Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler
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Summer is here and peaches are in season! The best way to celebrate is by making this heavenly Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler for dessert on your next camping trip!
It’s not really summer until we’ve had our first peach of the season. Each year, we eagerly await their arrival at our local farmer’s market and grocery store. Once they’re in, we’re so excited that we go all-in and buy a ton of them!
One of our favorite things to do with this seasonal abundance of peaches is to make Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler! Soft and sweet peaches topped with a buttery, crumbly, golden brown crust—what’s not to like? It’s super simple to make, especially at a campsite, and it’s just such a spectacular dessert to share with family and friends around the campfire.
So if you’ve got a Dutch oven and a camping trip lined up this summer, this is your calling! It’s time to make Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler.
Ingredients
Peaches: We recommend yellow peaches, but go with whatever looks ripe. You could also substitute with nectarines if necessary.
Butter: The easiest way to integrate the butter is by melting it. Just place it in a small metal bowl over the campfire until it’s melted, but not bubbling. Looking to make this recipe vegan? Use Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks. That’s what we used!
Flour: We used regular old all-purpose flour for this recipe. Be sure to either weigh the flour out at home or lightly scoop it. It’s very easy to compact flour, which can really through the ratios off.
Sugar: White sugar is easiest to mix with the melted butter.
Baking Powder: Use aluminum-free baking powder. There is always a strange metallic taste to anything baked with baking powder containing aluminum. We are fans of both Bob’s Red Mill and Rumford.
Salt: Critical ingredient that really helps balance out the sweetness of this dessert.
Equipment
Dutch Oven: The most important piece of equipment for this Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler is of course a Dutch Oven. We used a 10” 4 quart Dutch oven for this recipe. If you’re new to Dutch oven cooking over a campfire, you should definitely check out our Dutch oven 101 article.
Lid Lifter: It’s super helpful to be able to rotate the Dutch oven lid to ensure everything gets heated evenly. We own this 4-in-1 Lid lifter from Lodge.
Parchment Paper: Line your Dutch oven with parchment paper! Not only will this allow you to easily lift the entire peach cobbler out for serving, but it will ensure your don’t spend the rest of your evening trying to remove caramelized sugar from the bottom of your Dutch oven. Give yourself the gift of an easy clean up!
Tips & Tricks
- Measure & mix the dry ingredients at home. There’s no need to bring an entire bag of flour to the campground!
- Melt the butter by placing it in a metal bowl near the campfire. Cover with aluminum foil to prevent the fire from kicking ash into it.
- Line your Dutch oven with parchment paper! Don’t even mess around with this one. It makes clean up so much easier, plus caramelized sugar is virtually impossible to get off of cast iron. Trust us.
- You don’t need to peel your peaches, unless you want to. If you do want peeled peaches, it might be a task best accomplished at home. You can cut, peel, and freeze your peaches in a resealable container, and then transport them out with you in your cooler.
- Feel free to take a peek and see how the top is coming along. The line between golden brown and slightly charred is one that is best not crossed.
- If you’re having a hard time getting the top to brown, don’t be afraid to add some more coals to the top towards the end if need be. Coal count is good starting place, but is by no means the end-all be-all when it comes to Dutch oven cooking. Adjust your heat at your own discretion.
How to make Dutch oven peach cobbler—step by step
As with all Dutch oven recipes, the first step is to get your campfire going (if you’re using embers) or light the coals (if you’re using charcoal). Once the fire has settled down a little (and isn’t kicking up sparks), place your butter in a metal bowl nearby to melt.
Line the inside of your Dutch oven with parchment paper. We like to cut a circle that’s about 2” larger in diameter than the bottom, so it comes up the sides slightly.
You can now start cutting up your peaches. We leave the skins on because they’re edible, we don’t mind them, and there’s no need to make extra work. How you cut your peaches is up to you. You can try for slices (if the pit comes out easily) or just shave off the edges and cut everything into cubes (if the pit is really attached). Ideally you want the pieces of peach to fit on a fork.
Once your peaches are all slices and/or cubed, you can transfer them to the Dutch oven. Spread them in an even layer and then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
In a separate bowl, start mixing your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking power, and salt. Now pour in your melted butter. Using a fork, mix thoroughly until you reach a soft, crumbly consistency.
Spread the crumbly topping over the peaches in the Dutch oven. You want a few bare spots to let the peaches show through, but otherwise try to get even coverage.
Place the lid on the Dutch oven and it’s time to transfer it over to the fire ring. Ideally, you’re looking to bake this cobbler at 350 F. But as with all Dutch Oven cooking, it’s hard to be precise. For our 10” Dutch oven we used 21 coals total, with 14 on top and 7 on bottom.
The bake time should be between 20-30 minutes, but you will be able to smell when the top starts to brown. If in doubt, there’s no harm in using your lid lifter and checking. Maybe you want to add some more coals, maybe you want to rotate the lid to reposition a hot spot. The cobbler is done when the top is golden brown and the peach filling is soft and bubbling slightly.
While we love peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream at home, it’s nearly impossible to keep ice cream frozen while camping, so we opt for whipped cream instead.
Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler
Ingredients
Filling
- 6-8 ripe peaches
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Topping
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 cup flour, 120g
- ½ cup sugar, 60g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- whipped cream, optional
Instructions
- Start your campfire so you'll have embers to work with, or light your charcoal briquettes. Line the Dutch oven with a round of parchment paper.
- Place the butter in an enamel or metal bowl and set it near the campfire to melt.
- Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces. Place them in the lined Dutch oven and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Mix the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Once the butter is melted, pour it in to the dry ingredients. Using a fork, mix thoroughly until you reach a soft, crumbly consistency.
- Spread the crumbly topping over the peaches in the Dutch oven. Cover with the lid.
- Transfer the Dutch oven to the fire ring. Place 7 coals under the oven in a circle, and place 14 coals on the lid to create ~350F heat. Bake 20-30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden. You may need to add coals if they begin to cool down.
- Remove from the campfire and serve with whipped cream!