As you may or may not have noticed by the nature of my posts, I don’t bake much of anything in the way of desserts. That’s not to say I don’t have an uncontrollable sweet tooth from time to time, because I absolutely do. The truth is, I prefer cooking because the components of a dinner recipe appear seemingly less jarring than those in a dessert recipe. The fact that the ingredients in a dessert recipe can include “a stick or two (or three) of butter” scares me a bit, especially if I’m the one doing the manifesting.

That being said, desserts that encapsulate fresh fruit are at the very top of my list (along with anything that is associated with icing — a story for another time). Earlier in the summer, I became privy to my very first berry crostata, an Italian tart/pie hybrid which hails from across the pond in Italy. Because of the seamless and effortless way in which my girlfriend crafted this treat, I decided it would be better not to even attempt that particular recipe. Naturally, I settled on a simple peach cobbler, in part because I had peaches at my disposal and because of the degree of simplicity.

I do confess that as my cooking skills have gradually improved and my palate has become more refined, I’ve gravitated towards cookbooks rather than conducting simple google searches to find recipes. There’s something to be said for panning through a cookbook, coming across a recipe that strikes your fancy, and wanting to tackle one that resonates deeply with you as you lose yourself completely to the power of cooking. In this case, I was short on time, so I reverted back (go figure) to a simple google search and it yielded nothing but greatness.

The Epicurious peach cobbler recipe below is about as easy as it gets and tastes phenomenal. I doubled the peaches (who doesn’t want more fresh fruit?) and added a little more vanilla for the sheer fact that vanilla is my favorite flavor of all-time. Better get on this one quickly, as peach season will be over before you know it!

Peach Cobbler
Recipe amended from epicurious.com
Serves 4

6 large peaches, cut into thin wedges
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. cornstarch

For biscuit topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

Cook peaches first:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-quart nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven for 10 minutes.

A plethora of peaches

Make topping while peaches bake:
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined. Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)

Top with whipped cream and/or ice cream if you’re feeling indulgent!