Blueberry Cornmeal Skillet Cobbler
Dried blueberries, cornmeal batter, and a lid full of coals. Pie shape without the pie work.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 105
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried blueberries | 2 cups | they rehydrate into the filling |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 3/4 cup | split between filling and batter |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | thickens the juice |
| Lemon powder or dried lemon peel | 1 tbsp | |
| Cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | |
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Stone ground cornmeal | 3/4 cup | |
| Baking powder | 2 tsp | |
| Salt | 3/4 tsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | |
| Vegetable shortening | 1/2 cup | shelf-stable, no cooler needed |
| Water | about 300 ml |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame.
- Stir the dried blueberries, cornstarch, half the sugar, the lemon, and the cinnamon into the cold dutch oven with 200 ml of water. Let it sit ten minutes while the berries drink.
- In a bag or bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk powder, and the rest of the sugar. Cut in the shortening with a spoon or your fingers until it looks like coarse gravel.
- Add about 100 ml of water and stir just until it holds together. Overworking it makes it tough.
- Drop the dough over the fruit in rough spoonfuls. Leave gaps so steam gets out.
- Lid on. Eight coals under, sixteen on top for a 12 inch oven. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the oven and lid a quarter turn every ten.
- It is done when the topping is set and the fruit is bubbling at the edges. Pull the coals off the lid before you look.
The source is a lattice-crust pie with cold butter and ice water, which is a kitchen project. On a fire you cannot control temperature well enough to protect a bottom crust, so this drops a cornmeal biscuit topping over the fruit instead. Same cornmeal grit and lemon against sweet berries, none of the chilling and rolling.
Dried blueberries replace six cups of fresh ones. They weigh a fraction as much and they pull the added water back out of the pot, so the cornstarch has less work to do. The shortening stands in for butter because it does not melt in a pack, and it still cuts into flour cold enough to make a tender topping.
Packing
Two bags: fruit-and-thickener, and the dry topping mix. Shortening travels in a screw-top jar and does not care about heat. Nothing here needs a cooler.
Variations
- Dried cherries or a mix of berries work the same way.
- No dutch oven: cook the filling alone in a pot and spoon it over crushed graham crackers.
- Skip the milk powder and use more shortening for a dairy-free version.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/blueberry-pie-cornmeal-crust