Apple Cobbler
Adapted from Fresh Every Day

Ingredients:

Apple Filling:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish
6 large tart apples (such as Granny Smith, Pippin, or Northern Spy), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh apple cider or unfiltered apple juice
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated or ground nutmeg

Buttermilk Biscuit Topping
1 cup self rising flour or 1 cup all-purpose flour mixed with 1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/3 cup cold, well-shaken buttermilk

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and butter a 7×11 inch or 9-inch square baking dish.

Prepare the Filling:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt but do not brown the 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the apples, sugar, cider, and lemon zest and juice, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until apples are tender. Remove the pan from heat and mix in cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pour the apples into the prepared butter dish, taking care to scrape all the bits and juices into the dish. Let the fruit sit and macerate while you work on your topping.

Prepare the Biscuits:
In a large mixing blow, stir and aerate together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter, and using the pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles texture of cornmeal. Pour in buttermilk, and stir until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough onto your work surface and bring it together with your hands. Knead it lightly to form a ball, but don’t over-knead. You need the coarse texture to remain.

Lightly dust your work surface with flour and using a rolling pin (also dusted with flour) roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter or a tumbler to cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on top of the apples. When arranging the biscuits over the fruit, leave about 1/4 inch between them as biscuits expand while they bake.

Bake the cobbler on a center rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and the apples are happily bubbling around the sides of the pan. Not sure if the apples are happy? Take a good look at them. You’ll see.

Once done, remove from the oven and allow cobbler to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm.