The peaches are here...the peaches are here!

A dear friend recently wrote on facebook that she was mourning her Aunt Eulene who, by Eileen's account, made the BEST peach cobbler without using a recipe. It was a sad yet loving memory -- a small slice of a niece's love for her beloved aunt.

So, when Gayle and I ran across boxes of luscious, fragrant, fresh peaches at Trader Joe's last week, I couldn't help but think of Eileen's aunt's cobbler and how I wanted to try my hand at it. Initially, Harvey found an online recipe that had all the earmarkings of being fabulous: honey instead of sugar with buttermilk and heavy cream in the doughy part of the dessert. However, not having buttermilk nor cream in the refrigerator, I opted for a recipe I found by Google searching "easy peach cobbler." (Yes, I can be lazy.)

While some may say this is a "buckle" because the dough rises up through the fruit in this recipe, it sure looks like a cobbler to me when I pull it out of the oven. Whatever. All I can tell you is while this is baking, the sweet peachy aroma quickly fills your house and it is absolutely delicious!!

PEACH COBBLER

✔ 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
✔ 1 cup all-purpose flour
✔ 2 cups sugar, divided
✔ 1 tablespoon baking powder
✔ pinch of salt
✔ 1 cup milk
✔ 4 cups fresh peach slices (4 nice-sized peaches should do it if you don't sneak any slices!)
✔ 1 tablespoon lemon juice
✔ ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°. Melt butter in a 13"x9" baking dish. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over melted butter (do not stir). Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly (may not thicken); pour over batter (do not stir); sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown (dough will rise to the top). Serve warm or cool, with or without vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Buon appetito!