Gluten Free Prune Plum Cobbler
This super easy and delicious Gluten Free Prune Plum Cobbler is the perfect dessert to transition from summer to fall with spiced stewed plums and a sweet gluten free biscuit dough topping. Served with dollops of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, it’s an easy crowd-pleasing dessert that’s perfect for entertaining.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Gluten Free Plum Cobbler
- Made with juicy prune plums – Fresh prune plums tossed with butter, sugar, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves and baked into a sweet and flavourful fruit filling.
- Gluten free and grain free – A tender, lightly sweet biscuit topping made with almond flour and tapioca flour, which means no grains or gluten.
- Easy to make – Skip the stovetop! Simply toss the fresh plums with the filling ingredients, add the cobbler topping, and bake until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden.
- The perfect summer-to-fall dessert – Fresh late-summer prune plums paired with warm cinnamon and cloves make this a cozy transition into fall baking.
- Perfect for entertaining – This comforting fruit cobbler is simple enough for a casual dessert but special enough to serve to guests, especially with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
This easy recipe for baked Gluten Free Prune Plum Cobbler is the perfect transitional dessert from summer to fall. This recipe uses prune plums, and quite a few! So, if your tree is loaded with prune plums, save this recipe for later! Toss the plums with warming spices like cinnamon and cloves, which give this cobbler its cozy fall flavour. And if you’re not feeling ready for fall, this gluten free dessert will sure put you in the mood and prepare you for the cozy season!
What’s more, this easy dessert is completely gluten-free and grain-free! The blend of almond flour and tapioca flour makes for the perfect, lightly sweet biscuit dough topping. It’s golden and crisp on the outside with a tender inside. Paired with the sweet oven-baked plums, it’s a dessert that leaves people wanting seconds!
This gluten free dessert recipe is very easy. In a way, it’s like a dump-and-bake recipe. You’ll toss the plums with the filling ingredients before transferring them to the baking dish. The biscuit-like cobbler topping comes together in one bowl, then gets layered right over the plums. Then, into the oven it goes! You only need less than 10 minutes to get the pan in the oven, making prep quick and easy. It’s a favourite of ours for so many reasons and I hope you will enjoy it too!
If you like this recipe, you may also like my Baked Stone Fruit with Oat Crumble for another late-summer or fall dessert or maybe Gluten-free Cherry Crumble Bars if you’re still soaking in the fruits of summer!
Ingredient Tips and Substitutions
- Prune plums – You will need prune plums, about 1 1/4″ long by 3/4″ wide for this recipe. Black plums will also work as long as they’re similar in size to prune plums. If they’re significantly larger, you’ll need to adjust the total number of plums.
- Cornstarch – Tossing the plums in a little cornstarch will help them to thicken as they bake. You don’t need too much, just about 1 tablespoon. I recommend organic, non-GMO cornstarch if possible. If you don’t have cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch will work in place of cornstarch.
- Almond flour – Almond flour is one of my go-to gluten-free flours because it’s not only gluten-free, but it’s also grain-free and lower in carbs. I don’t recommend substituting for another gluten-free flour as gluten free flours are not all created equal. Each flour type has a different texture and acts differently when interacting with moisture.
- Tapioca flour – Tapioca flour, when mixed with almond flour, helps to create the perfect gluten-free and grain-free flour blend for the biscuit topping on this cobbler.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk helps to keep the biscuit topping nice and tender. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can mix 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of whole milk or cream with 1 tsp lemon juice to make homemade buttermilk. It works great!
- Cinnamon and cloves – Nothing says fall like cinnamon, but what really makes this recipe is the ground cloves. When I shared this cobbler with our neighbour, she said “it was so good! What was that spice!” She loved it. So, don’t skip the cloves!
How to Make Gluten Free Prune Plum Cobbler
Step 1: Prepare the plums.
If you haven’t done so already, pit and halve each prune plum. Add them to a large mixing bowl along with the melted butter, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and cloves. Toss them well until they’re evenly coated.
Step 2: Make the cobbler topping.
Add the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, sugar and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir to combine. To the same bowl, add the buttermilk and beaten eggs and mix again until completely combined. It should be a fairly wet batter.
Step 3: Add the plums and cobbler topping to the baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 375F and prepare an 11″ – 12″ diameter round baking dish. (A 9″ x 13″ rectangular baking dish would work as well). Add the plums to the bottom of the baking dish and then top with the gluten-free cobbler topping. Smooth out the cobbler topping as best as you can. It doesn’t have to completely cover the plums.
Step 4: Bake the cobbler!
Bake the cobbler on the centre rack in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and plums look juicy and are bubbling. Enjoy warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The skins of the plums will break down when they are baked, disappearing into the plum mixture. You wont even notice them!
I haven’t tested this, but I would say yes, frozen plums will still work. In that case, I would recommend increasing the amount of cornstarch from 1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons and adding the plums to the baking dish while still frozen as opposed to thawing them first.
Yes, both black and red plums will work as well as long as they are similar in size, ideally about 1 1/4″ in diameter. If they are much bigger, the amount of plums required for the recipe will vary. For plums double the size, pit and quarter them and use 15-17 count instead of 30.
Any leftovers can be stored in an air tight container for up to 5 days. It can be reheated in the microwave and enjoyed again with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Gluten Free Prune Plum Cobbler
Equipment
- 1 12" round baking dish or 9" x 13" baking dish
Ingredients
Plum Filling:
- 8 cups prune plums (about 1 1/2" x 1") pitted and halved
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- pinch salt
Cobbler Topping:
- 3 cups almond flour
- 3/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and prepare a 12" round baking dish. (Or, a 9" x 13" baking dish).
- If you haven't done so yet, pit and halve the prune plums. Add them to a large mixing bowl along with the melted butter, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- Toss the plums until they are evenly coated and then transfer them to the prepared baking dish. Make sure they are evenly distributed along the bottom of the pan.
- Make the cobbler topping: in a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the eggs and buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
- Add the cobbler batter in dollops on top of the plums. Spread it as best as you can into an even layer. It does not need to completely cover the plums, in fact you want some pockets where they can bubble up.
- Bake the cobbler on the middle rack in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until starting to brown on the top and plums are thickened and jammy. Check at 30 minutes.
- Enjoy warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
Notes
- Prune plums – You will need prune plums, about 1 1/2″ long by 1″ wide for this recipe. Black plums could work as well if the are similar in size, otherwise if they’re quite a bit larger the total number of plums required will vary.
- Cornstarch – I recommend organic, non-GMO cornstarch if possible. If you don’t have cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch will work in place of 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
- Almond flour – I don’t recommend substituting for another gluten-free flour as gluten free flours are not all created equal.Â
- Tapioca flour – Tapioca flour, when mixed with almond flour, helps to create the perfect gluten-free and grain-free flour blend for the biscuit-like topping on this cobbler.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk, you can mix 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of whole milk or cream with 1 tsp lemon juice to make homemade buttermilk. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes. It works great!
- Ground cloves – What really makes this recipe is the ground cloves. So, don’t skip the cloves!