Church-lady skillet cobbler with brown butter and crisp topping

I was raised Lutheran which means two things; I was a catholic minus the guilt (living by grace baby) and we went to LOTS of church potlucks.  Being the midwest that meant mostly noodly, beefy, cheesy casseroles that would literally stick to the ceiling if you threw a little ball up there, and lots of jello.  I mean Jello any way you can think to make or eat jello; jello mold, jello fluff, jello salad, jello cake, jello cookies...you get the point.  However on those rare summer months there would be fruit crisps, and if you were lucky a peach crisp!  I never had a peach cobbler quite this good at those weak coffee and even weaker Kool-aid festivals, but it would make quite the cap-off to some hamburger helper, or tater-tot casserole. Let me tell you, if you make this peach cobbler you will be the most popular of all church ladies, and your manfriend will love you a little more!  That is, if you can resist sticking your face in the skillet and eating the whole thing yourself; consider yourself warned.

Begin with the most gorgeous peaches you can find. (Note you do not have to come home with an entire orchard. I realize this picture doesn't properly depict the magnitude of the peaches I purchased) so...

That is half the amount I brought home!  I get a little carried away

First thing select the most ripe peaches and halve and quarter them and cut into slices.

Now brown a stick of butter. If at this moment you are scratching your head and thinking of quitting, DON'T! Browned butter is super easy and smells amazing. Simply melt over medium heat, wait until the crackling subsides (water coming out of the butter) and it turns a light tan. Pour it out of the skillet and set aside so it doesn't burn.

 

 Mix the batter. Pour into butter skillet, arrange peaches artfully.

Make your self some crumb-numbly toppings....
Then drop by the fistfuls on top of your Picasso Peaches in your brown buttery skillet and Bake!!!












Wait the longest hour of your life and dig in, just grab a spoon trust me!

Ingredients:

Cobbler:
7-8 ripe peaches
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Crumb numblies:
1 cup flour
1 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup oats
2 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Brown stick of butter in cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Butter is done when the water ceases to crackle out of it and it turns a light tan color.  Remove from skillet and set aside so it doesn't burn, leaving a little bit to act as a greasing agent.  Halve, core and slice peaches.  In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, buttermilk, soda and salt, add butter.  Pour batter into buttery cast iron skillet and arrange peaches on top of batter.
Now mix the uber yummy crumb numbly topping by mixing flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt.  Cut butter into little chunks and mix by hand into topping mix.  Just grab it by the handful and squeeeeeze until all the butter is thoroughly mixed.  Drop it by the fistful on top of the cobbler and pop into the oven for one hour or until cake tester comes out clean.  Enjoy by the serving spoonful with or without ice cream.