Can I use any kind of berries in this cobbler?
Yes! Use any kind of berries you like - fresh or frozen. In these photos, I used a combination of blackberries and sliced strawberries. But any kind of berries - blueberries, raspberries, marionberries - in any combination are delicious in this cobbler.
Why do the recipe instructions for this cobbler include such a wide range for the baking time?
This cobbler is "done" and ready to come out of the oven when the berry filling is bubbling all around the sides of the baking dish. How long this takes depends on the size and temperature of the berries. Frozen berries will, of course, take longer to bake.
Likewise, larger, more sturdy berries like strawberries will take longer than small, delicate berries. How juicy the berries are can also affect the bake time. So, check on your cobbler after it's been in the oven for 55 minutes, then every 5 minutes after that, until the berry filling is bubbling around the edges of the pan.
How to make Gluten Free Berry Cobbler:
A couple of readers have written to tell me they've substituted a Gluten Free flour mix for the all-purpose flour in this recipe with great success. Use any brand of GF flour substitute you like, or mix up your own: Gluten Free Flour Mix
You will never find a Berry Cobbler easier than this one! It only takes 5 minutes to put together. Use frozen mixed berries for the filling, and a cake mix and butter are all you need for the topping! It’s a great last-minute dessert that you can keep the ingredients on hand for all the time! Don’t skip serving this with vanilla ice cream. It’s not optional! Originally posted on June 29, 2012.
Eric woke me up early on Saturday morning to tell me that our upright freezer in the garage had been left ajar, there was water pouring out of it, and it was beeping loudly.
Nothing like a thawed out freezer to start your weekend off with a bang, right?? Gah!
It really wasn’t that bad though. We are lucky and have 2 other smaller freezers, and were able to transfer almost everything over with some careful maneuvering. Good thing Eric used to play Tetris all the time as a kid. I swear that’s why he’s so good at fitting stuff into tight spaces.
The reason there was water pouring out of the freezer was because we had bought a big bag of ice at the store in anticipation of making some homemade ice cream for Father’s day. When the door was left open, all the ice melted and Niagara Falls came pouring out the front.
Then I forgot to buy more ice, but still really wanted homemade ice cream. So on Father’s Day I made the ice cream using all the ice from our ice maker, which wasn’t nearly enough. I threw in all the Otter Pops we had, and then got desperate and threw in a bag of frozen peas too. (We don’t shop on Sundays so I was trying to be creative. Also, I don’t call myself a charlatan for nothing.) It worked! Kinda. I mean so what if we had to ladle our ice cream instead of scoop it? Don’t get picky on me, melty ice cream is still delicious.
But back to the freezer rearrangements. The only thing we couldn’t manage to fit back in the freezer on Saturday was a few of those huge Costco size bags of mixed berries. They were mostly thawed out and needed to be used, so I decided berry cobbler was on the menu! It’s the perfect thing to make when your freezer breaks and you have a ton of berries to use up! This happens to you all the time, right??
I have to say this is the best “cheater” cobbler recipe I’ve ever tried. Eric and I stayed at a bed and breakfast a while back and they served this in the morning. I’d never heard of cobbler for breakfast but I was definitely not complaining. After I went back for thirds I finally decided to track down the cook, and she spouted the recipe off the top of her head.
Why is it called cobbler?
Cobbler is a dessert with fruit in a dish, where the top crust is “cobbled” or dropped coarsely in big chunks over the top, then baked. For this recipe, our cobbled topping is just a cake mix and butter. Super easy, super delicious.
This is a great last minute recipe because you can easily keep all these ingredients on hand. That way you don’t have to run to the store when you want to make it. Because I’m all about planning ahead for my unplanned dessert cravings. Here’s everything you need:
Quantities given in the recipe!
For the berry filling
- Mixed berries, fresh or frozen is fine!
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice, fresh is best!
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
For the topping
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- Butter
How to make Berry Cobbler
This berry cobbler recipe is embarrassingly easy and SO delicious. You can skip right to the recipe or check out these tips and process photos:
- Dump a bunch of berries in a cake pan. You don’t even need a separate bowl, I love it. You can use frozen berries, fresh berries, whatever you have. Mine were thawed obviously, but you can add them in completely frozen if you like. I happened to have about a 1/2 cup of frozen cranberries from the freezer fiasco that I threw into my cobbler. Really any mix of berries is going to work!
2. Add in a little bit of lemon zest and juice. This is optional but I really like the zing it adds to the final cobbler.
3. Add in some sugar, flour, and cornstarch to thicken it up. Mix it all together right there in the pan.
4. Combine some melted butter with a dry yellow cake mix and spoon it over the top! You can also just dump the completely dry cake mix on top of the berries, and top with the melted butter. (You can also cut cold butter and sprinkle on top). Any way you do it will work great! This is why sometimes people call this a mixed berry “dump cake.” Literally all you have to do is dump in the ingredients and you’re done.
Yes totally! No need to thaw them first, just dump them in straight from the bag. Fresh berries will work too!
How do you thicken fruit for cobbler?
This recipe calls for both flour and cornstarch. You don’t have to heat the berry, flour, and cornstarch mix before baking. The oven takes care of it all!
Can this same recipe be used to make cobbler with other fruits?
Absolutely! Literally any fruit will work! All you need to do is add a little sugar, and some flour and/or cornstarch to thicken it. Then top with your cake mix and butter, and you’re done! Try the peach filling from my Peach Cobbler, that would be so good.
Can you make cobbler ahead of time?
You can assemble the berry filling in the pan ahead of time and refrigerate until you need to bake. Don’t add the topping until right before baking, otherwise it will get soggy, no thank you.
With vanilla ice cream, that’s how. I’m telling you, it’s not optional!
We took this cobbler over to our neighbor’s pool party later in the afternoon after we got our freezer put back together, but didn’t have any ice cream. (I hadn’t made it yet!) Eric didn’t eat any cobbler because he said it just wasn’t worth it without the ice cream. What a snob right?
Should I share my homemade vanilla ice cream recipe next? It’s the best part about summer! Just make sure you have real ice and don’t use frozen peas. It really doesn’t work great. Ha!
So there you have it! This is not a fancy recipe by any means, and if you are having the Queen of England over for dinner maybe pick a from-scratch cobbler, like this killer Homemade Peach Cobbler. But since I don’t think the Queen is coming by my house anytime soon, I will take a cake mix berry cobbler for dessert any day!! It’s so good!
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You will never find a Berry Cobbler easier than this one! It only takes 5 minutes to put it together. Use frozen mixed berries and a bit of flour and sugar for the filling. A cake mix and butter are all you need for the topping! It’s a great last minute dessert that you can keep the ingredients on hand for all the time! Don’t skip serving this with vanilla ice cream. It’s not optional!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a 9×13 inch pan, add the frozen or fresh berries. If they are frozen there is no need to thaw. Add the zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir the dry ingredients into the berries.*
In a separate bowl, melt the butter. Add the dry cake mix and stir slightly, it’s okay if there are some dry spots. Spoon the mixture over the top of the berries. (You can also opt to spread the dry cake mix directly over the top of the berries and drizzle the melted butter on top.)
Bake the cobbler at 350 degrees F for about 40-50 minutes, until the top starts to turn golden and the berries are bubbly.
Let cool for a few minutes, then serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
Store leftovers covered on the counter for 2 days. After that store in the fridge.
*If you like the flavor of canned blueberry pie filling (it’s not my favorite), you can replace 1 pound of the berries and the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cornstarch) with 1 can of blueberry pie filling. Just mix the frozen berries into the canned pie filling and top with cake mix and butter. I happened to have about a 1/2 cup of frozen cranberries from the freezer fiasco that I threw into my cobbler. Really any mix of berries is going to work!
Serving: 1 g, Calories: 503 kcal, Carbohydrates: 93 g, Protein: 4 g, Fat: 14 g, Saturated Fat: 8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g, Trans Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 31 mg, Sodium: 573 mg, Potassium: 106 mg, Fiber: 4 g, Sugar: 56 g, Vitamin A: 407 IU, Vitamin C: 4 mg, Calcium: 150 mg, Iron: 2 mg
I posted this recipe the first time way back in 2012 and have the horrible picture to prove it. I didn’t forget the ice cream even back then:
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