Sweet Potato Cobbler is a classic Southern dessert made during the holiday season! Tender, caramelized sweet potatoes bathing in brown sugar sit underneath a crisp, buttery pie crust in this crazy delicious and well-loved recipe!
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More often than not, there was some form of sweet potato on my family dinner table growing up. Whether it was a sweet potato casserole, candied sweet potatoes, or sweet potato biscuits, I could always count on these brightly colored and brilliantly flavored spuds to make an appearance.
Sweet potatoes are still a part of my regular diet and today’s cobbler is a part of the rotation!
Warm, buttery, crisp and so flavorful, Sweet Potato Cobbler is a simple, indulgent dessert best served with smooth ice cream. I absolutely love cobbler and this recipe is such a unique and decadent approach to a classic southern treat.
Cobbler Vs. Crisp Vs. Crumble
So, what the heck is the difference between a cobbler, a crisp, and a crumble anyway?
Cobbler is a dessert made up of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling before being baked. In the South, most cobblers resemble something closer to a deep-dish pie.
A crumble is a dish of baked fruit with a streusel crumb topping. The topping is made with a combination of butter, flour, and sugar.
Like a crumble, a crisp is also a baked fruit dessert, but the topping is less dense and usually includes oats.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour- don’t over measure. Use the spoon and level method to properly measure the flour!
- Granulated Sugar- watch out for clumpy sugar. Cane sugar is a solid replacement.
- Salt- kosher salt is best.
- Unsalted Butter- the butter needs to be very cold. Keep it in the freezer while you prepare the rest of what you need for the dough.
- Egg- this is just to egg wash the crust so it’s beautifully golden brown.
- Sweet Potatoes- fresh sweet potatoes will give you the best flavor and texture!
- Light Brown Sugar- brown sugar coats the sweet potato pieces and turns into a sweet-sticky caramel.
- Cornstarch- cornstarch helps to thicken the syrup!
- Cinnamon + Nutmeg- warm spices and sweet potatoes go together like peanut butter and jelly. Feel free to adjust the measurements to fit your own taste.
- Apricot Nectar- this might seem odd but trust me! Apricots are so tangy and sweet; they complement the sweet potatoes perfectly.
- Orange Juice + Zest- the zesty citrus adds such a bright flavor to the cobbler!
- Vanilla- use high-quality pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste for the best result.
How To Make A Sweet Potato Cobbler
- Make Homemade Pie Dough- need a little help making your first pie crust? Check out my step-by-step post and how-to video!
- Boil the Sweet Potatoes- some folks call for boiling the potatoes and others prefer to let them cook in the oven. I find that I prefer the tenderness I get by kickstarting the cooking process and boiling them a bit first. Start checking for doneness about 10 minutes in.
- Stir Up a Syrup + Mix in Potatoes- you’ll need to create a sugary-spiced syrup in a medium-sized saucepan. This syrup will coat the potatoes and caramelize as the cobbler bakes. Once it’s ready, pour it over the potatoes and use a spatula to gently mix everything.
- Spread the Pie Dough in a Baking Dish- layer half of the dough onto the bottom of the baking dish. Be sure to go up the sides and spread the dough as evenly as possible.
- Fill, Top, + Bake- transfer the potatoes to the baking dish, using a spatula to spread them. Dress the top of the cobbler with the second half of the pie dough. Get creative with this part! Bake the cobbler until crisp, golden brown, and bubbling. Let it cool a little before digging in!
Serving Suggestions
Just like any other pie, crumble, or crisp, Sweet Potato Cobbler is best served with a scoop of cool, creamy vanilla ice cream! The warm spice and buttery crust pop against the cold ice cream so perfectly.
You can also try fresh whipped cream or a drizzle of warm heavy cream over the top!
Leftover Storage
Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator. Consume within 4-5 days for best results. For longer storage, you can transfer the completely cool cobbler to an airtight container and freeze it for 3-4 months.
Cobbler Recipes you will enjoy!
If you love this and Sweet Potato Pie, you will also love my Peach Cobbler, Blackberry Cobbler, Apple Cobbler and Blueberry Cobbler.
Reheating
I happen to think that cobbler is pretty yummy served warm or cold! But, the best way to reheat sweet potato cobbler is in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 and transfer your desired portion into a lightly greased baking dish (or leave it be if it was already stored in one). Heat for about 5 minutes per serving, or until warmed through.
If reheating frozen sweet potato cobbler, you don’t have to worry about defrosting. Just transfer the cobbler straight from the freezer to a baking dish.
Grandbaby Cakes’ Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet Potatoes are just as versatile as they are delicious! Over at GBC we have more than a few sweet, savory, and satisfying sweet potato and yam-filled recipes:
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
- Spiced Sweet Potato Cheesecake
- Sweet Potato Sour Cream Cake
- Maple Rum Sweet Potato Cornbread
Sweet Potato Cobbler
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Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup very cold unsalted butter cut in cubes 2 sticks
- ½-⅔ cup very cold water
- 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
- Ground cinnamon for garnish
For the Potatoes
- 3 pounds yams or sweet potatoes peeled and diced into small cubes
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup apricot nectar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice warmed until hot
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup butter
Instructions
For the Crust
- In a medium sized bowl, add flour, sugar and salt and whisk together to combine.
- Next add your butter cubes to flour and using your pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until various sized crumbs appear.
- Slowly add the cold water into the flour until a ball of dough forms. Start with ½ cup and add more water if you need it. Knead the dough quickly to bring it together. Don’t worry if there is any flour left in the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, cut into 2 sections and round into balls. Cover each ball tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 35-45 minutes to rest.
For the Sweet Potatoes
- Add potatoes to a large pot with water and boil until just tender, not mushy though. Drain and allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature.
- Next add sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Next stir in the apricot nectar, hot orange juice, and orange zest and stir together then bring to a boil, stirring the entire time. Remove from the heat and add in vanilla extract and the butter.
- Pour the mixture over the potatoes.
To Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch sized baking dish.
- Remove dough from the fridge and add a bit of flour to a working surface or clean counter and place dough on it. Unwrap one ball of dough. Using a rolling pin, quickly roll dough out to about â…“ inch thickness and place on the bottom and up sides of the greased dish.
- Add the sweet potatoes on top of the crust.
- Roll out the final dough ball and decorate the top of the sweet potato cobbler how you see fit with the dough.
- Brush the top of the dough with egg wash then sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden brown. Cool down and serve.
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love all things sweet potatoes but haven’t ever seen a cobbler, great use of one of my favorite ingredients, so thank you
This dessert will be even more beautiful when the purple sweets come out and then you get more anthocyanins.
This cobbler looks so good! It’s definitely a nice twist to the traditional sweet potato pie. Can’t wait to try this out!
Such a great twist on sweet potato pie! LOVE the addition of the apricot nectar!
definitely putting this on the thanksgiving table this year!
Very comforting recipe. I love the ingredients that you are using and the ratios. Makes it super delicious.
This is one dish that I have been constantly missing out on. Definitely the recipe to try over the weekend!