By Stephanie Smith, Nutrition student with Journalism focus

After a brutally cold winter, one that was plagued by the term “polar vortex” and seeing snow almost every week, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all ready for spring and finally we’re beginning to see the signs—temperatures are rising, April showers are definitely in full swing, and flowers are blooming.

Aside from the warmer weather, I love springtime for all of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are popping up as farmer’s markets reopen and gardens begin to flourish. I’m always looking for something fun to make with my fruits and veggies and at this week’s test kitchen, I think I may have found the most delicious dessert, made with one of my favorite fruits—blueberries.

This week we made a blueberry cobbler. Blueberries aren’t usually seen as much of a springtime fruit, as they are a summer fruit, but this week, blueberries were all we could talk about. The recipe called for frozen blueberries—the beauty of frozen produce is that you can get anything you like all year round!

Our recipe was adapted from Ellie Krieger. Krieger is a registered dietitian, herself, so there wasn’t much tweaking to be made to this recipe. Whole wheat flour substitutes any kind of all-purpose flour and there is very little sugar added to the already sweet berries.

This recipe is great, because you can use any type of berry that you have on hand. We only used blueberries and everyone loved it, but replacing or adding strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries, would taste delicious! I think I can speak for everyone at the test kitchen, in saying that it is one of the best desserts that we’ve made so far. It’s super easy to make, and going back for seconds isn’t an option, but instead, mandatory!

Sargent Choice Berry Cobbler
Yields 6 servings

 Ingredients:
For the filling:
Cooking spray
2 (12-ounce bags) bags frozen berries (mixed or blueberries)
¼ cup white whole wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

 For the topping:
½ cup white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
2. Coat and 8×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, toss the filling ingredients: berries, flour, sugar, zest. Transfer the berry mixture to the baking dish and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter using 2 knives or a pastry cutter until many small pebble-sized pieces are formed.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and oil. Add the buttermilk-oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Do not over mix.
6. Drop the batter onto the fruit forming 6 mounds. Sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and top is golden. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts:
1 serving ~3/4 cup

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