Everyone loves pie, but making a pie can take a lot of time, particularly if you make your own crust. When you want vibe of a pie without all the work, crumbles, crisps, and cobblers will do the trick.
They have the insides of a pie—warm, juicy, sweet fruit—with just one layer on top. While it may seem that the terms crumble, crisp, and cobbler are interchangeable, they’re not.
- A crumble has a streusel-like crumb topping.
- A crisp has a streusel-like crumb topping that includes oats and sometimes nuts.
- A cobbler is topped with biscuits.
We worked a few cobbler-like oldies but goodies (buckles and slumps) in here, too. Whichever style you choose to bake, make sure to have plenty of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream on hand to top these delicious fruit-packed desserts.
Peach Cobbler
Vanilla ice cream lives to be on top of this peach cobbler. Use ripe, sweet, flavorful, firm yellow peaches to get the best flavor in this summertime treat, but if frozen is all you have, defrost and drain first.
Sweet Cherry Cobbler
This cobbler for a crowd bursts with sweet summer cherries. You’ll have to pit them, but it’s definitely worth the work. Made in a 9×13-inch baking dish, the best cherries for this dessert are Bing or Rainier.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble Bars
If you love strawberry rhubarb crumble, crisp, cobbler, or pie, you’ll love these bars that have the same wonderful flavor combination in neat little portable squares. The crumble is on both the bottom, in the form of crust, and on the top, in the form of a more traditional crumble.
Easy Dump Cake From Scratch
What’s a dump cake if not a cobbler with a homely name? You can use most any fruit in this low-effort recipe with a high payoff.
Skillet Peach Crisp with Ginger and Pecans
Ginger and pecans add a little something extra to this skillet peach crisp. Try this warm with a huge scoop of French vanilla ice cream.
Blackberry Cobbler
Cobbler gives all the vibes of pie without the work of making pie crust. Top this fresh blackberry cobbler with quick-to-make biscuit topping instead. You can use frozen blackberries but defrost and drain them first. Throw it together before dinner, put it in the oven, and when you’re done eating dinner, dessert is ready!
Blueberry Slump
A slump gets its name (supposedly) from the way the dumplings slump into the pot as they poach in the fruity filling. Blueberries are an ideal fruit for this dessert, but you can mix in peaches, too.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
The irresistible combo of strawberry and rhubarb—topped with a crisp buttery topping—is hard to beat. Bake and serve it straight from a cast iron skillet.
Berry Cobbler with Coconut Walnut Streusel
Top mixed berries—blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, and strawberries—with a coconut walnut streusel. Make the cobbler with a mix of fresh and frozen berries if you can’t get them all fresh at the same time. Kick up the coconut flavor with fresh coconut whipped cream on top.
Rhubarb Crumble
Rhubarb with no strawberries? Yep. This time it’s paired with vanilla and cardamom. But you could add strawberries if you wanted, or apples, pears, and blackberries. Whether you choose to let the rhubarb stand alone or add other fruit, whip up some fresh whipped cream to put on the warm crumble.
Easy Apple Crisp
This is as classic a crisp recipe as you’ll get. Sweetened apples topped with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon flavored streusel. Serve it with ice cream, it’s a dessert. Serve it with a scoop of yogurt, it’s breakfast!
Bourbon Cherry Crisp
We frequently find bourbon and cherries together. Think Manhattan cocktail. Here, the bourbon adds oaky, caramel, and vanilla notes that enhance the earthy sweetness of Bing cherries topped with a thick layer of streusel.
Plum Cobbler
Fresh, tart, and delicious, this cobbler is best made with Santa Rosa plums, but other varieties work, too. It’s tart, but if you want it even tarter, use less sugar.
Cherry Pie Bars
These are somewhere between a crisp, a cobbler, and a pie—in bar form! They’re shareable and easy to make, with the option to use fresh cherries, frozen cherries, or even canned filling.
Blackberry Slump
When you can’t face the prospect of heating up the oven, a slump saves the day. This old-timey dessert is like a cobbler that’s simmered on the stove; the biscuit topping becomes dumplings, more or less.
Apple Pie Bars With Crumble Topping
Put summer apples like Gravensteins or transparents to use in this adaptable recipe. Throw in some blackberries or rhubarb if you’re feeling it.
Blueberry Buckle
A buckle is a fruit-studded cake that’s like a giant, sliceable muffin. Which means you can eat it for breakfast, right?
Apple Cobbler
The secret to this warm, delicious apple cobbler is to add finely chopped crystallized ginger to the cobbler topping. It’s not too sweet, packed high with cooking apples, and the perfect dessert for late summer/early fall evenings.
Blueberry Crumb Bars
The crumbly dough is both a pat-in-the-pan filling and an irresistible topping for the addictive and simple bars.
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
It’s a good thing that strawberries and rhubarb are in season at the same time. If they weren’t perhaps no one would have discovered how the flavor of the fruit and the vegetable complement each other so well, as they do in this tart cobbler that can be sweetened a bit with extra sugar if that’s your preference.
Apricot Berry Cobbler
The flavors of blackberries (or boysenberries or blueberries) and apricots mingle together in this seasonal cobbler. It’s a big one. Use a 9x13x2-inch baking dish, or two smaller baking dishes so you can keep one cobbler and share one.