I grew up in the Blueberry Capital of Georgia. My hometown is called Alma, and it had one red light, hundreds of dirt roads, and millions of blueberries. As a child, my lips and cheeks were perpetually purple from eating blueberries. My most dreaded punishment was to be pushed out the door with a berry bucket and a timer set for thirty minutes.

Now I live in Atlanta, but my family keeps me supplied. I recently received a huge box of blueberries! Most went into the freezer, to be made into smoothies for breakfast. But I decided to use some of the blueberries to make one of my absolute favorite childhood desserts – blueberry cobbler.

Fruit cobblers are a quintessential Southern dessert, and every Southerner knows we bake two versions. These recipes came from my mother, who learned them from my grandmother. They are the same two cobblers I remember eating in friends', neighbors' and family's homes.

*Note: I replace the sugar in my baked goods with agave nectar. However, you can use sugar; simply increase your liquid by one half, and your sweetener by one third.

Blueberry Cobbler Cake

This cobbler cake is simple to make, yet so delicious!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 3 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 cup flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup soymilk
• 3/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Directions:

2. Melt the margarine and pour into a two-quart baking dish. Add the blueberries to dish.
4. In a separate bowl, blend the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add the milk, agave, and vanilla to form a batter, and pour over berries.
6. Bake in a 350-degree oven for thirty minutes. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar during the last ten minutes of baking.

Blueberry Cobbler N' Dumplings

For extra blueberry punch, I topped this luscious blueberry cobbler off with homemade blueberry sorbet, which is a cinch to make - no ice-cream maker required!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups blueberries
• ¼ cup water
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar
• thin flour dumplings (recipe follows)
• a top pie crust (recipe follows)
• a little soymilk and lemon (to glaze)
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Directions:

2. Bring the blueberries, agave, and water to a low simmer in a broiler on until a good amount of liquid has cooked out of the berries. Drop in the dumplings, making sure they're submerged in the juice, and simmer on low for twenty minutes.
4. Pour the berries and dumplings into a baking dish of your choice. For a soupier dumpling cobbler, choose a deep dish. If you prefer more crust with your cobbler, choose a larger, shallower dish.
6. Roll out the pie crust on a floured surface, and use a pastry cutter to cut into ribbons, or top the dish with one solid sheet (if using one solid sheet, be sure to cut slits with a fork). For a traditional dumpling dessert, the crust does not hang over the edges of the dish as in a pie, but instead rests on the fruit mixture, barely touching the edges of the dish. Use a pastry brush to glaze the crust with a little milk and lemon. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
8. Bake in a 350-degree oven for forty-five minutes (if your crust starts to brown too soon, cover the edges with foil – but the timing should work perfectly).

Thin Flour Dumplings

• 1 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons ice water

Blend flour and salt. Add ice water and mix with a fork until dough forms. Roll out on a floured surface as thin as you can. Cut into 1x2 inch squares.

Pastry Crust

• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 6 tablespoons cold margarine
• 6-7 tablepsoons ice water

Blend four and salt. Use fingers to quickly blend shortening and cold margarine into flour, until the margarine and shortening form tiny balls in the flour. Add ice water slowly, until dough forms. Dust with flour, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for thirty minutes or until ready to use.

Blueberry Sorbet

Ingredients:

• 4 cups blueberries
• 1 banana
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. This may take a few minutes, and require occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Pour in a shallow pan and freeze. Just before serving, process again until very smooth, about five minutes.

What are your favorite blueberry recipes? Let us know in the comments!

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