The sweet-tart goodness of the fresh cherries from our trees beg to be enjoyed, and individual cherry cobblers are a great way to savor their flavor. I love individual desserts. They not only portion the recipe so we don’t overindulge, but they are just so cute! I created this recipe by combining a basic biscuit recipe and a cobbler recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It took a little math and some planning, but the result was fantastic! Individual cherry cobblers made everyone in my house happy, especially when they were warm and topped with a big dollop of whipped cream!
First, I picked and pitted the cherries from our sour cherry tree. This recipe will make six individual cobblers or just one, depending on if you are feeding a crowd or just yourself. 🙂 So you have a lot of versatility here. I used ramekins and custard cups both, and I would highly recommend the 8 oz. size. However, if you’d rather use a smaller size, just adjust the amounts in the cups. Customize this for you and your family. If you love sour pie cherries, I would highly recommend Fresh Cherry Cobbler Scones from an earlier post. They are amazing, if I do say so myself!
Individual Cherry Cobbler Recipe…
For the individual cherry cobblers, simply spray your ramekins or custard cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside on a large baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 400° F (or, use the microwave if you are only making one…it worked fine!).
Next, get to work on your cherry filling. You will need to add sugar and a thickener since the cherries are tart and the cherries will release a lot of juice when baked. Add your cherries to a saucepan (2/3 c. for each serving) and mix with 1 T. sugar and 1/4 t. cornstarch per serving. Let this sit for 10 minutes. (If you’re making six servings, you’ll need 2 1/2 cups of cherries, 6 T. sugar, and 1 1/2 t. cornstarch.) Next, cook and stir until this becomes thick and bubbly. If you would rather use the microwave, still allow the cherries to sit for ten minutes, but then microwave on high in a microwave safe dish for two minutes, stopping to stir at one minute. Once thickened, divide among greased ramekins.
While the cherries are thickening, work on the dough for the topping. The biscuit method of mixing is used to combine the dough. This means you will mix together the dry ingredients, cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender, then add the buttermilk all at once and stir just until the dough comes together. For one serving use 2 1/2 T. flour, 1/4 t. baking powder, pinch of salt, pinch of baking soda, 1/2 T. butter, and 1 T. plus 1/2 T. of buttermilk. (For six servings use: 1 c. flour, 1 1/2 t. baking powder, 1/4 t. salt, 1/4 t. baking soda, 3 T. butter, and 1/3 c. plus 2 T. buttermilk.)
To make the dough, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Use a pastry blender (recommended for six servings) or a fork (recommended for one serving) to cut the butter into the dry mixture until you can no longer see large pieces of butter. It should look like wet sand. Next, add all the buttermilk to the flour/butter mixture and mix until just moist. Do not over mix or the dough will be tough.
Divide the dough amount the ramekins, placing it on top of the cherry filling you made. If you desire, sprinkle the top of each individual cherry cobbler with an extra 1/4 t. of sugar. It adds crunch and a nice sparkle to the finished product. 🙂 Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the dough is starting to brown. Let cool slightly, top with whipped cream, and enjoy! If microwaving, follow the same steps except microwave on high for 2 minutes instead of baking for 25 minutes.
This cobbler could easily be used with other fruit filling. Simply add your fruit as directed in the recipe, make your dough, and bake! I’m thinking about trying this with the blackberries in my yard next year…Just be creative!
A thought I had while writing: Sometimes life can be sour like these cherries, but if we focus on the positive (and add some sugar!), life can become something wonderful! Praying for something wonderful for you today! 🙂
Notes
For 6 servings use the following measurements:
2 1/2 c. cherries, 6 T. sugar, 1 1/2 t. cornstarch for filling.
1 c. flour, 1 1/2 t. baking powder, 1/4 t. salt, 1/4 t. baking soda, 3 T. butter, 1/3 c. plus 2 T. buttermilk
Ingredients
Filling
- 2/3 cup pitted sour cherries
- 1 T. sugar
- 1/4 t. cornstarch
- 1/8 t. almond extract, if desired
Dough
- 2 1/2 T. flour
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- pinch salt
- pinch baking soda
- 1/2 T. butter
- 1 T. plus 1/2 T. buttermilk
- 1/4 t. extra sugar
Instructions
- If using the oven, preheat to 400° F.
- Combine the cherries, sugar, and cornstarch. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Cook over medium high heat until thick and bubbly or in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Place in greased ramekin or custard cup.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles wet sand.
- Add buttermilk and stir until dough no longer has dry ingredients visible.
- Place dough over cherries in ramekin.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or microwave on high 2 minutes.