My strawberry cobbler with pie crust is an old fashioned dessert that is easy to make and delicious to eat. The recipe calls for making the filling with frozen strawberries, so you can enjoy this cobbler at any time of the year. Although you could use a homemade pie crust like I did, a storebought crust like Pillsbury would make this cobbler even easier. Instead of doing a double crust strawberry cobbler, I used a lattice for the top and added crust dumplings to the filling, giving this dessert a lot of texture. This was not only delicious but also turned out a beautiful red color, so if you want to learn how to make this southern style cobbler, keep reading!

Old Fashioned Strawberry Cobbler with Pie Crust

Most strawberry cobbler recipes on the Internet are a type of strawberry cobbler dump cake in which you put strawberries in a baking dish, then pour in a batter–without stirring the fruit and batter together–then bake.

Although those cobblers are definitely easy, there’s nothing like an old fashioned cobbler like a southern peach cobbler. The pie crust is crispy and the filling is juicy, the contrast in textures making the dessert more interesting than a dump cake.

Also, instead of a cakey top, my old fashioned strawberry cobbler has a lattice top that lets you see the colorful fruit filling inside. Even though a dump cake style cobbler with a bit less work, there’s nothing like a classic cobbler.

Strawberry Filling with Frozen Strawberries

One of the best things about this cobbler recipe is that it calls for making the strawberry filling with frozen strawberries. If you have access to fresh, preferably locally or homegrown berries, then by all means use those. However, using frozen strawberries has its advantages because:

You can make the cobbler at any time of the year – Instead of waiting until spring or summer when strawberries are in season, using frozen berries means that you can make this cobbler whenever you want. Since the strawberry filling is a bright, beautiful red color, it would be perfect for Christmas!

Frozen fruit is often superior – According to a health.com article, a study at the University of Chester found that in two out of three cases, frozen fruits and vegetables had more antioxidants than fresh did. In addition to having more nutrients, frozen fruit often has more taste since it is allowed to fully ripen before being picked. If you have to choose between good frozen fruit or mediocre fresh, go with frozen.

There is no prep work – Instead of washing, hulling, and chopping the fresh berries, all you have to do is open a bag of frozen strawberries, pour them into a pot, and start making the filling. It’s doesn’t get any easier than that.

How to Make Strawberry Cobbler with Pie Crust

My strawberry cobbler with pie crust is easy to make! Let’s go over the steps.

Making the Filling

The first step is making the filling. As I said earlier in this article, the filling is made with frozen strawberries, so you can make this cobbler at any time of the year without doing any prep work.

Just like my strawberry pie with frozen strawberries recipe, all you have to do is thaw the frozen berries, add sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch, mix everything together, then pour the filling into an 8×8 casserole dish.

This cobbler was definitely good, but after making this cobbler, I decided to start cooking the filling on the stovetop first before putting the cobbler together. Many southern recipes call for cooking the fruit first, and after trying it, I prefer it. The next time I make this recipe, I will definitely cook the fruit filling a bit first.

Easy Strawberry Cobbler with Pie Crust — This easy strawberry cobbler with pie crust recipe has a great combination of textures.

Homemade vs. Storebought Pie Crust

Although the filling is important, I think that the crust is what really takes a cobbler from good to great. Using frozen strawberries to make the filling is a great time-saver, so you might be wondering if you can press the “Easy” button and use storebought pie crust as well.

You definitely can! Storebought pie crusts such as Pillsbury are a great way to make cobblers and pie quickly and easily. However, there isn’t quite anything like homemade, so if you can, I highly recommend making your own crust.

Adding the Dumplings

Even though it might sound off to some people, many old fashioned southern cobblers have dumplings, or small pieces of pie crust, in the fruit filling. These dumplings not only help to thicken the filling but also add to the texture contrast.

These dumplings soak up juice as the cobbler bakes, making them soft and pillowy. The combination of juicy filling, soft dumplings, and crispy crust is surprisingly delicious, so even if adding pits of raw pie dough to the fruit filling sounds odd, I highly recommend it.

However, I think that you should add fewer dumplings that I did in the video because, in all honestly, I think I went a bit overboard. About 1/4 to maybe 1/3 cup of dumplings max would be plenty.

Putting on the Lattice Top

Although you can certainly do a double crust strawberry cobbler, I decided to leave out the bottom crust and use a lattice on the top instead of a full crust. A bottom crust plus dumplings is a lot of crust, so I recommend using one or the other.

To make the lattice top, I cut one of the 9-inch pie crusts into strips laid the strips over the filling. Some people like to weave the lattice strips, but the filling is so juicy that I think it would be very difficult: my recommendation is to just lay the strips on top of each other.

If you decide to add a full top crust instead of a lattice, be sure to cut slits in the crust so that the steam can escape.

Baking in the Oven

Before I put the strawberry cobbler in the oven, I sprinkled it with 2 tablespoons of white sugar. The little bit of sugar on top gives the cobbler a nice bit of crunch and some extra sweetness, so I highly recommend adding a bit before baking.

Variations of the Recipe

Although I think this strawberry cobbler with pie crust recipe is fairly straightforward, there are a few ways you could switch things up:

Double Crust
No Dumplings
Chocolate Pie Crust

Old Fashioned Strawberry Cobbler with Pie Crust — Old fashioned strawberry cobbler with pie crust has a lattice top and dumplings.

Possible Changes to the Recipe

As I said earlier, I would like to change at least one thing in the future:

Cooking the filling on the stove – I cook the filling in my other southern style cobblers, and I think that doing so would concentrate the flavors in this strawberry cobbler even more. It’s definitely worth a try.
Add fewer dumplings – Dumplings are good, but I think I might have added too many. I think about half as many would have been just fine.

Brown Sugar – Although brown sugar would negatively affect the bright red color of the filling, I wonder how it would affect the taste.
Cinnamon – Some strawberry pie recipes on the Internet call for a bit of cinnamon. I think it would be interesting to try.

Strawberry Extract – People lemon extract to lemon desserts, so why not add strawberry extract to a strawberry cobbler. Honestly, I am really curious how adding extract would affect this recipe.

More Cobblers with Pie Crust

If you love the combination of sweet fruit and crispy crust, then be sure to take a look at:

Seedless Blackberry Cobbler – If you’re tired of seeds getting stuck in your teeth, this