Healthy Sourdough Blackberry Cobbler, Wholesome Deliciousness

What would blackberry season be without blackberry cobbler? Here is a healthier, fresh milled sourdough version that’s not too terribly sweet! 

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It’s blackberry season and who doesn’t love to snack on these delicious black gems, albeit the plant can give quite a bit of grief to some. But despite its often thorny and invasive nature, blackberries appease with a bounty of delicious edible fruit. 

This healthy blackberry cobbler celebrates blackberry season in the most delicious way, and if you serve it with vanilla ice cream, it will be an unforgettable delight. So grab yourself some blackberries, head into the kitchen, and let’s make us some delicious cobbler! 

If you love berry desserts, you need to try my super delicious lemon blueberry cheesecake bars. And do try Strawberry quark cheese mousse, made with homemade quark or cottage cheese. And check out my delicious, easy, no-cook berry ice cream!

Blackberry Cobbler Starts With Delicious Blackberries

When I lived in Washington, I worried that I was going to get fenced in by impenetrable thorny vines like Sleeping Beauty did in the popular fairy tale. I was expecting one morning to wake up and find no way out.

Blackberries aren’t roses, but they are in the rose family, and the Himalayan blackberries in particular, run rampant in the PNW. They can grow 25 feet in one season, Yikes! You might enjoy this article on Mother Earth News about the Himalayan Blackberries.

They kept closing in on me from all directions despite my best efforts to cut them back. They were faster than me! But once the berries ripened, wow, all grief was forgotten, an occasional nasty thorn prick forgiven, and my buckets filled up fast with more berries than I could eat fresh. 

What To Do with Blackberries

So what to do with so many berries? I canned some, froze a lot, made jam, wine, and the most delicious vinegar with a strong berry flavor that was perfect on tossed salads. If you would like to make blackberry vinegar, you can follow my apple cider vinegar recipe and substitute blackberries for the apples!

And then I made blackberry sauce to pour on ice cream or cheesecake. I baked blackberry crisps or crumbles, and I made lots of blackberry cobbler. And I’m about to share my favorite healthy recipe here with you. Cobbler is my favorite way to enjoy blackberries aside from eating them fresh. 

It’s so delicious topped with vanilla ice cream. I haven’t posted a recipe for vanilla ice cream yet, but here is a healthy vanilla ice cream you can make from scratch with wholesome ingredients that won’t jeopardize your health or compromise your diet.

Well, I’m in Missouri now, and while we have blackberries growing wild, they are not as prolific and not as tasty as the ones I used to pick in Washington. 

However, my awesome neighbor allowed me to help myself to a bucket full of her berries last week, and right away my little heart made a leap and I jumped on the opportunity to make a blackberry cobbler. So here it goes:

Why You’ll Love Blackberry Cobbler

• It’s incredibly delicious!

• Juicy Blackberries tucked into a pillowy soft, delicious fresh milled and buttery cake.

• Delicious way to use your sourdough discard! No long fermentation.

• Blackberries are great for your health! They are rich in vitamins C and K, minerals like manganese, and fiber. 

• Manganese is vital to healthy bone development and helps keep the immune system healthy. It helps the body absorb other nutrients and is vital for collagen formation. Manganese can help prevent osteoporosis and manage blood sugar levels. 

• Eating blackberries can improve brain health, reduce brain inflammation, and help prevent memory loss.

• Blackberries are loaded with antioxidants, which can prevent oxidative stress and cell damage. And this could possibly reduce risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and mental decline. They might support digestive health and promote a healthy immune system. Healthline calls them a superfood!

• Cobbler is a great way to make use of blackberries in a delicious baked dessert. 

• This cobbler is healthier by using less sweetener, and wholesome ingredients.

• This recipe uses sourdough and fresh milled wheat, which gives this cobbler a delicious nutty flavor, and a comforting vibe. While you can make it with regular whole wheat flour, it won’t have that wholesome, nutty richness that fresh milled flour imparts. It will still be delicious, but a little less special. 

• Great to make during blackberry season, but it can be made with frozen blackberries too.

• Simple and easy to put together. It takes almost no time at all.

• This is a great uncomplicated recipe to make with your little ones too.

• Uses minimal equipment, and no electric gadgets are needed.

Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

Equipment

Grain mill – You’ll need a grain mill if you want to make fresh milled flour. If you don’t own one yet, I highly recommend the Mockmill. It can grind superfine to coarse flour and the flour does not get overheated in the process. It takes up little room on your counter and gets the job done quickly.

A Baking Pan – This recipe can easily be scaled, and today we’re making it in a 10×8 deep dish, and I love this set of three with plastic free glass lids, or you can use a 9×9, or 7×11 baking dish. Use a non-reactive pan since the filling is acidic. Glass, ceramic, or stainless steel is best. Use a deep dish pan with a high rim, or go bigger on the size. And you can also use a large 10″ frying pan for this. 

Bowls – You’ll need one for mixing the berries and one for the crust and if you choose to sprinkle a topping on, you’ll need a small one too, or use a measuring cup. 

Wire Whip or Fork – For mixing the dough.

Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

If you want to do the best for your health, I recommend that you choose organic ingredients as much as possible. Berries are generally on the EWG’s dirty dozen list, meaning that they found high amounts of pesticides on them when tested. And commercially farmed blackberries are right up there on that list.

For The Filling:

Blackberries – Use fresh picked or frozen berries.

Honey – You can also use Maple syrup in place of the honey, or natural evaporated cane juice crystals, coconut sugar, or Panela sugar (sucanat).

Lemon juice – fresh or bottled works.

Lemon paste or zest – I used my convenient fermented lemon paste for a great lemony flavor, but lemon zest is a good alternative option if you don’t have lemon paste. I can highly recommend making some and keeping it in your refrigerator, ready to use for any lemon recipes. I absolutely love mine for recipes like this and more.

For The Batter:

Fresh milled flour – I used a mix of half Einkorn berries and half Kamut® berries for this recipe. If you’re using Einkorn flour, Kamut® flour, or regular whole wheat flour, fluff it up before measuring or weigh it. Otherwise it will be too much. You can, of course, use all-purpose white flour too.

Baking powder – I prefer to use an aluminum free baking powder.

Baking soda

Salt – reduce or omit if you use salted butter. I use Redmond’s real salt, or Himalayan pink salt, or you can use Celtic sea salt or any other salt in this recipe.

Milk

Butter – salted or unsalted both work. Omit or reduce the salt in the recipe if you’re using salted butter.

Vanilla Extract – make your own, here is a great recipe! Or get organic vanilla.

Optional topping:

Cinnamon – Use just cinnamon or mix with sugar. I prefer Ceylon cinnamon.

Turbinado sugar – I use evaporated cane juice crystals, coconut sugar, or Panela sugar, the unrefined juice of the sugar cane, which has an intense natural molasses flavor.

Serve with:

Vanilla ice cream – Check out this healthy vanilla ice cream recipe if you want to make your own!

Whipped cream

Clabber cheese – Great for a healthy and filling breakfast. Stir a little raw honey into it to sweeten it.

Yogurt – It’s great with yogurt too for breakfast!

Instructions For Making Blackberry Cobbler

Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. 

Grease your baking pan (I use the butter wrapper, or a bit of the melted butter)

For The Filling:

Dump the blackberries into one bowl, mix with the honey, lemonjuice and zest. Let sit to macerate for 20 minutes, or use right away if you’re in a hurry. 

For The Batter:

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if you use salted butter, you don’t need the extra salt). 

Now add the milk, vanilla, sourdough, and the melted butter and stir to combine.

For The Topping:

In a small bowl or a measuring cup, stir together the cinnamon and sugar

Assemble The Cobbler:

Dump the cake batter into your prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

Spoon the blackberry filling over the top somewhat evenly. 

Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping

Place in the oven and bake at 350 ℉ for 50 minutes. Your center should feel set up when pressed on and the top should have golden patches. The blackberries should be bubbling.

Remove from the oven, let cool for 15 minutes.

Enjoy with a heap of vanilla ice cream or whipping cream.

This is great the next day too, cold or reheated.

Tips For Making The Best Cobbler

Macerate The Berries

For Best Results and if you have the time, mix the berry filling and let it sit for 20 minutes to draw juices before assembling.

If You’re A Sweet Tooth

Feel free to add more honey or maple syrup to your blackberries. I love my sweets gently sweet and this recipe reflects it. I find that going easy on the sweetener highlights the delicious berry and butter flavors, while the traditional amount of sugar overpowers everything. But if you normally like things very sweet, you might miss the extra sugar. So instead of a half cup of honey, add up to one whole cup, or sprinkle extra sugar on top.

Batter on Top Or Bottom?

It works both ways. In my experience, if the batter is added to the top, it helps to mix 2 Tbsp of cornstarch or arrowroot flour to the berries to bind the juices and you get a little more of a separation. If the berries are on top, they mix into the dough during baking and you get more of a cake-like cobbler.

No Sourdough? No Problem!

Substitute by increasing the flour to 1 cup and the milk to 1 cup. Add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and let it sit for 10 minutes to acidify.

Serve plain or with

Whipped Cream, Ice Cream, Clabber Cheese, or Yogurt

Enjoy your delicious healthy blackberry cobbler!

I hope you will love this cobbler as much as I do. It’s easy, fruity, healthy, juicy, and delicious! I love mine with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Don’t let blueberry season pass without making some for your family, and with this healthy version, you can feel good about it. This would even make a great breakfast. Seriously, it’s what I had for breakfast today, topped with some clabber cheese. Yum!

If you get to make this, I’d love to hear about it. And please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions right in the comments below! I would totally appreciate a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating if you like my cobbler recipe or this article! 

Join the Food For Life Garden Community for more great recipes and homestead tips and ideas. I’m always adding new content. Don’t miss any new posts and learn more about my off-grid farm life.

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Grain mill
Maple syrup
Honey
Panela sugar
Evaporated cane juice
Coconut sugar
Redmond’s real salt
Himalayan pink salt
Celtic sea salt
Organic vanilla on Amazon
Organic vanilla extract from Azure Standard
Einkorn berries
Einkorn flour
Kamut® berries
Kamut® flour