I have always believed that Thanksgiving dessert is pie, including pumpkin, but it doesn’t have to be. My daughter and grandson bake pies for dinner at my house, but sometimes I make something too.

This year I am considering doing something that I wouldn’t usually make for a winter holiday dinner – a fruit cobbler. It will probably be made with frozen mixed berries, and maybe some other fruits thrown in, like pineapple or apple.

Here is one that I am considering; I like the idea of using individual ramekins. She adds pear chunks to hers:

The recipe:

Fruit
4 cups (1 L) mixed fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
1 fresh pear or apple, peeled and diced
½ cup (125 mL) berry jam (of your choosing), stirred to soften
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

Cobbler Topping
1 ½ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
3 Tbsp (40 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (or caster sugar)
1 ½ tsp (7 mL) baking powder
¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
6 Tbsp (90 g) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 Tbsp (90 mL) milk
2 Tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Toss the berries and diced pear (or apple) gently with the stirred jam and vanilla. Spoon the fruit into four 1-cup baking dishes. Place the dishes onto a parchment-lined baking tray.

3. For the cobbler topping, stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. In a separate dish whisk the milk, maple syrup, egg yolk and vanilla. Add this all at once to the flour mixture and stir until blended (the topping will feel like a soft scone dough). Drop this in pieces on top of the fruit, leaving space between the pieces, as the dough will expand as it bakes. Sprinkle the cobblers with a little sugar and bake for about 30 minutes. To check the doneness, gently spread apart a little of the cobbler topping in the centre to see that it is fully cooked near the fruit (not wet-looking). Allow the cobblers to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

I know we will have pumpkin pie, and probably another kind. One year it was sour cream apple (recipe in a previous Thanksgiving dessert post.), and chocolate cream pie.

What do you plan to serve for Thanksgiving dessert? Do you have something new that you want to try?