Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler

My Mama's peach cobbler is the best dessert on the planet (according to me, anyway).  Her blackberry cobbler is a close second.  Cobbler is a big deal in the South.  There are many different ways to make it.  Some are cake-like, some are more like crumbles, some even have a biscuit-like topping.  My Mama's cobbler is sort of a mix between a cake and a pie.  It has a thickened fruit filling with a sweet, crunchy, cakey crust.  And the best part is... it's super easy to make!

I have made many variations of my Mama's cobbler.  This one has strawberries and cream cheese.  Nothing wrong with that.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE COBBLER

1 pint strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1/4 cup sugar

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 TBS powdered sugar

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over them.  Toss gently and set aside.  This breaks down the berries a bit and creates juice.

Pour melted butter into a 9 inch square baking dish (I used a square cast iron skillet and let the butter melt in the oven while it preheated).

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Add sugar, milk and vanilla extract.  Stir just until the lumps are gone.  Do not over mix or you will get a tough cobbler!  Pour the batter over the butter in the baking dish.

Next, evenly distribute the strawberries and their juice over the batter.

In a small bowl, mix softened cream cheese and 1 TBS powdered sugar thoroughly.  Dollop this mixture over the strawberries.

Bake in a hot oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for 45 minutes.  The cobbler will be almost set (still a little bit jiggly in the middle) and golden brown.  Tip:  place a cookie sheet with sides under your baking dish in case it bubbles over!

Let this sit and rest for about 20 minutes.  It will smell phenomenal and you will want to dig in immediately.  Don't.  It needs time to firm up.  I promise it will be worth the wait.

If you like strawberry cheesecake, you will like this cobbler.  It hits all those flavor notes but is so simple to throw together.  Top it with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and you might just have perfection on a plate.  Enjoy!