Have you guys ever been to Cracker Barrel? I know, it’s such a random question, but Cracker Barrel holds a special place in my heart. Let me explain. I’m from New Jersey, and as long as I can remember, our family road trips down Interstate 95 always involved a stop at Cracker Barrel. My family would take yearly road trips to Disney World, and a highlight of the trip for me was our stops at Cracker Barrel. Even to this day, when my husband and I go on our annual trips to Baltimore or Ocean City, Maryland, we always make it a point to stop at Cracker Barrel, either on the way there, or on the way home.
One of my favorite things to order there is the cobbler. I’ve had many a cobbler in my day, and all cobblers I try are measured against my personal favorite, the blackberry cobbler at Cracker Barrel. I don’t know about you, but I’m very particular about cobbler. You can ask twelve different people what cobbler is, and they’ll probably give you 12 different recipes. Cracker Barrel’s cobbler is perfection. It’s the perfect ratio of fruit to crust, and the crust is like a crumbly pie dough, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. So on a recent visit, I found that they actually sell the boxed dry mix to make the cobbler crust in the Country Store that is adjacent to all Cracker Barrel restaurants. I then proceeded to leap for joy, grab a couple boxes of Kari Lee’s Fruit Cobbler Mix, and started to plan how I would use it.
One of my favorite springtime flavor combinations is strawberry and rhubarb. I always indulge in anything strawberry and rhubarb, especially when I visit the Amish bakeries in Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market. Rhubarb is such a strange fruit, or vegetable. I really have no idea what it is. It looks like red celery and is super sour. So naturally, rhubarb’s color and tartness pairs perfectly with the sweetness of strawberries. It’s important to note, rhubarb leaves are actually poisonous, so you can only eat the stalks. You don’t have to worry about that unless you’re growing it in your own backyard.
For this strawberry rhubarb cobbler, I take fresh rhubarb and strawberries, toss them with brown sugar and cornstarch to make a deliciously sweet and tart cobbler filling. Topped with the prepared cobbler mix, this cobbler is what dreams are made of. I like to tear the cobbler dough into chunks, so that the strawberry rhubarb filling can peek through.
Baking the cobbler in a cast iron pan is part looks, part function. The cast iron pan always gives a beautiful presentation, plus it’s awesome ability to retain heat evenly means you won’t get hot spots and/or scorching like you can get with inferior, thin aluminum pans.
If you’d like to make your own crust, check out my perfect pie crust recipe. You can add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the pie crust recipe to make this delicious crust from scratch!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh rhubarb stalks, chopped
- 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 box Kari Lee’s Fruit Cobbler Mix or other boxed cobbler mix
- 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1-2 tbsp cold milk
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Prepare the cobbler crust per the instructions (or whip up my perfect pie crust recipe). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it while you make the fruit filling.
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Add the chopped rhubarb and strawberries to a glass bowl. Add the brown sugar and corn starch. Mix well to combine.
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Pour the strawberry/rhubarb mixture into a cast iron pan or other heavy-duty pan.
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Use a rolling pin to flatten the cold cobbler dough into the shape and size of your pan, then tear it into big pieces and place on top of the fruit mixture.
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Bake the cobbler for 35-45 minutes. Allow the cobbler to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
If you’d like to make your own crust, check out my perfect pie crust recipe. You can add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the pie crust recipe to make this delicious crust from scratch!