I am going to start things off by saying this is THE BEST SUMMER DESSERT EVER. I have made it three times in the last 8 days, which is absurd because I am moving in less than 3 weeks and I should really be using my spare time to pack and not bake.
But, that’s how good this Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler is. A rich cobbler batter gets swirled with vegan brown butter, then topped with fresh summer peaches and juicy blueberries coated in a warming sugar-and-spice mixture. The result is a texture that is sticky and caramelized on top, yet fluffy and tender on the inside. It feels like part peach cobbler, part cake in the best way possible.
Why you’re going to LOVE this Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
Texture, texture texture. This vegan peach cobbler has the best of texture worlds. The brown butter bubbles up in the oven, and transforms the cobbler batter into a sticky, caramelized cake with edges and bits that are almost crunchy. Meanwhile, the inside of the cake is fluffy, tender, and melts in your mouth.
Pure Decadence. This is the most decadent dessert you can imagine (hello, brown butter)! Imagine the most buttery, most indulgent cake ever. This is it! I promise no one will ever guess this peach cobbler is vegan, which means it’s the perfect dessert to bring to an event, whether it’s a potluck, barbecue, or any other socially distanced summer gathering.
Easy to make. While this recipe might sound complicated or challenging, it’s actually very easy and quick to prepare. Especially with the handy step-by-step photos and video instructions. No pastry dough required, the cobbler batter simply involves whisking together a few ingredients (flour, sugar, milk), and it’s 10 times easier than making pie! But just as tasty as pie, if not tastier.
Summer heaven. Peaches are at their peak right now, and this is such a fantastic way to enjoy them. Peaches get married with coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and fresh nutmeg for delightfully warm and rich flavors.
Ingredient Rundown
Vegan Butter
While vegan butter doesn’t brown in the same exact way as dairy-based butter because it lacks milk solids, it does get browner and richer in flavor.
After vegan butter is toasted for several minutes, it becomes noticeably deeper, richer, and toastier in flavor, which makes the cobbler so incredibly delicious and packed with flavor. Plus, once you start browning the butter, an intoxicatingly nutty aroma will waft throughout your kitchen.
This recipe calls for a generous amount of vegan butter (10 tablespoons, to be precise), but I already told you it was decadent!
Peaches. This is a peach cobbler! You want to use ripe but slightly firm peaches so they don’t totally disintegrate during baking.
Blueberries. Technically this is a blueberry-peach cobbler, but if you don’t have blueberries, don’t let that detract you from making this. You could also substitute them with blackberries or raspberries.
Coconut Sugar and Spices. The peaches and blueberries macerate with coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg. I like using coconut sugar (or brown sugar) instead of white sugar since it pairs beautifully with these warming spices. The cardamom is optional, but if you can, use freshly grated nutmeg. It makes a difference, I promise.
All-Purpose Flour. All-purpose-flour brings the structure to this cobbler. If allergic to gluten, a gluten-free all purpose flour (with xanthan gun) should work well.
Rolled Oats. Oats aren’t traditional in a cobbler, but I love the subtle texture they bring to this rustic cake/cobbler hybrid.
How to Make Brown Vegan Butter
Browning vegan butter is fairly similar to browning regular butter! All you need is a skillet and vegan butter.
First, slice your vegan butter into even sized pieces. I sliced them into ~1 tablespoon pieces. Even-sized pieces means the butter will cook evenly.
Second, heat a skillet (a cast iron skillet or stainless steel skillet works great) over medium heat. I like using a cast iron skillet because it keeps this a one-pan recipe.
Next, add your vegan butter pieces, and once they’re melted, stir the butter frequently. Frequent stirring is important for even browning and to prevent burning. Also, frequent stirring or swirling the pan allows you to see your browning progress. The butter will start to foam after several minutes, and then shortly afterwards, it will become this beautiful amber-golden brown color. You’ll also start to smell that toasty, nutty aroma.
Finally, as soon as the butter is browned, take it off the heat to stop it from overcooking.
Step by step instructions
Slice your peaches into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices. Mix in some blueberries, and toss in the coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg. Gently toss (don’t smash the peaches) and let the mixture macerate for 30 minutes. This softens the peaches but also helps the fruit absorb the flavors of the sugar and spices.
Then, make the cobbler batter. This part is remarkably easy! Just whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Then whisk in the oat milk and extracts and mix until thickened and well-combined.
Now comes the fun part! Using a ladle or measuring cup, dollop the batter in blobs on top of the brown butter. The cobbler will eventually swirl into the brown butter. Ladling, instead of pouring all of the batter on top of the browned butter at once, helps the butter swirl and mix into batter.
Finally, gently spoon the peach-blueberry mixture on top of the brown butter cobbler mixture. In the photos below, I just randomly spooned the fruit on top. In the video, I neatly arranged the peach slices in a row.
Guess what? They both tasted delicious. I couldn’t tell the difference lol.
Bake the cobbler at 375°F/190°C for 45-50 minutes, turning the pan 180° halfway through to ensure even browning (most ovens are hotter in the back). The cobbler is done when it is bubbling around the edges and deeply golden brown on top.
Tips for making this Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
Keep an eye on the browning butter. You can’t just walk away from the kitchen when you’re browning butter. You need to keep your eyes on the pan to ensure the butter browns evenly and doesn’t burn.
Adjust the sugar amount as needed. If your peaches are very sweet, you can slightly reduce the amount of sugar in the cobbler batter.
Adjust the salt, as needed. Many vegan butters have salt added, but if your vegan butter doesn’t have salt in it, slightly increase the amount of salt.
Use a cast iron skillet if you have one. You get maximal caramelization and the most delightful sticky, crunchy edges. It’s still great in other pans, though. I used a deep 2-quart pan in these photos and it worked wonderfully. A 3-quart pan also works, but will produce a thinner cake.
Substitutes for this this recipe
No coconut sugar for the peach-blueberry filling? Brown sugar works the same.
While this is a peach cobbler, in the event you have nectarines instead of peaches, I’m sure this would be an equally delicious nectarine cobbler.
No blueberries? Substitute with blackberries or raspberries.
If peaches are no longer in season, you can try making this with frozen peaches. One reader who did so recommends defrosting the peaches a bit and pat somewhat dry before mixing with the spices and blueberries.
PS: There is no substitute for the vegan butter in this recipe! This is a BROWN BUTTER peach cobbler, not a coconut oil peach cobbler or olive oil peach cobbler. Just saying.
Watch! How to make Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
My FAVORITE Vegan Dessert for Summer 🍑
If you give this Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler recipe a try, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please comment with your feedback below!
Vegan Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454g) ripe but relatively firm peaches
- 1/2 cup (75-85g) fresh blueberries
- 1/3 cup (45g) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I recommend freshly grated nutmeg)
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 pinches of ground cardamom (optional)
- 10 tablespoons (140g) vegan butter*
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
- Scant 2/3 cup (60g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup (200g) organic cane sugar
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (the range is based on saltiness of your butter; I used a heaping 1/4 teaspoon or scant 1/2 teaspoon; use less if using sea salt instead)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/3 cups (320 mL) full-fat oat milk***
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)
- For serving: vegan vanilla ice cream (optional)
Instructions
- Arrange a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 375°F/190°C.
- Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits, then cut the peaches into 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices (3/4 cm - 1 1/4 cm). Transfer the peaches to a medium or large bowl. Add the blueberries, coconut sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom (if using), and toss gently to combine. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the fruit to absorb the flavors.
- Brown the butter. Heat a large cast iron skillet (11- or 12-inch) over medium heat. Add the vegan butter to the pan, and use a spatula to spread it across the sides of the pan. Once it’s melted, foamy, and at a bubble (it should take 2 to 3 minutes), heat for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning, then take the pan off the heat.See note below on alternative pan sizes.**
- Make the cake. In a medium or large bowl, combine the flour, oats, cane sugar, salt, and baking powder. Whisk in the oat milk and vanilla extract and almond extract (if using) until well combined. Using a ladle or measuring cup, ladle the batter on top of the brown butter in the pan. Ladling, instead of pouring all of the batter on top at once, helps the butter swirl and mix into batter. Top the cobbler with the peach-blueberry mixture.
- Bake the cobbler for 45-50 minutes, rotating the pan 180° halfway through to ensure even browning, until the top is deeply golden brown and bubbling.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then serve warm. If desired, scoop some vegan vanilla ice cream on each slice before serving.
Notes
Best thing I have literally ever made!!!!!!!! SO YUM!
So happy to hear that, Stacey! Thank you for sharing :)
This is delicious. Follow the directions and you can’t fail. Used soy milk and it was perfect. Gonna gobble it all up.
I have this in the oven right now and it smells heavenly! I used a gluten free flour blend instead, but I think it should work. Is it possible to freeze leftovers? Will it hold up? Thanks so much for an awesome recipe!
OMG This was absolutely decadent and delicious! I’ve tried many of your recipes and they’re all so yum. Thank you <3
YAY! It truly is so decadent. I’m so thrilled you loved it and enjoy my other recipes too! Thanks Sydney!
As soon as I saw the YouTube video for this, I could not stop thinking about it!! I made it just as the recipe describes, but with Miyoko’s butter & with wild blueberries. I added the blueberries right before putting it in the oven so that it wouldn’t turn everything blue! But this dessert was a hit all the way around! I didn’t use ice cream or whip cream to top it with, and it really didn’t even need it. It felt indulgent, cozy, and SO delicious! I can’t wait to make this again using different fruits. It’s a perfect base recipe (and lesson in browning vegan butter!). Thank you, Nisha!
My husband and I got a bunch of blueberries and peaches in our CSA bag last week so I made this for the first time on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon we crushed the entire 9×13 pan, haha! Hoping we get more peaches in this week’s bag so we can do the same thing next weekend…
Wow!.. I’m NOT a cobbler type person.. specifically the typical mushy, wet texture until NOW!!! OMG! This is so amazing delicious and the texture is like cakey but luxurious… I can’t describe it.. You need to make it ASAP! It is a winner.. my husband LOVES it! Thank you Nisha!
The bottom of the batter was kind of fried from the butter so the it is a bit chewy but other then that i think it tasted good and i recommend this recipe to everyone.
I made this recipe, it was easy, it taste good, it’s an awesome cobbler, I made it last night and today it’s gone. My nonvegan / critics help me eat it.
I made this last night and it turned out incredible! It was so easy to make, I kept bracing myself for the hard part, but everything just simply came together. My edges were crispy caramelized and had just the right amount of crunch to them. The different layers of everything blended so beautifully and ensured that every bite was delicious. I was especially surprised and excited by how it just easily scooped out of the dish, no sticking! This made going back for seconds a little too easy, haha! I made a few minor tweaks but that was only due to limitations of what I had on hand. No ginger or cardamom, so I ended up using Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Pie spice blend since it had cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom & ginger (1 tsp of that, then 1/2 tsp more of just cinnamon). I also used the Madagascar bourbon vanilla paste instead of extract. I also used Miyokos plant butter, which is coconut oil and cashew based and browned really nicely. Thank you for describing how the browning process should unfold, it was almost therapeutic gently stirring the butter around, watching it foam, then start to settle into it’s toasted brown state. I’ll definitely be making this again with different berries and stone fruits to enjoy the different varieties of fruits and flavors out there! Beautiful work, thank you so much for sharing this incredible creation with us!
Made this, it was great! Only thing I would change in the future is that it could use a bit more salt — maybe closer to 1/2 tsp rather than just shy of 1/4. I think the flavors of the cobbler were a bit subdued due to the slight lack of salt. We still loved it though!!
Thanks Isabelle! I’m glad you loved it and that’s great feedback! I have a note in the blog post about adjusting the salt depending on the vegan butter brand you use because each brand has a different level of saltiness (or none at all), which can be tricky. The first time I made it with 1/2 tsp kosher salt, I got a few bites that were a tad too salty, so I reduced it a bit the next round to a heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. I’ve updated the ingredients with a note about salt too, thank you!
Hi Nisha, Planning to try this recipe soon. But your vegan vanilla ice cream looks really good. Could you share the brand of the ice cream you used here?I have never tried vanilla vegan ice cream, so looking for some good suggestions.
Hi Shruti, great to hear that! I recommend so delicious oat milk vanilla ice cream or oatly, they’re both really good!
Do you have the calorie count? .
Hi Myra, we don’t include nutrition facts on our recipes for a few reasons. If you’d like to read more as to why, you can do so at this link: https://rainbowplantlife.com/welcome/.
Many of our readers use apps like MyFitnessPal to calculate nutrition facts for their own purposes. Hope that helped!
This peach cobbler is so indulgent!! It’s perfectly tart and sweet, and even more perfect when paired with some vegan ice cream. It was surprisingly easy to prepare and I had most of the ingredients at home (the vegan butter was the only SPECIAL ingredient, but it made a big difference). I will definitely be buying more peaches to make this again.
This sounds so good, will definitely be making this ASAP! I was wondering if you think the cane sugar in the batter could be substituted with coconut sugar? I’d prefer to use coconut sugar if possible. Thanks!
Hi Laure, I think so! I haven’t tried it myself, but it should work. It might turn the cobbler a bit browner in color because coconut sugar is darker, but I think it should be fine otherwise!
Tried this yesterday and turned out amazing! Best peach cobbler I’ve ever had for sure. Used earth balance as i couldn’t find country crock but still turned out good. 🙂
Made it last night with peaches we picked at a local orchard and it was declared the best peach cobbler ever! So so good. I made it in a 3 qt rectangular dish and didn’t have oat milk so used almond milk.
Local handpicked peaches would definitely make this even better! I am so thrilled it was declared the best cobbler ever :) Glad it worked well in a 3 quart dish with almond milk too, always good to know!
I made this and actually doubled the fruit (so doubled all the spices that go with that mixture) and added plums. It just came out of the oven and looks better than I was expecting – and my house smells amazing. Thank you!
Making it now, put in 2qz baking dish and it bubbles over into the oven. Not sue what I did wrong. Can’t wait to try it.
Hi Patrick, it’s possible that you made slightly more cobbler batter than the recipe called for, depending on how you measured out your ingredients. Mine bubbles up to the top but isn’t overfilled enough that if bubbles over into the oven. The other possibility is that your oven might be hotter than it states (if you haven’t calibrated your oven or use an oven thermometer), so it could have caused the batter to rise more quickly. I hope you were able to put a baking tray underneath the pan and save it!
Mine also bubbled over into my oven.. I guess you are not alone..
Saw the video this morning and I had to make this! It just came out of the oven and it is sooooo good!
That’s amazing to hear, Emily! So happy you already made it and love it!
U do not peel the peaches?
Correct, no need to! They get baked in the oven for quite some time so they get nicely softened.
I can’t wait to make this! For the friend who asked about calories- I just entered the ingredients into my fitness pal app-For 10 servings it’s 272 calories per serving (12.7 g Fat, 35.9 g Carb, 3.9 g Protein). For your reference I used 4 cups of peaches and omitted the almond extract.
Thank you Christina! So kind of you to input that information. I hope you will love it!
I’m ready to make this. Would love to have the calorie count for your recipes. (For those of us always watching our waistline ;D)