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Perfectly sweet, slightly tart, with a rich, buttery crust, this easy cherry cobbler is one of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy fresh or frozen cherries. Making it couldn’t be easier – it comes together quickly and only takes 8 simple ingredients! Serve your cobbler warm with creamy vanilla bean ice cream for the ultimate decadent dessert.
Before You Get Started
- If you’re using frozen cherries, let them defrost in the fridge overnight before starting your cherry cobbler! You can cook them from frozen, but they may add too much liquid to the filling.
- If you’re pitting the cherries yourself, don’t wear anything that you’d be upset to stain with cherry juice. Trust me on this one.
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Make the Cherry Filling
Combine pitted cherries, lemon juice, white sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the mixture 5-10 minutes or until the cherries have burst and the liquid’s thickened.
Cheryl’s Tip: Keep a close eye on the filling and stir it often. The cherries and sugar can burn quickly if they’re neglected.
Make the crust
Place the unsalted butter by itself in your baking dish and bake the butter 3-5 minutes, until it’s completely melted. While the butter melts, mix the rest of the crust ingredients into a smooth, wet batter.
Assemble the Cobbler
Pour the prepared crust batter on top of the melted butter in the baking dish. You want to cover the butter completely, but do not mix the butter and the batter together. Top the layer of batter with the prepared cherry filling. Again, cover the batter, but don’t mix the layers together. The cherry filling may settle into the batter a bit and that’s totally fine.
Bake, cool, and serve
Bake the cobbler 45 minutes, or until the filling is nice and bubbly and the crust is a beautiful golden-brown color. Let the cobbler cool 10 minutes, then serve it warm with rich vanilla ice cream.
What I Love About This Recipe
- It’s surprisingly simple to make! Prep the filling, then the batter, and bake – that’s pretty much it. Aside from the cherries, this recipe is made using items you probably already have in your pantry.
- It’s sweet, but not too sweet. Tart cherries need a bit of sugar to balance out their sour flavor. This cherry cobbler recipe contains just the right amount of sugar to bring this dessert together without overpowering that incredible cherry taste!
- It’s the perfect addition to any potluck or celebration! This cherry cobbler is best enjoyed in the spring or summer when cherries are in season. Make this crowd-pleasing recipe for your next warm-weather celebration.
Recipe Variations
- Enhance the Flavors: Add 1-2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract to the crust batter. It’ll make the crust even richer while balancing the sweetness of the filling.
- Make it Even Easier: Replace the homemade cherry filling with canned cherry pie filling. I definitely prefer the flavors and consistency of the homemade version, but I can’t argue with the ease of the can! If you go that route, you can skip the stovetop instructions entirely. Just pour the cherry pie filling over the layer of crust batter and bake as instructed.
- Vegan Cherry Cobbler: Use a vegan butter and dairy-free milk.
- Gluten-Free Cherry Cobbler: Replace the all-purpose flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour containing xanthan gum. I typically use King Arthur’s gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Sugar-Free Cherry Cobbler: Use granular Swerve or your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute instead of white sugar.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Easy Cherry Cobbler
Equipment
- stovetop
- medium saucepan
- Large wooden spoon
- 9×13 baking dish
- large mixing bowl
- Hand mixer or silicone spatula
Ingredients
For the Cherry Filling
- 2 pounds pitted cherries fresh or defrosted if frozen
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice juice from approximately 1 large lemon
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
For the Cobbler Crust
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole milk or milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon fresh baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Add 2 pounds pitted cherries, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons cornstarch to medium saucepan. Place saucepan on stovetop over medium heat.
- Simmer filling ingredients, stirring frequently, approximately 5 to 10 minutes or until cherries have burst and mixture has thickened. Once thickened, remove saucepan from heat and set aside.
- Place 5 tablespoons unsalted butter in baking dish, then place baking dish in preheated oven. Bake butter 3 to 5 minutes or until butter is completely melted.
- While butter melts, add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup whole milk, and 1 teaspoon fresh baking powder to mixing bowl. Mix ingredients together until incorporated into wet batter with no lumps of dry ingredients remaining.
- Carefully remove baking dish from oven. Pour prepared batter into baking dish, covering melted butter completely. Do not stir batter and butter together.
- Pour prepared cherry filling evenly over layer of batter. Filling may settle into batter slightly – do not stir filling and batter together.
- Return baking dish to oven. Bake cobbler 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is baked through and golden brown.
- Carefully remove baking dish from oven and set aside. Allow cobbler to cool 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, serve cobbler warm with vanilla bean ice cream if desired.
- Storage: Let cobbler cool completely, then cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap or transfer cobbler to airtight container. Refrigerate cobbler up to 4 days. Reheat cobbler in the oven before serving.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! Peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries would all work great in place of the cherries. Make the filling the same way with your fruit of choice.
Yes, in a way. Prepare the filling and crust as written, but wait to combine them until you’re ready to actually bake the cobbler. Until then, refrigerate the filling (cooled completely!) and the crust butter in separate airtight containers. Reheat the filling before baking, then assemble the cobbler and bake.
The crust of a cobbler is, well, more crust-like, made from a dough or a batter. A crumble usually has a crumbly topping made from oats or flour and sugar.
Of course! With canned pie filling, you can skip the steps and ingredients to make the homemade cherry filling. Just pour the canned cherry pie filling on top of the cobbler crust layer and bake as instructed.
Easy – pop it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit. Just long enough that it’s warm and gooey.
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can I use frozen pitted cherries?
Sure!