenly on top. Sprinkle it lightly with cinnamon and it's ready to bake!
Bake: at 350 degrees for about 38-40 minutes. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream, if desired.
Make Ahead and Freezer Instructions:
You could prepare the apple filling and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
You can also freeze the baked cobbler for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm in the oven before serving.
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Recipe
Apple Cobbler
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or other good baking apple), peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
- 1 cup water or apple juice
- 1/3 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
For the batter:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 5 Tablespoons butter , melted
- ground cinnamon for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 inch pan lightly with cooking spray.
- Stir together brown sugar, water, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a saucepan. Stir in apples. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan.
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and melted butter, just until combined.
- Pour the mixture over the apples in the pan. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.
- Bake for about 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
- Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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First time on your site, and both my husband and I l hi Iove this Apple Cobbler recipe! We tried it out ourselves before taking it to a large gathering and ate every yummy bite.
Readers, if you’re on the fence about this recipe, take my word for it–this is a keeper! This will go in our file of favorites, for sure.
Just a wee word of advice: please ignore nay-sayers who changed everything but the baking temperature and then left a negative review…lol. Always try the recipe AS WRITTEN first, then adjust to your taste. We followed the recipe to a tee, and it was great! Thanks for sharing this, Lauren!
This is an excellent apple cobbler. My daughter loved it and made it for her work potluck and was a huge hit. It was enjoyed by everyone.
Have never made apple cobbler (only peach and blueberry) but my GOD this recipe is fantastic! I had some raisins laying around so I added some of those. I ate nearly the whole thing on my own and I made it again the next night!
I made this apple cobbler tonight. It was so delicious. The whole pan was gone before the evening was over.
First time making apple cobbler and this recipe is delicious, made it from own grown apples, will make it again 👍🏻
Yum!! This recipe is so good and very easy to make. I think next time I make it I’ll do brown sugar in the batter just to see the difference flavor-wise, but if you follow this recipe exactly you will not be disappointed! The negative reviews I think are user error, this was simple and perfect.
Very tasty result. I let my sauce come together on low heat til apples were prepared, and then increased heat to cook apples til they sort of wilted.. the sauce will thicken at this point. The only negative was wishing there was more topping, so will increase next time. Yes, the batter does seem thin until the melted butter begins to cool and then it will thicken nicely.. I had to spread it carefully over the apples. Also, sprinkle “cinnamon sugar” on top to give it a nice glaze and not just brown specks. Enjoy..yummm
Best cobbler recipe I have found, and I’ve tried plenty over the years. This is both easy and tasty! I reduced water to 3/4 c. Baked until the top was evenly browned. Really delicious, next time I might reduce the sugar in the batter by 1/4 c. Thanks for the great recipe!
About how many cups is 6 medium apples? I prefer a measurement in case I have small or very large apples.
Great question! On average, a medium apple yields about 1 to 1.25 cups when peeled and chopped. So, for 6 medium apples, you’re looking at approximately 6 to 7.5 cups. However, it’s always a good idea to have a little extra on hand, just in case.
Maybe the recipe is missing something but the topping was runnier than pancake batter. Only the top of it crisped up. The rest just thickened the liquid inside. I’ve made many cobblers but this one did not seem like a cobbler at all. I wouldn’t even call it a crisp. But the flavor is great.
Great recipe with no changes needed. I perhaps cooked the apples an extra minute or two; I just kept an eye on them until they started to soften. I had fresh blackberries to use up so added them on top of the apple layer. I like a little extra crunch on top so I sprinkled on coarse sugar as well as cinnamon. Yummy for breakfast the next day too!
Great and easy recipe. Ive owned restaurants where we prepare home made desserts and this one is great to use with all different kinds of fruit, apples,peaches, blackberries. Nice job Lauren.
Great recipe. My only change was to cook the apples longer (for 10 minutes rather than five).
This is a big hit in our house. Thank you. I will use this recipe often.
Very easy to make & super delicious. I will definitely make this again. I made it with Granny Smith apples. Next time I’ll see about using a different kind of apple to see if there’s a difference in taste. Thank you for this great recipe.
Great apple cobbler! Made it several times.