My father called me yesterday.  When he asked what I was doing, he seemed amazed to hear that I was making a blueberry cobbler.  I don’t know why he was so shocked; he has had several of my homemade cakes on holidays and birthdays.  Maybe it was because I don’t particularly like to cook and he knows that.  I cook everyday out of necessity or for special occasions or to make a special treat for my family, but I’m not one of those people who like to piddle around in the kitchen for fun or because I find it relaxing.  But yet there I was looking very domestic in my apron, whipping up a quick blueberry cobbler on a random Thursday.   It helped, of course that I was using a Real Simple recipe that I had made before; it is insanely quick and easy.  

The Real Simple recipe below uses blackberries, but you can use any berry and even combine it with stone fruits like peaches.  I used blueberries because my son brought home a freshly picked bucket from the mountains of North Carolina.   The consistently of the finished product is more like a blueberry cake, but I guess it’s called a cobbler because it is sort of “cobbled” together.  My kids ate it for dessert right out of the oven and also for breakfast the next day.  We put whipped cream on ours, but ice cream would be pretty good too.

*Note: It has a tendency to be more “cakey” in the middle; next time I would use a 1/4 less of the batter.

Ingredients:

butter for the baking dish

3 half-pint containers fresh blackberries or one 16-ounce bag frozen unsweetened blackberries, thawed  (or blueberries or peaches and raspberries, etc).

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

2 cups pancake mix

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 7- or 8-ounce container whipped cream

Directions:

Heat oven to 375° F.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.  Add the berries and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the sugar to the dish and toss.  In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, and eggs until no lumps remain.  Pour the batter over the berries.  Bake until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Doesn’t that look yummy?

And it is!