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My favorite Apricot Nectarine Cobbler is made with light, fluffy biscuits made moist and tender with laban (yogurt). The apricots and nectarines pair perfectly and require no peeling, a much faster preparation. Try my blueberry cobbler recipe too, with a shortbread-like crust (and a story I hold dear).
I’m thinking to change the name of my blog to The Laban Blog.
Okay, no. But there is always so much about yogurt (Lebanese laban) going on in my kitchen that it seems I’m a little kookoo for it.
Favorite question that I get is, Do you really make laban every week?
Why, yes! Yes I do!
Not favorite question: Does it always take?
Uhhh, weeelll. No. Especially when Dan accidentally runs the faucet into the laban that’s cooling in an ice bath in the sink. That hand-touch faucet is a dream, until it’s not.
But most of the time, yes, yes my laban does indeed take!
All of the yogurt is not just for eating in a bowl with big dollops of apricot jam and raspberry jelly over top, though that is my winner winner. I also bake with yogurt all of the time, because I know that the acidity of yogurt brings such tenderness, such moistness and flavor, to anything it touches.
So I hunt down the recipes that call for buttermilk or sour cream, and I swap out my laban. Often the same swap works for milk, as in the raspberry glaze on this cake. Oh la la (do it!!).
Is it just me and my laban-obsession, or are you too noticing more yogurt in baking recipes you see?
In my project this summer to recreate the cobblers my mom used to make, I wanted a biscuit that didn’t taste like most biscuits. I mean, admittedly I love a good boxed brownie mix, but hand me a tube of biscuit dough and I’m running away, fast.
My affection for my favorite blueberry cobbler recipe, and the story that inspired it, will never wane. This cobbler is a different deal, and equally as wonderful. This one has big, fluffy drop biscuits that are light, tender, and moist. So light and delicious you’d want to make the biscuits on their own just for eating.
As for the fruit, I make this cobbler with nectarines and apricots not only because I live for apricots and the flavor of nectarines is so floral and wonderful. But also—mainly?—because you don’t have to peel either of them. Just slice into the baking dish.
Peaches, incredibly flavorful as they are, take a little more handling and TLC, with the blanching and the peeling. I do that too but more often I want to make this particular dessert/breakfast (yes) dish fast-fast.
I recognize that my inclination to make the cobbler quickly is a sign worth reading: slow it down, Mo. You’ve been speeding through summer and now lookit, the end of August is upon you. Not much about long, lazy days is in my repertoire and I suspect not in yours either. I’d say let’s take the slow-down to the eating of it, then, but I know better. A bowl of this cobbler slips away fast as summer.
Apricot Nectarine Cobbler
Ingredients
For the fruit:
- 3-4 pounds nectarines and apricots, about 12 cups
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Juice of 1 small lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
For the biscuits:
- 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes (1/4-inch or so)
- 2/3 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, to top the biscuits
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Thickly slice the nectarines and simply pull apart the apricots to halve them into a 13x9x2 or similar-sized oval baking dish.
- Top the fruit with the brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and orange blossom water. Stir to coat the fruit completely and "melt" the sugars. Taste the fruit, and if you think it is still very tart, add a couple more tablespoons of either of the sugars. Stir in the 1/4 cup flour.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- While the fruit cooks, make the biscuit topping. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine.
- Add all of the cubed cold butter at once, then pulse in 1-second pulses until a dry crumb forms (about 10 1-second pulses). Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold in the yogurt. Use a light hand and keep at it until the dough comes together. This takes some doing but is worth it for a tender biscuit! The dough should look a little rough; don't over-mix or over-handle it.
- When the fruit is bubbling and baked, remove from the oven and increase the heat to 425 degrees.
- Lightly and roughly shape 10 flat-ish biscuits and space them evenly over the fruit, without letting them touch one another.
- Top each biscuit with a dusting of the remaining teaspoons of granulated sugar.
- Bake for 16 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden. Cool the cobbler for about 20 minutes before serving. To make ahead, rewarm the cobbler for 15 minutes or long as you need, in a low oven (250 degrees).
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Maureen, I love your recipes. I’m in Australia and haven’t eaten a decent apricot since I was in Lebnan in 1994. we have them here, they just aren’t that tasty or juicy. Do you think I could substitute the tinned ones? I’ll have to wait till December for fresh nectarines, which are good here. Also, the raspberries are ridiculously expensive here. About $3.50 for about a cup full. I tend to use frozen ones if I’m making a coulis and need a larger amount. Do you think the frozen would be okay for the cake? Wish I could grow my own, but think it’s too hot in Brisbane.
Janet thanks so much. You could use canned apricots for the cobbler; add plenty of lemon juice to balance the sweetness. You can also use frozen raspberries, no problem at all! Warm regards to you in Brisbane!
We here, in Europe, love your recipes, too. Might we reauest that you also publish them using the European measurements of mml and grams? THANK YOU!
Thank you for your kind words and suggestion!
dear Maureen, I too, use laban as sub for dif. recipes including Irish soda bread which calls for buttermilk. comes out great, Can;t wait to try your recipe for cobbler, but it is getting hard to find apricots now and the ones I just purchased are for jam,thanks for recipe.
Thanks Marcia!
I also substitute Laban for tons of things that call for dairy. I am so glad to see that u do too…but why did u have to give away our secret…lol…hahaha. jus kiddin. And…yes we do make it again as soon as the previous one is gone.