August 7, 2012

When a reader asked for a gluten-free version of "Texas cobbler," I have to admit, I'd never heard of it. So I e-mailed them for clarification. The reply made me chuckle:

"Honestly, I don't know specifics. I'm from Iowa but I read about Texas cobbler in a magazine while waiting at the salon. It looked really good, that much I can tell you."

After some digging, I found a recipe for a blueberry Texas-style cobbler in Cook's Country magazine. The recipe promised "a cobbler made with a thick, pancake-like batter."

It surprised me that the recipe didn't contain eggs. While it isn't unusual for a biscuit topped cobbler to contain no eggs, it's unusual to see an egg-free pancake-like batter. Since gluten-free pancake and cake batters benefit from the addition of eggs, I wondered how this batter would stand up to the gluten-free conversion. Would it fall apart? Or be terribly dense?

Surprisingly, the cobbler topping, made with a simple gluten-free flour blend, butter, and milk, baked up light and airy atop the blueberries.

The biggest difference from the wheat-version was the thickness of the batter. The wheat version promised a thick batter while the gluten-free variation was thin. This meant that the berries dipped below the batter during baking and the crust baked without any hints of the fruit filling lurking below. Once scooped into serving bowls, however, you wouldn't know that the cobbler's crust lacked the craggy fruit appearance of its wheat-filled counterpart.

This story and recipe first appeared on SeriousEats.com as part of my "Gluten-Free Tuesday" column.

Texas Blueberry Cobbler

Topped with a cake-like pastry, this cobbler is naturally egg-free and can be made dairy-free by replacing the butter and milk with dairy-free alternatives.

For a whole-grain cobbler, replace the white rice flour with brown and add 2 tablespoons of flaxmeal to the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Cook's Country magazine, August/September 2011.

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar, divided

2 teaspoons zest from 1 lemon

3 cups (about 16 ounces) blueberries, washed and patted dry

2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) cup white rice flour

1/3 cup (1 1/4 ounces) potato starch

1/2 cup (about 2 3/4 ounce) sweet rice flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 1/4 cups milk

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: about one hour

Serves: about 10 (makes one 9x13"-inch pan)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle postion. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into pieces and place into baking dish. Melt butter in oven, about 8 minutes.

    

2. In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub together. In large bowl, combine blueberries and 1 tablespoon lemon-sugar. Using potato masher or large fork, gently mash the blueberries until most of the berries are broken. It's fine if a few of the berries remain whole. Set aside.

    

3. In medium bowl, whisk together the remaining granulated sugar, white rice flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Melt remaining butter and allow to cool slightly.

    

4. Remove baking dish from oven and place on wire rack. Carefully rotate the pan so the melted butter evenly covers the bottom of the pan. Add the 8 tablespoons melted butter and milk to the dry ingredients. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Pour batter into the baking pan. (The melted butter in the pan might run to the edges of the pan and up the sides of the batter. This is fine.) Dollop the mashed blueberries over the batter. The berries might sink below the batter. Sprinkle the top of the cobbler with remaining lemon-sugar.

    

5. Bake until golden brown and set, about 50 minutes. Remove cobbler from oven and place on wire rack. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy this recipe! And if you are looking for more easy baked goods, may I suggest my cookbooks? Easy Gluten-Free Baking and How to Cook Gluten-Free are both loaded with delicious, easy recipes like this one. Thanks! --Elizabeth Barbone