Mauldin’s Mary Baugh a Carolina Eats finalist with her Skillet Strawberry Bourbon Cobbler with Layered Cream Cheese Biscuits
No Memorial Day gathering is complete without dessert and Mary Baugh’s Skillet Strawberry Bourbon Cobbler with Layered Cream Cheese Biscuits is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
The fourth finalist in the Carolina Eats Memorial Day Chillin’ & Grillin’ Recipe Sweepstakes presented by Ingles. Mary prepared her recipe in her Mauldin kitchen with Ingles Chef Jasmin Queen and Your Carolina host Jamarcus Gaston looking on at a safe social distance via Zoom.
“One of the things I like about cooking is I can be creative, but also turn my brain off and follow directions,” Mary says. “My job is really mentally consuming so by end of the day I just want to do something with my hands, but I don’t want to think a lot about it. Following recipes allows me to work with my hands but enjoy the process and slow down at the end of the day.”
Mary says she likes the sweet, but not too sweet biscuits and the tartness of the jam-like cobbler in the Skillet Strawberry Cobbler recipe.
“This dish looks complicated but is actually very simple to make,” she adds.
Skillet Strawberry Bourbon Cobbler with Layered Cream Cheese Biscuits
Recipe makes a 11-inch cast iron or 9×13 Pyrex. Mary makes hers in an 8-inch cast iron skillet, then makes a “tester” in a 5-inch cast iron skillet to use up ingredients.
Biscuits Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) cold salted butter, cubed, plus melted butter, for brushing
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 ounces cold cream cheese, sliced into 3 slices
- Sugar for sprinkling, course or regular granulated (probably about 1/8-¼ cup, adjust for sweetness. If you like a sweeter cobbler, add some sugar with the honey in the strawberries. I found the tartness of cobbler was perfect once paired with ice cream)
Filling Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced (about 3 pounds) (since these get baked down no need to use fresh expensive local.)
- 1/3 cup honey (OK to add a little sugar here if want sweeter cobbler)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons bourbon (optional, but who are you kidding? I’d use a little more than 3 tbs)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Biscuits Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, and butter
- Pulse until the mix clumps together to form larger pea-size balls
- Drizzle in the buttermilk until the dough is “shaggy” looking. The dough will be a little dry
- Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and pat into 1-inch thick square
- Cut the dough into 4 pieces
- Add 1 slice of cream cheese to 3 of the squares, gently pressing to flatten
- Stack the cream cheese topped pieces on top of each other
- Add the final piece (with no cream cheese) on top of the stack and press down to flatten
- Dust the surface with flour and roll the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle
- Cut into 12 biscuits
- Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes, to chill
Filling Instructions
- Combine half of the strawberries and the honey in an 11 to 12-inch oven-safe skillet set over high heat
- Bring the berries to a boil and cook 5-10 minutes, until their juices are bubbling
- Remove from the heat and add the remaining strawberries, cornstarch, bourbon (if using), lemon juice, and vanilla, tossing to combine
- Remove the biscuits from the freezer, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar
- Arrange the biscuits on top of the strawberries
- Place the skillet on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden on top
- Let cool 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp with ice cream and optional bourbon sauce
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- Mary Baugh’s Skillet Strawberry Bourbon Cobbler.
