Lemon Thyme Blackberry Cobbler

I gave up dessert for Lent and then to seriously tempt myself, I baked a cobbler. Using my regular super simple blackberry cobbler recipe, I tweaked it by adding lemon zest and thyme. I had a bag of lemons that were staring at me, and I’m always trying to find unusual ways to add herbs. I’m a big believer in herbs – they have tons of antioxidants and health benefits. Plus, herbs are the only crop I can grow in my postage stamp sized yard… I decided if the combo lemon/thyme/blackberry was disgusting, it didn’t much matter, since I couldn’t really eat it anyway. (Lent, you know…) 

Of course, it smelled heavenly. And it looked heavenly. And, as everyone who watches the cooking channel knows, I had to take a teeny tiny sinful bite to make sure it was edible. Very delicious! Both the lemon and thyme added a little something-something to the recipe. I immediately packed up half of it for a few neighbors – get thee behind me cobbler… I left a bit for John’s dessert, and managed to successfully ignore it the remainder of the afternoon.

Like everything I cook – it’s super easy. If the recipe is difficult, I move on to something else. 

1 cup milk 

1 stick unsalted butter

1 & 1/4 cup of sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

2 cups of blackberries (frozen or fresh)

Zest of 2 large lemons

Fresh Thyme – 2 teaspoons chopped

1. Melt butter in the microwave. Mix the zest of 2 lemons into the butter. Use a tiny bit of this mixture to butter your baking dish.

2. Rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of the flour and the thyme together and sprinkle this over the blackberries. Gently Mix.

3. Pour 1 cup of sugar and remaining flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour melted butter/lemon zest in and whisk it all together.

4. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly.

5. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top.

6. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes or until golden and bubbly. About 10 minutes before it is done, you can sprinkle a bit more sugar and thyme over the top if you would like. The sugar will give it a bit of a crust & sparkle on top. And, you probably will have a lot of leftover thyme, so you may as well use a bit more. 

A little shout-out for thyme…  In medieval times it was regarded as the plant that provided courage and vigor. The ancient Romans used it as a treatment for depression. It contains antioxidants and essential oils thought to alleviate stress, provide a calming effect and relieve aches and pains in the joints.  One teaspoon crushed, added to boiling water, steeped for 10 minutes and then strained, makes a great tea which will help with sore throats, coughs and mouth irritations. You can add a bit of honey to sweeten.

talya