Vegan Strawberry Cobbler with Vanilla Pecan Biscuits

I feel like it has been forever since I made a baked fruit dessert.  Maybe since last year in fact!  I have been busy getting ready to move, so I haven't done much baking lately but when I had some extra time this week I wanted to make something baked that involved strawberries!  I thought about making a pie but that required more effort than something without a crust so I decided on a cobbler!  I love cobbler just as much as pie!  Those tender biscuits on top are so good with the jammy fruit!

For this one I kept the filling pretty simple.  Pretty soon we will have local strawberries here but until that time the organic ones I have been getting at the store have been pretty flavorful.  I just tossed them with a bit of maple syrup, and a touch of lemon and vanilla and the flavor was amazing!  For my cobbler I actually start the fruit baking in the oven first while I make the biscuits. That way it is nicely cooked and the biscuits don't get too dark or overdone.

For the biscuit portion, I actually use my scone dough recipe because I find that it is much more delicious than regular biscuit dough.  It  is light and fluffy in the middle, buttery and rich tasting and crispy on the outside.  For these I added pecan meal to give it a pecan flavor and that made them extra delicious!  I love using ground nuts in pie crusts, pastries and things like this!

The cobbler smelled amazing while baking!  When it was all bubbly and yummy I pulled it out of the oven and waited for it to cool off, but not completely. Because I love a warm fruit dessert with some ice cream or whipped cream on the side!  This was heavenly! The strawberries were jammy and sweet, thee perfect pairing for the rich vanilla pecan biscuits!  If you have strawberries on hand, definitely give this a try!

Fruit:

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees with the rack at the center position. Place a baking sheet lined with foil on the rack. Oil a 6 inch wide pie plate or bowl with coconut oil. In a large bowl, toss together the fruit, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, flour. Spoon into prepared bowl or pie plate, and cover with foil. Place plate on baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes until fruit is cooked through and bubbling.
2. Meanwhile, when the fruit in the oven is almost at 45 min, to make biscuits, in a large bowl, combine the flour, pecan meal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the oil with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture starts to clump into pea sized pieces. In a small bowl, stir the vanilla extract into the coconut milk. Add the milk to the dough, and stir a few times, but do not overmix. The dough should hold together when squeezed, but still be clumpy. Place dough on a floured work surface, and pat into a 1/2 inch tall rectangle.
3. Remove baking fruit from oven. Cut small shapes out of the dough using a cookie cutter (or free form it), and place on top of the cobbler. When all biscuits are on top of cobbler, sprinkle with coconut sugar and return to the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes until biscuits are cooked through and lightly brown and toasted on top (keep a close eye on they could burn very quickly). Remove from oven and let cool until warm, and top with some ice cream or coconut vanilla whipped cream and...enjoy!