Sweet spiced apples are blanketed with a soft, fluffy topping in this comforting, homestyle apple cobbler. Give the apple filling a quick pre-cook on the stove, and then top with an easy batter that comes together in 1 bowl—what a dream!
One reader, Brandon, commented: “Such a great fall recipe! A warm, delicious smell when baking and pairs perfectly with vanilla bean ice cream. Easy steps to follow for the win! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Alessandra, commented: “My first time making apple cobbler and it was a complete SUCCESS thanks to this recipe! ★★★★★“
After enjoying many over the years and recently testing 9 variations—yes, NINE!—my team and I are confident THIS is the one and only apple cobbler recipe you ever need to make. (It’s definitely the only way we will ever make it again, because I’m tired of trying other variations. LOL)
Here’s Why You’ll Love It:
- Comforting, homey feels: A buttery soft topping cloaks a warm, gooey apple filling with lots of cozy spice flavor. This is perfect comfort food to cuddle up with on chilly fall evenings. If apple trees could give hugs, this is what it would feel like.
- Easier than pie: No question apple pie is a favorite dessert, but it’s also a true labor of love. A fruit cobbler requires no chilling or cooling steps, no special tools, and no decorating skills! If you can slice apples and stir, you can make this apple cobbler. A great beginner baking recipe.
- Quicker than pie: Sometimes we need a crowd-pleasing dessert that’s ready to eat sooner rather than later. Apple crisp also fits the bill.
- Simple ingredients: You likely have most of these basic ingredients in your kitchen already. It’s also a nut-free, egg-free baking recipe.
Ingredients You Need for Apple Cobbler & Why:
- Butter: A little melted butter goes in the filling, and the rest goes in the topping.
- Brown & White Sugars: Thanks to its molasses content, brown sugar adds flavor as it sweetens the apple filling. We’re using white granulated sugar in the topping, because brown sugar can weigh it down. (Tried and tested that, trust me!)
- Lemon Juice: A squeeze of lemon keeps the apples’ flavor fresh and bright.
- Flour: Just a bit in the filling, to thicken it. The rest is for the topping.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice: apples’ favorite spices. We include them in this apple cake, too.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is your best bet here, for the softest, most delicious topping. You can use low-fat or whole buttermilk, whichever you can find at the store. If you can’t find it at all, whole milk works. No need for a buttermilk substitute, because we’re not really looking for a highly acidic ingredient.
- Vanilla & Salt: Flavor enhancers.
- Baking Powder: This leavener lifts the topping up as it bakes.
Recipe Testing Apple Cobbler – 9 Times
It took us a surprisingly long time to figure out the best way to make apple cobbler—which is supposed to be a relatively simple dessert. To pre-cook the apples or not to pre-cook the apples? Slices or chunks? Biscuit topping or batter topping? Apples on top or apples on the bottom? My lead recipe tester, Beth, and I just couldn’t seem to get it quite right.
First, we started out by testing a biscuit-style topping, like we use on peach cobbler and berry cobbler. However, peaches and berries are both a lot juicier than apples, and the biscuit-topped variations kept coming out unappealing and dry.
So we switched to testing a batter-based apple cobbler, like how we make this easy cherry cobbler. But those kept failing us, too. The apples were too heavy to sit on top of the batter, and prevented the dish from baking through. Keeping the butter separate also created strange and unappetizing-looking craters on top. They all tasted pretty gummy, too.
Back to the drawing board. We knew what didn’t work for apple cobbler. So what did?
This Is How You’ll Start: Peel and Slice the Apples
Start with the apple filling. Peel and slice your apples using a peeler (that’s an affiliate link to the one I use and love!), just like we do for baked apple cider French toast. You can skip peeling the apples if you’d like, but many prefer peeled apples in desserts. Slice up the apples and place them in a saucepan.
Success Tip: Pre-Cook the Apple Filling
Just a few minutes of gentle cooking gives the apple slices a head start on softening and releasing some juice so the filling doesn’t dry out. Plus, they get coated in a gooey cinnamon-spice brown sugar sauce that thickens up nicely as it bakes.
We tested this step by baking the apples in the oven for the pre-cook step, but they didn’t become as gooey and soft. Instead, they dried out.
The stove is the best choice.
Transfer the apple filling to a lightly greased 9×13-inch (3–4-quart capacity) baking dish. The pretty one pictured is by Magnolia Home and no longer available; this rectangle pan and this oval pan are similar.
Next, you’ll…
Whisk Together the Batter for the Topping
You’ll appreciate that the batter for the topping comes together with just 1 bowl and a whisk!
After multiple rounds of testing (whole milk, apple cider, apple juice, sour cream…), the champion ingredient for this apple cobbler topping was clearly the thick and creamy buttermilk. Pour and spread the batter over the apple layer in the baking dish, and then top with a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar. Use a butter knife to give the topping a gentle swirl, for a subtle marbling effect. Look how pretty!
This cinnamon apple cobbler takes less than an hour to bake. You’ll know it’s done when the apple filling is bubbling up around the edges… and by the glorious baked apple smell wafting through your kitchen!
This cobbler is best served warm; no need to wait for it to completely cool. (Music to your ears and taste buds.)
Firmer apples are ideal for baking. Avoid soft, mealy, and mushy apples. For depth of flavor, it’s best to bake with a mix of tart and sweet apples. Use tart Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonathan, or Pacific Rose. And use sweet Jazz, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or Fuji. For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties and when to use each, you can visit my post The Best Apples for Baking.
Any 3–4-quart baking dish works, such as a 9×13-inch dish. The pictured one is by Magnolia Home and no longer available; this rectangle pan and this oval pan are similar.
You can, but it’s 100x better fresh. I found that the apple filling dried out a bit after freezing and thawing, and the cake-like topping is a bit wet. If you want to try it, however, freeze baked and cooled cobbler for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and see reheating instructions below.
Yes. See detailed instructions below.
Vanilla ice cream is this dish’s best friend and I’m pretty confident no one will turn down a drizzle of salted caramel sauce, either.
From my kitchen to yours, here is the best apple cobbler I’ve ever had. (And I’ve had way too many at this point.)
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Apple Cobbler Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour (includes pre-cook)
- Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet cinnamon-spiced apples are blanketed with a soft, fluffy topping in this comforting, homestyle apple cobbler. Give the apple filling a quick pre-cook on the stove, and then top with an easy batter that comes together in 1 bowl—what a dream! See Notes for best apples to use and how to halve the recipe, if needed.
Ingredients
Apples
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 8 cups (about 1kg) peeled and sliced apples* (1/4-inch slices; about 7 apples)
- 3 Tablespoons (37g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional: 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan (or any 3–4-quart baking dish works).
- Pre-cook the apples: Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the apple slices, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, and spices. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until the apples are coated and begin to soften. Transfer apple filling to the prepared baking pan.
- Make the topping: Whisk the melted butter and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk until combined and mostly smooth. Some small lumps are OK. Pour and spread the batter over the apples. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over the top. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the topping as best you can (the apples get in the way a bit, and that’s fine).
- Bake on the center rack for 48-55 minutes or until the topping is golden and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges. If you find the top of the cobbler is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil (I usually do this about halfway through baking). Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm, room temperature, or cold; on its own or topped with vanilla ice cream and/or salted caramel sauce.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or bake, covered, in a 300°F (149°C) oven, for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: I do not recommend preparing and refrigerating the cobbler, unbaked, because the batter thickens the longer it sits. Also, the baking powder is initially activated once mixed with wet ingredients. The only way to prepare ahead of time is to cook the apple layer, cool, cover, and then refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before using.
- Freezing Instructions: This dessert is 100x better fresh. The apple filling dries out a bit after freezing and thawing, and the cake-like topping is a bit wet. If you want to try it, however, freeze baked and cooled cobbler for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator. See reheating instructions in step 6.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Vegetable Peeler | Saucepan | Silicone Spatula | 9×13-inch (3–4-quart capacity) Baking Dish (the one pictured is by Magnolia Home and no longer available; this rectangle pan and this oval pan are similar | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Apples: I like to use a mix of tart (like Granny Smith) and sweet (like Honeycrisp) apples. Here are the best apples for baking.
- Buttermilk: You can use either low-fat or whole buttermilk. If you can’t find either, use whole milk. No need to make a buttermilk substitute with lemon juice or vinegar. Avoid lower-fat milk.
- Serving Suggestion: Top with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce and/or vanilla ice cream.
- Can I Halve This Recipe? Yes; use a square 8-inch pan or round 9-inch cake pan or pie dish (square 9-inch pan is too big). Follow the recipe above, but halve all of the ingredients. The pre-cook time for the apples is about the same. The bake time is about 40 minutes.
- Can I Use Pears Instead? Yes. Same amount. The pre-cook step may need to be reduced if the pears are particularly soft, probably around just 3 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I tried the apple cobbler recipe and added a chopped fresh mango to the cooked apples and followed the rest of the recipe. It turned out great! It was tasty and easy to make!
Wow. Somebody in America finally understood that 99% of the world doesn’t use imperial measurements but metric. Thank you Thank you… this has become our favourite recipe website. THANK YOU.
So happy to hear you have been enjoying the site, Dale!
I love everything Sally does, but I have to say that I was disappointed in this recipe. I thought that the topping was bland and that 7 cups of apples was not enough
This is what’s called a Buckle.
Baked this up yesterday and let’s just say we had dessert before dinner!!! It was delicious like all of Sally’s recipes!
this was truly the best apple cobbler! super simple to make as well, thank you so much for the recipe. It’s great on its own and with vanilla ice cream! 🙂
Made this for the first time last night. Followed the recipe except I reduced the sugar in the topping to 150g, made a buttermilk substitute with 1/2 % 1/2, heavy cream, and vinegar (what I had on hand). I also used some small organic Gala apples. I don’t think it came to 7 cups, so I baked it in a 9×9 pan. Sally, this was EXCELLENT. One of the best new dessert recipes I’ve made in a long time. This makes me want to see what other gems you are hiding on your website!
Love this one! Can I make it in individual dishes?
Hi Traci, we haven’t tested it ourselves, but we can’t see why not! Same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time. It will vary depending on the size of your servings.
Truly delicious. I especially appreciate the step to pre-cook the apples – ensured that the apples were perfectly soft in their buttery cinnamon sauce. For the top crust, I used half white flour, half whole-wheat pastry flour.
Has anyone tried this using GF flour? If so, is there a brand of GF you recommend. This recipe looks delish & will be making soon.
I only cook with gluten free flour and I always use “king Arthurs 1:1 measure for measure gluten free flour”. it’s never failed me 🙂
I also just made this using GF King Arthur 1:1 flour. My go-to. Worked great!
Another great recipe from Sally and team!!!! I used Fuji and a few granny smith apples. I had plenty of apple juices in the bottom of the pan, while softening the apples. I didn’t change the recipe at all. It turned out great! I agree the topping was perfect, not to heavy and not a crisp. I will be baking Apple Cobbler again in the future.
I have one question for you. Do you sift your flour? If so when? I have tried sifting the flour as I add it to my canister. That takes so long. I have tried sifting the flour as I am weighing it for a recipe. Then I read that sifting it adds air to the flour. Confused
Thank you
I pre ordered your new cookbook months ago. Patiently waiting for delivery.
Hi Leona, we’re so happy to read you love this apple cobbler recipe! There’s no need to sift your flour for this recipe. If one of our recipes calls for sifted flour, it will be indicated in the ingredients list. Hope you find lots of new favorite recipes in the book!
Hello,
I don’t see my comments or your responses anymore.
Please review and post.
Darren
Hi Darren, on which recipe? I don’t see any on this one nor in the spam folder.
can I sub one pound of the apples for peaches? big fan!!!
Hi Sophie, here’s our peach cobbler recipe!
Hi Sally
I was wondering if I can add oatmeal to this recipe?
Hi Fida, we haven’t tested it with oats, so are unsure what to recommend. You may prefer this apple crisp instead, which has an oat crumble topping.
Can I make this recipe in a 11×13? Additionally, is it possible to do a hot water crust/sugar crust with the top? Or can I not because of the use of buttermilk?
Hi Nicole, Any 3–4-quart baking dish works best. If you can’t find buttermilk, use whole milk. We would avoid a lower fat milk or using water here.
Thought for buttermilk can sub. Out whole milk and lemon juice
Can I prepare this the day before my fourth of July cookout?
Hi Devin, yes! See the notes section for make ahead instructions.
Do you think it could be made gluten-free? My father is gluten-intolerant and really likes cobbler- think I could replace the flour in this recipe with an equal amount of gluten-free flour and have it turn out?
Hi Leo, we haven’t tested this recipe with GF flour, but several readers have reported success. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out!
Flavor was perfect, but the topping/crust was a little too bready. Also, it didn’t get done and was still gooey requiring 20 extra minutes. I’m wondering if 2 tsp baking powder is too much? Also I read that buttermilk reacts with baking powder causing it to rise more.
Hi Terry, if the topping was too bready there may have been too much flour in it. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
This dessert is amazing. It tastes magical at any temperature, and turns out right every single time. For you next gathering TRY THIS!!
I love this recipe, but our family likes more apple filling so I increased the apples to 12 cups, increased each ingredient in the topping by 1/2 with the exception of the sugar, which remained at 1 cup. Thank you for this recipe! We love it!
The book is beautiful! I have been anxiously waiting for this to be released and now it’s happening. Thank you for your hard work to make baking easy for all of us. Thank you for the wonderful, helpful hints and reasons we do things a certain way and the best recipes around
Linda, what a kind comment!! Thank you so much for the excitement about my upcoming cookbook. I really appreciate it.
One more note. I also reduced the white sugar in the topping as others have mentioned, using just over half and it was perfect for our taste.
Great recipe Sally, I use your dessert recipes to cook sweets for hundreds of people every week as part of our free feast on Sundays at the temple, so I (and hundreds of others) are indebted to you. Quick note: I would add a cup of apple juice, cider, or water when pre-cooking the apples, they tend to dry out very quickly being in the oven later for an hour. Just my 2 cents 🙂 Happy new year to you and the team!
Love the spice blend in this recipe. I added a little water while cooking the apples as they seemed too dry. And I used 1/3 cup Greek yogurt mixed with 2/3 cup milk as I didn’t have buttermilk.
This is a lovely, simple recipe, Sally and Co. Thanks! I used Honeycrisp apples and 3/4 cup of brown and white sugars in the topping, as well as a half cup of whole wheat flour. I also scattered a few oats along with cinnamon sugar on top just for texture. Pretty! And so tasty! It was part of a brunch menu, and everyone loved it. Oh yeah, I took your advice and used tin foil half way through to prevent scorching. Good call!
Can I use red delicious apples with this cobbler recipe
Hi Shelley, you can use any apples you enjoy.
Made this using GF 1:1 flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand) along with your salted caramel last night for a potluck & the reviews were stunning ! Only had to add ~1/4 cup extra buttermilk to get the batter to the correct texture. Super lovely n fluffy (which isn’t typical for GF food lol). What a fantastic & obviously well tested recipe. Thank you !
I followed this recipe to a “T” and my oven thermometers said 350. There is no juice, so no bubbly. Very disappointed. Not a whole lot of taste either. One and done.
I thought the filling seemed too dry as I was cooking it up, so I added about 1/2 cup water. I agree, it would have been too dry without.
wish I had read your comment before I baked this. very dry…disappointing
Omg, soooo good and filling!
Made this for Thanksgiving dessert, it was so good. Love the dough topping and the mix of the tart and sweet apples was just perfect. I pre-made the apple filling in the early afternoon and once dinner was finished, worked on the topping to stick in the oven for about 45 mins. Delicious!!
Made this for the first time and I’m in love . . . Substituted sour milk for buttermilk. Soured it with a tablespoon of cider vinegar. Also, used McIntosh apples . . . So good!