I can’t think of a better way to celebrate summer than to go to a friend’s house for a shrimp boil and feed everyone blueberry cobbler for dessert.  This cobbler features loads of blueberries with just a hint of lemon in the filling and it is covered with a lightly sweet drop biscuit.  The optional coarse sparkling sugar adds a bit of bling to the top and a nice little crunch.

Blueberries are one the great treasures of summer and they grow abundantly here.  A few miles down the road from our house is a you-pick farm with loads of blueberry bushes.  Unfortunately the season is over and I was out of town during most of the prime picking time.  Luckily, frozen blueberries are the next best thing to fresh and you don’t even have to thaw them out which is a great time saver.

I know that some people are going to think that I have lost my mind by using canned pie filling which is so gooey sweet.  However, when you add fresh or frozen berries to it along with a little lemon, you wind up with a quick and easy filling that has just the right amount of sweetness.  This filling is also a little loose and spreads quite a bit when dished up so I highly recommend serving this in bowls. If you would like a filling that is a little firmer, feel free to add the optional cornstarch.  This recipe can easily be cut in half to accommodate a smaller gathering.  The cooking time will be the same and you will need a 9-inch square baking dish or a 10-inch deep dish pie plate.

Filling:

2 (21-ounce) cans blueberry pie filling
2 (12-ounce) packages frozen blueberries, no need to thaw
finely grated zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon cornstarch, optional

Topping:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
coarse sparkling sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Adjust the oven rack to the center position.  Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

For the filling, add all of the filling ingredients to a large mixing bowl.  Stir well and spread evenly into the prepared baking dish.

For the topping, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Cut the butter into 6 pieces and add it to the flour mixture.  Using a pastry blender, two knives or your clean fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand.  Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork until the batter is thoroughly moistened.

Using a large spoon, make 12 evenly sized mounds of batter on top of the blueberry filling, 3 across and 4 down the length of the pan.  Leave space between the mounds, the batter will spread as it rises.  If desired, sprinkle each mound evenly with coarse sparkling sugar.  Bake for 35 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack and serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

serves 12

adapted from Baking in America by Greg Patent