Cranberry Cobbler

Back in 2018, I mentioned in a post about Grapefruit Buttermilk Cake that I hoped to someday come back to this recipe for Cranberry Cobbler. I bought all the ingredients for Cranberry Nut Bread (which I've made religiously every year since 9th grade) but wanted to do something different with some of the cranberries, so I started combing through my cookbooks until I hit inspiration. Turns out it's a recipe that inspired me once before, but I couldn't find any more fresh cranberries in the stores. This year, I made it in time.

 

For my taste, I think I'd either double the fruit portion or make half the biscuit portion, to have a little more fruit action. On the other hand, cranberry is pretty tart, so maybe this is the right proportion.

Cranberry Cobbler
(from Wintersweet)

Filling
12 oz (340 g) cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) apple cider*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger*

Biscuits
2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp granulated sugar, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (170 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125 ml) plus 1 tsp milk, plus more as needed, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C.) Butter a 9-inch pie plate.

For the filling: combine the cranberries, sugar, apple cider, vanilla, and ginger in a medium bowl. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie plate and cocver it with foil. Place it on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the berries start to split their skins and spill their juices, 20-25 minutes.

For the biscuits: add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms a coarse meal. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl and add 1/2 cup of the milk. Fluff it with a fork until a scrappy dough forms. (If you don't have a food processor, you can cut the butter in with a pastry blender or pinch the butter apart with your fingers until the pieces look like tiny peas.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead it briefly, just utnil it comes together. If it seems too crumbly, add another spoon or two of milk. Press or roll it out into a disk about 1/2-inch thick. With a biscuit cutter or jelly jar, cut the dough into circles, enought to cover the cobbler.

Remove the berreis from the oven, uncover them, and stir. Arrange the biscuits on top. Brush the biscuits with the remaining 1 tsp of milk and sprinkle them with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Bake the cobbler uncovered until the biscutis are golden brown and the mixture is bubbling, 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving with ice cream. 

Wrap lightly and keep for a few days at room temperature.

*Notes from JennyBakes:

-I didn't have apple cider but I had orange juice, so that's what I used. It seemed to work okay.
-I doubled up on ginger and still didn't really taste it, so I think there's room for some flavor layering here.