Easy Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

For many years my father owned a family run dutch oven catering business. Cooking was done onsite for the customer. We've catered all over the Western states ranging from the middle of big city's to the middle of nowhere Wyoming. One of the of the most popular desserts requested was the peach cobbler.

This recipe is so simple is requires only 2-3 ingredients.

This can be cooked at home in your oven or outdoors with the use of charcoal briquettes.

What ingredients you need is simple:

• 1-box of Cake mix. (White or Yellow)
• 2-15oz cans of sliced peaches. (I prefer canned in 100% juice)
• 4-6 Tablespoons of butter.

For cookware you need the following:

• 10" Dutch Oven
• Gas/electric oven for indoor cooking.
• Charcoal for outdoor cooking.

If cooking indoor, preheat oven to 350 degrees. If cooking outdoors start your charcoal. Read on to the next step for more on cooking outdoors.

To assemble your cobbler, first drain the peaches. The juice can be saved to be used for a different, lighter version of the cobbler. I'll discuss this later. Spread drained peach slices evenly in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Next, pour the dry cake mix evenly over peach slices. Top the dry cake mix evenly with butter cut into small cubes. The remaining moisture from the peaches and from the butter will be absorbed into the dry mix giving you a nice crispy, crumbly & dense cobbler.

Place into oven and cook for 45 minutes or until top is lightly crispy and golden brown.

Optional version:

For a lighter and fluffier cake cobbler, mix the juices from draining off the peaches (about 1 cup) into the cake mix and pour over the peaches.Do not follow the instructions on the box. Omit the butter for this version. Cook at the same temperature and time.

If you are new to cooking outdoors with a dutch oven here are some basics to help If you decide to cook outdoors.

You will need the following:

• a solid stable surface to cook on that is free of vegetation. (I use a cooking table built by my father that he used for catering)
• Charcoal briquettes (I prefer Kingsford brand)
• Dutch oven hook for removing the lid and carrying the hot Dutch oven.
• Metal tongs for placing the hot charcoal briquettes.
• A means of lighting the charcoal briquettes. (I place them in a charcoal starter on a camp stove)
• A wind screen to prevent the charcoal briquettes from burning too quickly.

To prepare your Dutch oven for heat, start enough charcoal briquettes. 7-8 briquettes on the bottom and enough to make a solid ring of briquettes around the rim of the lid.

Once the briquettes are ready and the cobbler is prepared in the Dutch oven; use your metal tongs to lay the bottom briquettes down on the cooking surface evenly spaced under the oven. Place the oven on top of the briquettes. With the remaining briquettes lay a solid ring around the ring of the lid. A ring of briquettes is used for baked goods in a Dutch oven. This will give you about an internal temperature of 350 degrees. If it's a colder day, more briquettes may need to be added to the top and bottom of the oven. Use a dutch oven hook to pull the lid off of a hot oven to check the cobbler.

Always be mindful of the cooking area as you are using very hot charcoal.

No cobbler should be served without whip topping or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

I encourage you to be adventurous with this recipe. Instead of peaches use cherries or blackberries or maybe add some cream cheese into the batter. If you're a fan of Red Hots, sprinkle some over the top with a little bit of cinnamon mixed in with the batter (my father idea).

Thank you for your interest. If you feel its worthy, I would appreciate a vote in the "Out of the Box" challenge.