September is the perfect time for cobblers and crisps.  With the beginning of colder weather you begin to crave fresh from the oven desserts and the house full of that smell of fruit and sweet things baking...and yet it’s early enough in the season that there’s still loads of fresh fruit to be had.

There are infinite variations on crisps, cobblers, and crumbles.  They all start with fruit (perhaps lightly sugared and mixed with melted butter) as their base.  Crisps and crumbles are topped with a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, butter, and perhaps oats.  Cobblers are topped with a biscuit-like dough.  In a traditional cobbler, the spoonfuls of dough look like cobble stones atop the fruit!

The best apples to use for a crisps are the same apples that do well in pies:  Macintosh, Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Johnagolds, and Gravensteins.  For a twist, grab a flat of raspberries to make a crisp—they’ll do fine substituted for apples in the oat crisp recipe.

Cobblers and crisps work equally as well with canned fruit as fresh fruit, so consider that as you’re trying to motivate whether or not to pull out the canner and put up a box or two! 

Peach Cobbler

3 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter cut in small pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
 1/2 cup (or less) heavy cream

Lay sliced fresh peaches in a buttered 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of sugar. Dot with the 1/4 cup butter which has been cut into small pieces. For crust, mix together, flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt. Cut in the remaining 1/4 cup butter. Stir in heavy cream until dough is manageable. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface; place over sliced peaches.  Bake at 375° for 35 minutes, or until top is nicely browned.

Apple Oat Crisp

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) old-fashioned oats, uncooked
4 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In 13” by 9” glass or ceramic baking dish, toss apple slices with ¼ cup brown sugar.  In medium bowl, mix oats with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and flour. With fingertips, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press crumb mixture into clumps and sprinkle over apple mixture.  Bake apple crisp 30 to 35 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned.