Old Fashioned Apple Cobbler Recipe

If your backyard apple trees are overflowing and you’re wondering what to do with all the fresh apples, this old-fashioned apple cobbler is the perfect way to use fresh apples! With a cinnamon-spiced filling and a vintage-inspired cobbler topping, it’s the ultimate comfort dessert, especially when served warm with vanilla ice cream.

My husband and I were reminiscing the other night about the time we sat in our teeny tiny apartment kitchen peeling, slicing and preparing a bushel full of apples on my Grandma’s 50s formica style drop leaf table.

For many years, we had apple trees in our backyard and I was always looking for new ways to use them. At that time, I knew nothing about apple cobbler, but I recently stumbled on some recipes in my vintage cookbooks. I decided to give it a try. If you are a fan of apples, you’re going to love this!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

It uses fresh apples! – If you’re looking for a way to use up some of your apple harvest, this is the recipe for you.

Only simple staple ingredients are needed -There isn’t anything fancy or unusual in this recipe. In fact, I’m pretty sure you have everything you need already in your pantry.

It smells like Fall! – This cozy dessert recipe is perfect for the chilly days of Fall and Winter. The apple cinnamon smell wafting out of the oven while it bakes is such a cozy smell…

Ingredients Needed for this Old Fashioned Cobbler Recipe

(A printable recipe card is included at the bottom of this post for your convenience.)

For the Apple Pie Filling:

• 6 cups peeled and diced apples – Any baking apple will work. I used a combination of Granny Smith and Fuji Apples for this recipe.
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 Tablespoons water- divided
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

For the Apple Cobbler Cake Topping:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3 tablespoons milk

Step by Step Instructions for Old Fashioned Apple Cobbler

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure out the dry ingredients for the apple cobbler topping and place in a large mixing bowl – the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Stir together and set aside. In a seperate bowl, stir together the beaten egg and 3 tablespoons milk and also set aside. This will make it quick and easy to stir together the cobbler topping when it’s time to put it on the hot apple pie filling. Peel and slice the apples into small 1 inch dices. Here’s a quick video for how to peel and dice apples the quick and basic way:

2. Make the apple pie filling by placing the peeled and diced apples in a medium sized saucepan. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons water, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Heat to boiling stirring frequently, until the apples become juicy and the liquid starts to boil. Boil for about 5 minutes or until they begin to get tender. (**Note: The apples will not get much more tender while baking, so make sure you simmer them long enough to get the tenderness you desire. 5 minutes of boiling left these apples with a slight crunch – which my family loved.) Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the boiling mixture and stir to combine. Stir 2 tablespoons water into 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add to the boiling apples. Stir while boiling until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and pour into a 8×8 inch baking dish.

3. Cut in the 3 tablespoons butter to the dry ingredients for the cobbler topping until it resembles course oatmeal. Add in the milk and egg mixture and stir until it is just combined. The mixture will be VERY thick!

4. Drop by spoonfuls, or crumble the cobbler topping with your hand on top of the hot apple pie filling.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and it is bubbling around the edges.

How to Serve Apple Cobbler

We found apple cobbler is the most yummy when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Other Apple Recipes

• This way to make clear apple juice is so easy and delicious!
• Apple crisp with pie filling is a perfect recipe if you need to make dessert super quick!
• Apple drop cookies are another old fashioned recipe that taste absolutely amazing.

How to Peel & Dice Apples for Apple Cobbler

Disclosure: The following contains affilate links for your shopping convenience.

Although there are many fun gadgets for peeling and slicing apples (I had one similar to this that peeled, sliced and cored BUSHELS of apples!) , for this recipe, I just used a kitchen peeler (mine is very similar to this one), a large knife and a smaller knife.

I first peeled the apple, then used the large knife to cut the apple in half and then in quarters. The smaller knife makes quick work out of taking out the seeds, and then I laid them flat side down to slice and then dice.

Although it does take a few minutes to dice 6 cups of apples, it doesn’t take as long as you’d think it would!

(Don’t forget to check out my Amazon storefront for some of my favorite kitchen tools!)

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