- Today, we're making a southern-style apple cobbler.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia and one of my favorite dishes is my mom's apple cobbler.

It has a sky-high layer of streusel on top, made of flour, butter, sugar, and even some oats.

When I moved down to Charleston, my mentor, Nathalie Dupree, taught me about the southern way to make cobbler.

This one comes together in a pinch.

I'm Lauren Furey and you're watching "Now We're Cookin'".

(graphic whooshes) (subtle groovy music) (graphic whooshes) The trick to is super sweet apple cobbler is to cook the apples before actually cooking the cobbler in the oven, and so I have here Granny Smith apples and they're a little bit more tart than Honey Crisp apples, for example, but they cook up nicely 'cause they can stay firm and they can caramelize really well with all the butter in the brown sugar.

So, I'm gonna add two tablespoons of butter to my cast iron pan.

I can promise you that this recipe will become one of your favorites because it requires only one pan and minimal mess.

First thing we wanna do is let our butter melt in the pan and we're gonna add Granny Smith apples that are thinly cut so they cook pretty quickly.

(butter sizzling) In order to get the most caramelized and beautiful apples, you wanna be sure you add them in a single layer to be sure that each side of the apple has some nice color.

(butter sizzling) So, about two to three minutes to each side, and then we're gonna flip it over and add some more brown sugar, but I'm gonna take a peek to see how they're doing.

(butter sizzling) Oh yeah.

(butter sizzling) So, they're getting brown, but not quite yet.

Part of the reason this recipe smells so good is because the butter is browning in the pan and the browned butter combined with the sugars from the apples and then later the brown sugar is a really good combination.

You gotta be patient with the apples because it's tempting to wanna flip 'em really quick, but you gotta let 'em do their thing.

(subtle groovy music) You'll notice that the edges of the apples become the darkest the quickest, and you wanna use your tongs to make sure you flip every apple or else some of them could become really dark before you know it.

And it's important to keep in mind, one of the first things I ever learned in cooking from Nathalie Dupree is that everything cooks according to thickness, so if you want your apples to cook quicker, if you're extra hungry, well, slice 'em thinner and then you'll be on your way to a super delicious cobbler.

(butter sizzling) This is exactly what we're looking for.

(butter sizzling) It's crisp, it's cooked all the way through.

(butter sizzling) And it's about ready to add some brown sugar.

I'm gonna add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar to be sure that each apple slice gets a fair share of that brown sugar.

And I'm tossing the apples in the brown sugar and the butter and the brown sugar melts into the butter, and brown sugar is a really great ingredient because it includes molasses, so the nutty flavor of the molasses really complements the tart flavor of the apples and the browned butter.

(subtle groovy music) It's hard not to eat an apple right out of the pan.

That'd be pretty hot.

(subtle groovy music) Quick little wipe down just to get the extra sugar out.

I'm gonna add a stick of butter, get this pan into our preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and this butter will be the basis for our batter.

(subtle groovy music) (graphic whooshes) Our cast iron skillet is in the oven with the butter in it and it's melting away.

In the meantime, let's make our cobbler batter.

So, this recipe is really fun to make, because a lot of the ingredients are in the quantity of one.

So, I'll show you what I mean by that.

One cup of all-purpose flour, one cup of granulated sugar, little bit of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and those spices really add warmth and little bit of spice to this dish.

(subtle groovy music) Pinch of salt, and baking powder to help the cobbler rise.

(subtle groovy music) Now, those are our dry ingredients, so we'll mix that together.

(subtle groovy music) (spatula clanging) And for our wet ingredients, little bit of whole milk, a cup.

(milk dribbles) (subtle groovy music) Some vanilla extract.

I really love vanilla extract, and it pairs well with this orange liqueur.

This is two teaspoons and it is an optional ingredient, but it adds a citrus flavor to the dish that I do think it needs.

You could also add some orange zest in replacement for that orange liqueur.

(grater scraping) Speaking of zest, we're gonna add the zest of one lemon, and when you're zesting a lemon, you wanna be sure not to get the white part of the lemon called the pith.

We want only the yellow part, which is the zest.

Mix it all together, mix, mix, mix.

(subtle groovy music) I love to see how the cinnamon dissolves in this batter.

I really love how it smells as well.

At first, I was using a rubber spatula just to show y'all that that doesn't really do the trick when you're making a cobbler, because our flour has a few lumps in it.

The whisk really helps break it up.

Now that our batter is complete, I'm gonna get our hot skill out the oven and I'll show you what happens when we pour the hot batter onto the melted butter.

(graphic whooshes) Our butter is sizzling and it's ready for our cobbler batter.

I'm gonna pour it right in.

(batter sizzling) And you'll see the browns butter bits really play well with the cobbler batter.

And last but not least, it is an apple cobbler after all, I'm gonna just use my hands here and place the apples every which way on the cobbler.

Certain months of the year, I really enjoy putting in peaches and berries, but apples right now, they're the move.

I'm gonna put this cobbler back into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until it's golden, crispy and delicious.

(graphic whooshes) The cobbler is fresh out the oven, and boy, it smells so good.

It's time to serve it up, and I made some hand-whipped cream right here, which is completely optional, but highly recommended, and I'm gonna take a big spoonful.

I've got a hungry friend coming over and we had another long day of surfing, so I think a little apple cobbler will help us rest.

A little bit of whipped cream.

Well, maybe not a little bit, how about a lot of bit?

And maybe one more for good luck.

(graphic whooshes) You can make this cobbler anytime of year using whichever fruit is in season.

(subtle groovy music) Thank you so much for watching.

I'm Lauren Furey, and catch you next time on "Now We're Cookin'".

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