Mixed Berry Cobbler

This all started because I bought a 10 lbs. box of gorgeous Michigan blueberries at the farmer's market this summer. I froze about half of them on cookie sheets and then bagged them up to be used at a later date. These delicious, individually-frozen berries were just calling to me to be used. So, here's how I made my Mixed Berry Cobbler. (Please pardon the narrative throughout.)

Fruit Mixture
24 oz frozen blueberries
24 oz frozen red raspberries
1 granny smith apple (peeled and chopped)
3 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter or margerine (cut up in chunks)

Pastry
1 (15 oz) package refrigerated piecrusts
Cinnamon sugar mixture
2 Tbsp butter melted or Pam cooking spray

Garnish
Whipped topping or vanilla ice cream

Unfold 2 piecrusts and press out fold lines. You may not need all of the crusts but the kids always steal about 1/2 of them off the tray while the berries are baking ... so it's hard to tell what you'll really need. And, depending on how creative you get with the strips or cutouts, you'll need more or less than the 2 crusts that come in the package.

Cut pastry into 1-inch strips (or use seasonal cookie cutters) and place on a baking sheet. Brush both sides with melted butter or spray with Pam. Sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture and bake at 425º for 7-8 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.

I didn't have a fancy pastry cutter to cut the pie crust but I did find a really cool plastic playdough cutter in my daughter's stuff and that did the trick. A straight cut tastes the same, but it was fun to have the wave along the edge. It's also fun to do a basket weave with the strips ... though it's challenging to lift it from the tray when it's baked without breaking it. My little trick was to bake the woven strips on a cookie sheet with no lip. Then, I just slid the entire piece off the tray onto the top of the 9x13 cobbler. Baking the crust on the cobbler yielded in mushy strips.

Stir together fruit, flour, salt and sugar.

Spoon berry mixture into 9x13 baking dish and dot with butter chunks.

Bake at 400º for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly (and not too runny). Once partially cooled, top with baked pastry strips or cut-outs.

Best if served warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

NOTE: I have done this once or twice with half of the baked pastry strips layered into the middle of the berry mixture. It does offer some texture in with the berries. It's simply up to you if you want that.