The Caramel Apple Cobbler I’m Making on Repeat This Fall

I didn’t care all that much about apples growing up. My parents bought Red Delicious apples, and their muted flavor and mealy texture never lived up to the name. Then I moved to Washington state and wow, what a difference! I couldn’t believe all the apple varieties.

While apples are tasty year-round, I always look forward to September when we start to get the fresh, local varieties. It’s hard to pick a favorite but I especially like Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Cosmic Crisp. Each has a balanced sweet and tart flavor, is delightfully juicy, and has a crisp texture that holds up to baking without turning to mush.

I distinctly remember the first time I had a fresh caramel apple. I was at an apple orchard and the huge apple was dipped in a vat of caramel right before my eyes. When I took a bite, the crisp apple mixed with the warm, sweet caramel—it was shockingly good. I look for a reason to combine the two all throughout the fall.

Fresh Apple Flavor in a Cobbler

I wanted to find the easiest way to get the flavors of caramel and apple without having to head to an apple orchard. This apple cobbler satisfies that craving. While the apples bake in a simple mixture of brown sugar, butter, and a little flour, they retain their fresh apple flavor because they’re sliced thick and there’s no pre-cooking step.

Most apple cobbler recipes either call for cooking the apples in the butter and sugar and then baking, or you mix the apples with the dry ingredients and top with butter cubes before baking. I thought the stovetop version led to overcooked apples and the non-cooked version didn’t create the caramel sauce as uniformly as I hoped. Mixing the sugar and flour into the melted butter was a simple solution to both problems.

Selecting and Preparing the Apples

I tried making this recipe using only Granny Smiths, but even when I added more sugar, the sauce was too tart to yield the caramel flavor I was looking for. Adding Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples solved the flavor problem but since they soften more than Granny Smith during baking, I liked the combination of the two for the best texture and flavor. Any other baking apple would work here too. Just mix a sweeter variety along with a tart one.

Prepping produce can feel tedious. One tip I learned from culinary school is to batch the same tasks together. It really does make them go more quickly. I peel all the apples, then core, and finally cut the quartered apples into slices instead of fully prepping each apple separately. 

Make It Ahead

This apple cobbler reheats really well, so you can make it a day ahead and then reheat it in the oven before serving.

You can also prep the apples one day ahead of time. Prevent the apple slices from browning by soaking them in a solution of one teaspoon salt per cup of water and store in the refrigerator.