Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking: Berry Cookie Cobbler

Food network stars have enticing cooking shows to lure you in, watch their fabulous cooking and ease in the kitchen and then…buy their products.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love shows on the Food Network, and the chefs who started with cookbooks,  followed up with selling cookware, utensils and even kitchen appliances.  So,  I wanted to try a few recipes from a Food Network host to see if they stand up to how she portrays them on television.  Sandra Lee, host of the Semi-homemade cooking show is in my book, brilliant.  Take the base of items you buy in the store, add your own ingredients and less time to come up with a recipe that looks homemade and says you did it all yourself.  Unless you tell the truth, no one will know you didn’t slave for hours.  I started with one of her original cookbooks, “Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking”.  The first recipe I chose was Berry Cookie Cobbler. She says “this is easy, easy, easy, delicious, delicious, delicious”…is she right?

Berry Cookie Cobbler

2 bags (12 oz ea) frozen mixed berries, thawed

1 container (21 oz) apple pie filling

1/3 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 roll (18 oz) prepared sugar cookie dough

   Optional: add vanilla ice cream with the baked dessert

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except the sugar cookie dough.  Place the fruit mixture in a 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish.  Crumble the sugar cookie dough over fruit, covering it completely and thickly.  Then bake uncovered until cookie crust is a crispy golden color and juices are bubbling, about 45 min.

Was this an easy recipe? Was it delicious? The answer is sort of and yes!  Mixing the berries and fruit was of course a no brainer.  Crumbling the sugar cookie dough is quite sticky but still easy enough.  She didn’t mention placing the dish on a cookie sheet if the juices were bubbling, which, luckily I did.  Place the dish on a cookie sheet or you may be cleaning your oven! I watched the dish after about 30 minutes to follow up with the time and 45 minutes was really right on the money for the crust to get a nice golden brown.  Everyone loved the dish and it was great with ice cream, but even cooled off, it was a bit runnier than I would have liked.  I think I may drain just a bit of juices off next time I make it.  I also don’t think you need that much sugar, I might reduce it to ¼ c. next time for my waistline.  The frozen berries we bought were a fantastic mixture of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. This was a store brand and by using frozen, when it thawed you had lots of juice. The canned apple filling I got had lots of cinnamon in it, so not sure that you needed a full 1-1/2 tsp of cinnamon either.  The mixture of fruit was a delightful party in your mouth! A keeper!