This easy gluten-free peach cobbler is full of jammy peaches topped with a fluffy buttermilk biscuit-style topping. A crisp golden-brown topping gives way to a soft biscuit that soaks up the warm peaches.
This post is sponsored by Andronico's Community Markets, a year-long partner of Snixy Kitchen, but the opinions are all my own.
You know when a dessert is really good because I stand over the stove, eating it straight out of the pan with a spoon. This is my way of claiming it all for myself. Who wants to eat any after I've been licking spoonful after spoonful? Strategic planning.
That's exactly what I did with the first test batch of this gluten-free peach cobbler. ALL MINE.
Well, it turns out, when a dessert is that good, your friends don't even care about that strategy.
Both my neighbor and my friend stopped by on cobbler test night and weren't deterred by my "I claimed this with my spoon" warning. They just took their spoons to separate corners, and in the end, the cobbler looked like it'd been ravaged by animals (it had been).
How's that for a ringing endorsement? Nothing will stop your friends from going wild for some of this gluten-free peach cobbler.
Easy gluten-free peach cobbler
I've made many fruit cobblers before, even peach cobbler, but I've always it with individual biscuits neatly organized on top.
For this peach cobbler, I wanted the simplest fluffy buttermilk biscuit-style topping that was just dolloped on top and baked. Easy peasy. Picture a crisp buttery topping shell that gives way to a fluffy biscuit nestled into jammy peaches.
Take as much or as little as you want, no one's dictating portion sizes over here.
Ingredients for gluten-free peach cobbler at Andronico's
Especially in the summertime when stone fruit is aplenty, I love shopping at my local Bay Area Andronico's Community Market. I can trust their organic produce section is top notch and I'm also able to grab all my gluten-free flour pantry staples in one place. Andronico's has a large Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour section as well as all the other staples from dairy to fresh produce.
Ingredients you need for gluten-free peach cobbler:
Peach Cobbler Filling
- Ripe peaches: Start with peaches that are ripe, but firm and very flavorful
- Brown sugar: Boost the sweetness of the peaches
- Tapioca starch: To thicken the juices that cook off the peaches into a jammy syrup
- Lemon juice: The acid in lemon juice brings out and balances the natural sweetness from the fruit
- Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt: For warm and cozy flavor
Gluten-Free Cobbler Topping
- Super-fine blanched almond flour: The flavor booster is the almond flour, adding sweet nuttiness that pairs with the jammy fruit. It also adds loads of moisture.
- Tapioca flour: Tapioca flour rises in the oven, creating fluffiness to the biscuits and lends to the chewiness.
- Gluten-free oat flour: Oat flour gives a soft cakey texture to baking. Here it adds the softness and structure to the oat flour, without being dense. Its flavor complements almond flour, adding warm, slightly nutty, wholesome notes, reminiscent of an oaty streusel-topped crumble.
- Sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt: All the essentials
- Cold Unsalted Butter: Cold butter will melt in the oven, creating little pockets of seam within the biscuit.
- Buttermilk: Using real buttermilk (versus a milk + vinegar sub) gives these biscuits a rich tangy flavor. Go all in.
- Ice cream: While technically this isn't an ingredient, I'd argue that vanilla ice cream for serving is equally essential.
Using Gluten-Free Flours
This cobbler topping uses a blend of almond flour, tapioca flour, and oat flour. I consider all three of these flours pantry staples for gluten-free baking and use them a lot. If you feel overwhelmed about buying three flours you might not use, search my recipe index and you'll find over 100 recipes that use one of these flours, and 14 that use all three!
Gluten-free peach cobbler recipe steps
- Toss the filling together. Mix the brown sugar with tapioca flour, then toss with the sliced peaches, lemon juice, vanilla, and spices. Dump into a 2-quart baking dish.
- Sift dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Work in cold butter cubes. Either with a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the flour until the largest pieces of butter are no larger than a pea and the dough is crumbly.
- Add buttermilk and whisk with a fork until the flour is just absorbed by the buttermilk.
- Dollop and spread topping over peaches. Leave a few spaces in the topping so the steam can cook the biscuits. And sprinkle lightly with sugar.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until topping is golden brown and peaches bubbly
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!
Gluten-free peach cobbler almond flour
In all my testing of gluten-free biscuits, I found that the fluffiest most flavorful biscuits were made with almond flour. Why mess with a good thing?!
This soft and tender biscuit-like cobbler topping is fluffy, with a lightly sweetened crumb that is oh so comforting. The biscuit topping expands down into the jammy brown sugar peach filling.
What's the difference between cobbler, crumble, and crisp?
Cobblers are defined by the jammy-baked seasonal fruit at its core with some kind of topping, usually baked pastry, dough, or batter. You can top it with a pourable batter that bakes up almost like cake, cookie dough, pie pastry crust, or some kind of biscuit. This gluten-free peach cobbler is like a hybrid of pourable batter and biscuit.
While distinctly different than cobblers, crumbles and crisps are used interchangeably as one another. These deep-dish baked fruit desserts are usually topped with some kind of crumbly streusel-like topping. Some argue one has oats in the streusel and the other doesn't, but no one can agree. The Kitchn suggests that distinction is passé and they're used interchangeably now. I'm in that camp.
If a crumble or a crisp is what you're looking for, here's my gluten-free peach crumble recipe!
FAQ about gluten-free peach cobbler
How to tell if my peaches are ripe for cobbler?
For peach cobbler you need ripe but firm peaches. They shouldn't be mushy, but should have some give when you squeeze them. Ripe peaches have the most flavor and will bake up soft and jammy. Your cobbler is only going to be as delicious as the fruit you use, so make sure your peaches have flavor.
Do I peel my peaches for cobbler?
There's no need to peel peaches for cobbler. The peels seem to disappear into the delicious jamminess of the roasted fruit. If you're really averse to peach skin (like my mom), you can quickly peel the peaches by cutting slits in the skin at the top and bottom, blanching them in boiling water for 20 seconds, then into an ice bath. The skins will slide right off.
Can I use frozen peaches?
Yes, you can use frozen peaches! Defrost the peaches and drain off the bulk of any liquid (do not press them) before tossing them with the rest of the ingredients.
How to store leftover peach cobbler
Store leftover gluten-free peach cobbler, covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 2 days. Serve cold or, my personal preference, reheat in the microwave and serve with a melty scoop of ice cream!
Subbing In Other Fruit
Keep the topping the same, but sub in your favorite seasonal fruit, by weight: apples, pears, fuyu persimmons, berries, other stone fruit work great!
You can also use frozen fruit. For frozen berries, no need to defrost first! For all other frozen fruit, thaw and lightly drain before using.
Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler
This easy gluten-free peach cobbler is full of jammy peaches topped with a fluffy buttermilk biscuit-style topping. A crisp golden-brown topping gives way to a soft biscuit that soaks up the warm peaches.
Ingredients
Peach Filling
- 8 cups (3lbs) sliced ripe, but firm peaches (about 5-6 peaches), cut into ⅛-1/4 inch slices
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Almond Biscuit Topping
- 112g (1 cup) superfine blanched almond flour
- 98g (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) tapioca flour/starch
- 95g (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons) gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8T cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Toss the filling together. Mix the brown sugar with tapioca flour in a large mixing bowl, then toss in the sliced peaches, lemon juice, vanilla, and spices. Dump into a 2-quart baking dish.
- Sift dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Work in cold butter cubes. Either with a pastry cutter or your hands, quickly work the butter into the flour until the largest pieces of butter are no larger than a pea and the dough is crumbly.
- Add buttermilk and whisk with a fork until the flour is just absorbed by the buttermilk, using your hands to mix, if needed.
- Dollop and spread topping evenly over peaches. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the top.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until topping is golden brown and peaches bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!
Notes
Frozen Peaches: You can use frozen peaches. Defrost the peaches and drain off the bulk of any liquid (do not press them) before tossing them with the rest of the ingredients.
Heather -
Fantastic recipe! Best way to use up end of summer peaches! Thank you for always making up delicious GF recipes!