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 👍🏻
I would love to use this recipe and double it for an event that I need to make a cobbler for, can I do this in a 16×11-in pan? By doubling the recipe? And what I need to change anything about the recipe by doubling it like the cooking time?
Thanks!
You can absolutely double the recipe and use a 16×11-inch pan—it should work perfectly for your event! As for the cooking time, you may need to extend it slightly since a larger batch could take a bit longer to bake through. I’d recommend checking it at the 40-minute mark and then every few minutes after that until a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean. Enjoy making your cobbler, and I hope it’s a hit at your event! 😊
Made this cobbler,first time to try a cobbler recipe. Apples came from long time abandoned house in my small S.D. town. Made according to recipe. Its delicious. Not too sweet,but the apples are still a bit sour. And i have no idea what they are. The tooping baked perfectly in the time called for. I read some of the reviews and am surprised that there were dislikes. Cobblers are not crisps or crumbles.,and maybe choose a less sweet variety of apple if you found this too sweet. Anyway i will obviously make again and i am glad i made it this beautiful Sunday morning.
I adjusted this recipe for 24 people and they loved it. I did add a little lemon juice, nutmeg and flour to the filling. As for the topping I cut the butter into 1/4 inch cubes, and mixed them into the topping mixture instead of melting the butter. Cooking time was perfect for the large portion.
Loved this recipe! This was my first time making cobbler I didn’t think it was to sweet which was an huge plus. I didn’t have nutmeg so I substituted it
for ginger and didn’t notice a difference. It was big hit my bf loved it,Will definitely be making this again!
Awful recipe. Way too sweet. Doesn’t cook in time given…try more flour AND less sugar or another recipe,
I made this recipe a couple of times now and it is terrific. My husband absolutely loves it. I don’t now why people are having a problem with it. I have my own apple spice so I used that and didn’t have the nutmeg issue. We did not find the recipe too sweet. It was perfect. I will be making it regularly. Thank you for it.
Husband’s favourite. Have made this several times and always perfection. Thank you very much.
Moira Wightman.
I made this tonight and it was perfect! Not watery or too sweet at all. Perfect ratio of apples to topping. Whole family loved it and my husband asked me to make it again. I followed the recipe exactly including letting it cool for 15 minutes.
American?
Horrible recipe. this is not a cobbler. None of us wants to eat this. Hope I read the comments first before wasting ingredients here.