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Let’s talk about growth for a moment, shall we?
No, not the type of growth one might experience from devouring this chocolate cobbler recipe. I mean the type of growth you do as you’re learning something new.
For instance, photography. There is so much growth to be done when you first pick up a camera.
I thought I was a pretty good photographer by the time I got around to starting this blog. I thought that people would flock to me for my photos just as much as they would my recipes. You guys. I had so much to learn.
I shared this chocolate cobbler recipe way back in December of 2008. It was one of the first few recipes that I shared on this blog and I was pretty proud of everything about it.
Here is one of the images from that post. It’s a close-up, so please prepare yourself.
Just for fun, because it’s sometimes okay to make fun of yourself for the amusement of others, here is the “beauty shot” and I put that in quotations, because there is nothing beautiful about it.
I mean. This is a delicious dessert. It’s beyond easy to make. I’ll bet no one actually knows that though, because they are sucked into the black hole that is the darkness of these photos. The terrible color. The weird angles. All of it just speaks to you, right? And what it says is, “this girl needs to practice with her camera.”
So, here we are 8 years later and I’m pretty proud of the photos I’m sharing of this recipe today. Of course, 8 years from now I’ll probably look back, cringe, and reshoot everything again. Growth, man. It’s funny how it works.
Why I Love This Recipe:
No weird ingredients: This cobbler calls for nothing but the staple ingredients most people are stocked with. Unlike fruit cobblers, you don’t have to worry about your fruit getting too ripe or washing, peeling, and chopping anything. It’s all just simple things in your cabinet that you grab and go. The recipe does call for espresso powder, but if you don’t have it on hand, just skip it. No big. It does help deepen the chocolate flavor, so I do recommend you buy some. It’s great in my perfect chocolate chip cookies, homemade brownies, and just about any dessert that calls for a lot of chocolate. Get it here.
It’s easy: That’s something I say about a lot of my recipes, but that’s because I like easy recipes and so I share them a lot. This one is simple. The hardest part of the whole thing is heating up some water to slowly drizzle over the top of the mixture before you bake it.
It’s chocolate: Most people haven’t even heard of a chocolate cobbler. I mean, cobbler is for fruit, right? Not this time. This thing is loaded with gooey chocolate, much like a simpler version of a lava cake.
It’s versatile: Top it with ice cream, like I’m showing here. Or top it with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Sprinkle on some powdered sugar. Drizzle with a fruit syrup. Leave it alone and eat it straight out of the pan. There are many ways to dress this up if that’s the route you want to go!
Chocolate Cobbler
Ingredients
For the cobbler:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
- To make the cobbler, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the butter in an 8x8 baking dish and put inoven while it preheats until butter has melted.
- Mix together dry ingredients.
- Whisk milk and vanilla into dry ingredients until well combined.
- When butter has melted, carefully spoon the chocolate mixture over the melted butter evenly.
- To make the topping, mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Sprinkle over the top of the chocolate cobbler.
- Slowly and carefully pour the hot water over the top, being sure to cover the topping with water.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top has firmed up, but the cobbler is still quite jiggly in the middle.
- Serve warm with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Melissa Kay says
Hi your recipe calls for 1 cup flour? ย Is this all purpose flour? ย Please and thank youย
Karly says
Yes, unless otherwise stated ‘flour’ is meant to be all purpose.
Erin says
This looks amazing and was exactly what I was looking for. This may be a stupid question but I’m not sure I will have time to bake this before serving, can it be made the night before? Can I store it at room temp or in the fridge and does it do anything to the quality of gooeiness if I make it ahead and heat it up before?
Karly says
I would probably store this in the fridge and then take it out a few hours before serving to come to room temperature.
Hazel says
If I increased ingredients by 1/2, do you think it would suffice for a 9 x 13 pan?
Karly says
I would double this for a 9×13.
Amanda@craftycookingmama says
Chocolate cobbler!? I might have just died and gone to chocolate heaven! Your original photos 8 years ago would have made me want to devour that cobbler, but the before and after shots are definitely amazing. They’re inspiring, too – thank you ๐ย
Karly says
Thanks, Amanda! I appreciate that! ๐
Olivia Cucco says
Chocolate cobbler?!? Mind blown! This looks amazing! Putting it on my baking bucket list right now.
Karly says
Hope you get to it soon! ๐
Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers says
When I was a kid, my mom used to make a chocolate pudding cake like this. It was made from Jiffy chocolate cake and Jiffy icing mix. Sadly, we can no longer find the chocolate icing mix! This looks like it would make an awesome substitute!ย
Karly says
Hope you give it a try!
tweet says
Very yummy!!! I didn’t have espresso flour so I used instant espresso and pinched it to make it like flour. Thanks for the recipe.
Sheryl says
You crack me up! I can’t stop myself from giggling while reading. I can totally relate! But look at the close-up and last photo, I was like ???????????? That cobbler looks amazing ????
Sheryl says
Gosh, the emoticons screwed up. It should look like this: (‘O’) (XoX) Hmmm… Not even close. Lol! ๐
Deb Barnes says
Love it!! I’ve never heard of chocolate cobbler either and now that I see the ingredients and how easy it is to make, I’m totally on board! I’ve shared this on my Facebook page: Chat’s Meow – Cats, Crochet, Coffee, Chocolate, and More! ย
Karly says
Thanks for sharing, Deb!
David @ Spiced says
Woah. ย My mind is blown! ย I grew up eating fruit cobblers with pretty much every fruit imaginable…but chocolate? ย I need this in my life. ย Like tonight. ย ๐
Karly says
And since it’s so easy, you can totally whip it up tonight! ๐
Lisa says
Finally, I found the kind of cobbler that speaks to me!! ย Chocolate! ย Thanks for sharing this recipe ๐
I only started blogging and taking photographs recently but I already relate to this post. ย My photos were absolutely cringeworthy to start off and I feel like I have a lot of growing to do as a photographer. ย I have already gone back and redone several of my recipes. ย In a few years, I will probably want to do the same thing all over again!
I think your new photos are beautiful and you can tell how much your hard work has paid off!
Karly says
Thanks, Lisa! ๐
barbara says
I don’t have the espresso powder can I use something else?
Karly says
You can leave it out completely. ๐
Shelley says
This recipe is quite like the one in the Betty Crocker cookbook! I found the recipe when I was 11 and have been making it since. ย Try whipping heavy cream with confectioners sugar and real vanilla extract! ย Yummy!! ย I’ve even made a raspberry sauce with fresh raspberries! Heavenly! ย Also try chopped pecans in the batter-better yet!
Karly says
I bet it’s great with a raspberry sauce!
Shelley says
It sure is Karly!
Barbara, you can always replace either 1/2 of the milk with strong brewed coffee or all strong brewed coffee in the batter recipe. ย I’ve done that when out of expresso powder.
Erica says
Gorgeous! I can not wait to give this dessert a try :). Simple, and mouthwatering. I love the before and after pics…
Karly says
Thanks, Erica!
Heather @Boston Girl Bakes says
Oh I totally hear you on the photography thing! I look back at some of my old photos and cringe!! And I remember thinking back- wow these photos are amazing..oh too funny. This makes me want to dig back into the archives and re-make some of those hideously photographed recipes. And this cobbler- um swoon. Can I just stick my face in it now?
Karly says
Glad to hear I’m not alone in this! ๐