Chocolate-Cherry Cobbler

We have quite a few bags of cherries occupying precious freezer space. (I have to have someplace to store all my extra loaves of bread.) So I searched for recipes that include tart cherries, since that's what our Door County cherries are. This recipe is easy to make and quite tasty. I was extremely pleased with the simple recipe for thickening the cherries, as the end result is almost like pie filling.

Chocolate-Cherry Cobbler
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
16 oz. frozen tart cherries, thawed, with juice
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cocoa
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 375ºF. Mix 2 Tbsp. brown sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Stir in cherries, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in almond extract. Pour into ungreased 1-quart casserole dish.

Mix flour, cocoa, 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut in butter until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in vanilla and milk until soft dough forms. Drop dough by six spoonfuls onto cherry mixture.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes until cobblers are no longer doughy. Serve warm. Makes 6 servings.