Quick & Easy Skillet Apple & Pecan Cobbler

Nothing says winter dessert like a hot, bubbling skillet, of fruit cobbler. This quick & easy apple and pecan cobbler recipe is my idea of the perfect winter weekend pudding. Full of Autumnal favors, heartwarming, and just a little bit indulgent. 

Don’t you just love apple season? It’s just finished here and I have to say, I’m already missing Autumn. There’s nothing like roaming around apple orchards with a basket in hand, picking fruit. And then coming home and turning fresh, juicy apples into a homemade apple cobbler recipe full of delicious tart apples, warm spices, and a golden, buttery topping. Dreamy weekend right there!

Love apple desserts like I do? The combination of apples, pecan, and cinnamon would be my favorite dessert combination. Try this baked apple French toast pudding too. It’s a goodie!

Here’s why you are going to love about this easy apple cobbler recipe…

Because who doesn’t love a really simple recipe full of good everyday ingredients, that you can whip up from go-to-woah in 1 hour?

It’s one of those recipes that everyone will like. From kids to grandparents, (especially the grandparents in this family, who request this one over and over again!) it’s suitable for all ages.

All the mixing is in one bowl. Don’t feel you need a clean bowl for the cobbler topping after you’ve emptied the apple mixture into the skillet. Nope, not on my watch, I just call it added cobbler flavor – and less washing up!

What you need to get started

• Juice of a lemon, fresh apples. I use Granny Smith apples for their tart flavor, but most varieties of cooking apples (like Bramley apples) will work. Sometimes I even throw the odd sweet apple in depending on what we’re picking from the trees in our little backyard orchard. 
  
  
• Dry ingredients – all purpose flour, castor sugar, brown sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder.
  
  
• Ground cinnamon
  
  
• cold, Unsalted Butter – keep it in the fridge until just before you are about to use. Cut into 1cm square pieces.
  
  
• Vanilla bean extract. If you don’t have a vanilla extract, you could always substitute it with a vanilla bean scraped of seeds.
  
  
• Pecans roughly chopped up.
  
  
• Buttermilk

The nitty gritty

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
   
   
2. Peel, core, and quarter each apple. Cut each quarter into 6 cubes. Pop the apple pieces into a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.
   
   
3. Add the sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat the fruit. Add ¾ of the chopped pecans. Reserve the rest for the topping.
   
   
4. Pop the apple filling into a 23cm cast iron skillet.
   
   
5. In the mixing bowl, combine the flour, bicarb soda, and baking powder. Give it a quick mix to combine. Add the butter. Using your fingertips, and working quickly, rub the cubes of cold butter between your fingers to create a mixture that resembles coarse crumbs.
   
   
6. Add the brown sugar, and again, give it a quick mix to incorporate the sugar.
   
   
7. Pour the buttermilk and vanilla into the flour mixture. Using a mixing spoon, mix everything until just combined. It will look like a thick cake-like batter.
   
   
8. Top the apple filling with spoonfuls of cobbler topping. Be sure not to cover the filling completely. This allows the cobbler to cook evenly.
   
   
9. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans and 2 tbsp brown sugar.
   
   
10. Pop it into the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.
    

Equipment you’ll need

I bake this old-fashioned apple cobbler in a 23cm cast iron skillet or an enamel baking dish of a similar size. You can also try baking this in a ceramic baking dish or pie plate as well.

If you don’t want to rub the butter into the flour manually, you can always use a food processor with a multipurpose blade and pulse the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Ok, so let’s take this up a notch…

A generous helping of warm custard or (and) a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside a warm apple cobbler sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? And it is, but if you really want to go next level, you’ll also want to give it a drizzle of this homemade whisky butterscotch sauce to drizzle on top alongside that scoop of ice cream. A homemade creme Anglaise is another option to take this easy dessert up a notch.

Here’s how I prepare the apples for this skillet cobbler recipe…

Peel and core the apples. Then cut each apple into four quarters. Cut each quarter into 6 pieces. As long as they are all roughly the same size, the shape really doesn’t matter too much, however, because I like chunks of apple in my cobbler, that’s what we are doing today. 

Have leftovers?

Have leftover cobbler? Pop any leftovers in an airtight container and microwaveable dish for tomorrow. Then reheat in the microwave in 30-second bursts until warm. 

This recipe will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

A few more skillet recipes you might like…

• Cheese and Bacon Skillet Rolls
• Baked Apple and Pecan French Toast Pudding
• Chicken & Bacon Creamy Pesto Pasta
• Paella Risotto
• Traditional Irish Fryup

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