Joan's Easy Southern Peach Cobbler

This recipe was a shot in the dark. Jake brought home some peaches the other night and they looked VERY ripe! AKA: Don't have a whole lot of time before they go bad. I was browsing recipes on the internet to find something I could do with the peaches (and that I had all of the ingredients for already sitting around my house). I came across this recipe on About.com's Southern recipes. The reviews for it were either really great or really bad with nothing in between. SO..... I took a risk and it paid off! Jake loved it and so did I! He had two pieces with lunch and insisted that we have it for dessert at the end of the day. I will definitely be making this again!

JOAN’S EASY SOUTHERN PEACH COBBLER

I used fresh peaches in this recipe, but fresh ripe nectarines or drained canned peaches will work as well. Serve this cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or drizzle with a little cream.

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat oven to 375°. Pour melted butter into a 2-quart baking dish (11x7 or 8-inch square). In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir to blend. Stir in the milk and vanilla until blended. Pour the batter over the melted butter. Toss the peaches with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Arrange the peach slices over the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The top will be browned and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Serve warm with a little heavy cream, whipped topping, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Serves 6.

*This recipe is very finicky about WHERE you cook it in the oven! You have to make sure it is IN THE MIDDLE so that the top or the bottom doesn‘t cook faster!

Tip for skinning peaches: Boil water in a large pan on the stove. Remove from hot burner and place peaches in water. Wait for 2 - 3 minutes and remove peaches. Skin should EASILY peel away from cut peach slices. Be careful not to leave the peaches in the hot water for very long or they will start to cook through and get really soggy and hard to cut.