What's For Dessert: Skillet Apple Cobbler

D and I were invited over to a gathering last night, and I knew whatever I'd bring along to share for dessert would involve apples, as we still have quite a few of them in the refrigerator left over from our apple-picking trip to Blue Vista Farm in Bayfield, Wisconsin.

I pored over apple recipes, trying to decide what to make. I knew I wanted something that would use up a lot of apples but an apple pie was out of the question as I wasn't in the mood to deal with a fussy pastry crust. (Making pie crusts still makes me nervous.)

I came upon a few recipes for apple cobbler and decided that would be the winner. There are many different styles of cobbler crusts -- some recipes have you drop rounds of dough over the fruit, while others have you pat the dough over the entire top of the cobbler. I decided to do a hybrid of the two by rolling out the dough and cutting out fluted biscuit circles to cover the top of my cobbler. I covered the entire cobbler, but I think it would look just as nice if some more of the fruit was able to peek through.

Baking the cobbler in a cast-iron skillet makes for a great presentation, and of course, this crowd-pleasing dessert wouldn't be completed without a little scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

Skillet Apple Cobbler (printer-friendly version)
makes 6-8 servings

For the apple filling:
2-3 pounds (8 cups) apples, cored, peeled, and sliced (1/4-inch thick)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the cobbler dough:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup cold heavy cream, plus more for brushing
sanding sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large oven-safe skillet, add together the apples, butter, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and salt and cook over medium heat. Continue to cook for several minutes until the apples are just beginning to caramelize and have softened slightly.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice and cornstarch. Pour the mixture onto the apples and stir to combine. Remove the skillet from the heat.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal, and just a few pea-sized butter pieces remain. Add in the heavy cream and pulse a few time until combined.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a round and then roll out until about 1/2-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 12-15 dough circles. Place the biscuits on top of the apples in the skillet in a circular pattern. Brush each biscuit top with heavy cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
6. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Pro-tip: place an aluminum-foil wrapped baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips from the skillet above. Serve warm or at room temperature.