Growing up, berries weren’t really part of my fruit vocabulary, except strawberries dipped in sugar. Not sure why the strawberries weren’t sweet enough already, but we definitely did not venture much to try blackberries, blueberries, any other berry! But when we moved to the PNW, every summer, I’d “ride” my bike with friends. I say ride because we’d stop every couple minutes thinking we’d pick the best spot to feast on blackberries. They just grew everywhere and certain bushes would ripen at different times along the trail. It was the perfect summer satisfaction, so much that I always look forward to berry season. Honestly I’d just eat the berries straight off the bushes, but if I ever have the self restraint to harvest more for later, sometimes I might just have enough to bake with! (Alternatively, buying berries from the store works too)
Fun fact: Blackberries are an invasive non-native species to the Pacific Northwest. They may be a local plant elsewhere, but they thrive and completely take over other plans in the PNW, which is sort of sad. I love foraging free blackberries and yet I’ve had to uproot the thorny vines to preserve other local plants. Definitely a love-hate relationship.
Anyway, blackberries flourish even within the city (it would be tragic to see them invade the mountains here). And starting in August going through September, blackberries are abundant! I guess if you haven’t fought them, might as well eat them, right?? In my backyard, I started foraging for blackberries and came upon some thimbleberries, a little less abundant, but I picked them up too for a more mellow flavor. But, as you can see, the pickings were slim, so it’s still primarily a blackberry dessert.
Honestly, you can use any fruit you wish! Whatever you can forage in your backyard, or your friend’s yard, or if you must, the grocery. My berries were a bit on the sour side, so the sugar mixture and the cobbler were the perfect match. And then throw in some ice cream for good measure. Et voila, you’ve got the perfect perfect summer dessert!
A note on cobblers:
Essentially, they’re an upside down pie crossed with scone. The filling is the same I’d use for any berry pie and the cobbler is a scone dough broken up on top of the filling. So it’s super simple, you don’t even need to shape anything, just throw it all in the pan together. This particular cobbler is vegan (using vegan butter makes it easy) and an added crunch from the oats. I hope you enjoy this!
Vegan Blackberry Oat Cobbler
Ingredients
- 2 cups blackberries, washed and dried (any berry combo works)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup sugar (and extra for topping)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp soy milk (or other milk alternative)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Get a 9x5 loaf pan ready.
- In a bowl (or if lazy, in the loaf pan), mix the berries, lemon juice, sugar and salt.
- In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt). Then add vanilla and melted butter and mix till combined. It should be a bit crumbly.
- One tablespoon at a time, incorporate the milk into the cobbler dough until it just comes together. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Break off pieces of dough and place on top of the berries until cobbler dough mostly covers the entire pan. Sprinkle sugar on top for an added crisp.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until cobbler becomes golden brown. The berries will be bubbling underneath. Enjoy and serve with ice cream!
Notes
- If doubling recipe, use a 8" or 9" pie or square pan.
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