Cobbler!

About a week ago I was craving something sweet but, alas, there was nothing much in the house by way of snack food. Then I remembered we had blueberries but I didn't want just blueberries. Then, even though it was eight at night, I thought "hey, I could make a blueberry cobbler!"...but that seemed somewhat dull. So, after a bit of thought, this is what I eventually made:

Blueberry-Date Cobbler
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
6 T unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
1.5 tsp fresh orange zest
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates--divided
3 T sparkling sugar (optional)

--Generously butter a 9 inch pie dish. Heat oven to 350 degrees (F).

--In large mixing bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together. Gently mix in half of the dates. Whisk in milk and both zests. Whisk in melted butter.

--Pour into prepared dish. Drop berries and other half of dates into dish, spreading them out all over. Sprinkle sparkling sugar on top, if using (makes a nice crunch on top).

--Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

It turned out really good, if I do say so myself, so I thought I'd share with you all. It's also really, really easy (and this a really easy recipe to alter to whatever fruit you want--I make it with peaches (and no zest) quite often).

Now, for some, "cobbler" = "lots of fruit on the bottom with some sort of crunchy or crumbly topping" (and not cake-like, such as the above recipe). I haven't done it (yet!), but I figure one could take a few cups of blueberries with a cup of chopped dates, some zest, a bit of ClearJel (or cornstarch), and some sugar and put all that in a baking dish and top it with some granola that's been mixed with cinnamon, melted butter, and brown sugar (or a crumble topping of butter/brown sugar/cinnamon/flour).