busyBasic Cobbler Topping
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon spice (cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, or whatever you like)
1/3 cup butter
Optional: up to 1/4 cup of nuts, chips, or other tasty chunks of something
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, and 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar. Add any spices or other extras. Slice the butter into squares and add to the dry ingredients. Use a butter cutter to mix the contents until loose and crumbly.
Spread the filling in the bottom of a glass or ceramic pie plate. Then sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the filling. Bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes, until topping is golden-crisp and filling is bubbly.
This cobbler recipe is great because you can buy ingredients once -- they're not very expensive -- and make several cobblers before running out. Plus most of them are common kitchen/pantry ingredients anyhow. You can vary the flavor and texture somewhat by changing the spices and additives. I used ground ginger and crystallized ginger chips with the ginger pears tonight. Also, homemade vanilla ice cream over pear-ginger cobbler? Wow-squared.) It works as a topping for either storebought or homemade fillings. With homemade filling you're probably getting dessert for $1-2.
