PUMPKIN PECAN CRANBERRY COBBLER by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan
October 14, 2022
It’s October…. time for all good things pumpkin and pumpkin spice. This recipe was inspired by Chef Jasper White’s Apple Crunch Recipe. Chef Jasper, now retired, was a major player on the Boston fine-dining scene for many decades. His cobbler recipe used 3 different varieties of apples and an oat & toasted pecan topping. His recipe is classic New England and a winner. I pondered his recipe for a few days and thought: what about pumpkin instead of apple cobbler?? I started researching recipes and discovered that pumpkin cobblers were all made with canned pumpkin puree. Easier, but texturally blah. Why not use fresh pumpkin, or in this case, fresh butternut squash? I have cut the squash into cubes and partially roasted the squash before building and baking the cobbler. This ingredient change yields a cobbler that teases your palate with texture and flavor.
- Prep: 1 hrs
- Cook: 1 hrs
- Yields: About 6-8
Ingredients
2 pre-peeled butternut squash halves OR 1-piece, 2-2 ½ pounds, whole butternut squash
2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons room temperature butter
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or dark rum)
½ cup dried cranberries
topping
¾ cup pecans, lightly toasted and cooled
¾ cup rolled oats
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
10 tablespoons unsalted cold butter and cut into ½-inch cubes (plus extra to butter baking dish)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ‘ of pumpkin spice’ spice blend, plus more to your liking
Directions
Toast the pecans on a sheet pan at 325 degrees for 9-12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Set aside and
let cool.
Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Soak the dried cranberries in hot water to cover them. Soak for 10 minutes and drain. Set aside.
If using whole butternut squash, cut off the top and bottom of the squash. Separate the ‘neck’ from the ‘bulb’ of the squash. Carefully cut the neck and bulb into 2 pieces each and peel all the pieces. If using prepared, peeled squash, separate the ‘bulb’ and ‘neck’ into 2 or four pieces. Carefully cut all the squash pieces into large-diced pieces, about 1 ½-inch cubes. Pieces of similar size will cook evenly. Just saying!! Toss the squash into a metal bowl and toss with the melted butter to coat evenly. Combine the salt and the nutmeg together and sprinkle over the cut squash. Toss the bowl to mix. Lightly coat a sheet pan with a touch of oil and spread with your fingers to oil the pan. Add the squash to the pan and roast at 350 degrees until partially cooked through. This will probably take about 30-35 minutes. To test for (partial) doneness, the point of a sharp paring knife should easily pierce halfway into the squash pieces.
When par-roasted, remove the sheet pan from the oven and set aside while you prepare the topping.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the toasted and cooled pecans 3-4 times or until coarsely ground. Remove to a separate bowl. Add the rolled oats to the bowl of the processor and pulse 2-3 times to break up the oats a bit. Do not pulverize! Remove to the bowl with the chopped pecans. Next to the bowl of the processor, add the flour, the brown sugar, the salt, and the pumpkin spice mix. Pulse briefly to combine. Add the chilled, cubed butter and pulse to combine. Pulse several times until the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients. It should feel a bit like wet sand in your fingers. Remove and combine with the pecans and oats that you previously ‘pulsed’ together. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to use.
Ready-to-bake: Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Add the par-cooked squash pieces to the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Distribute the squash pieces in the dish. Combine the lemon juice (or rum if using) and the maple syrup together. Mix this into the roasted squash pieces. Add the drained dried cranberries and distribute evenly. Finally sprinkle with the salt-nutmeg mixture. Be sure to combine all the ingredients together evenly. Finally pinch off pieces of the 2 tablespoons of softened butter and distribute on top of the squash.
Remove the topping mix from the refrigerator. Distribute the topping evenly over the roasted squash— about 1-inch thick. (You may not need all of it, depending on the size of your baking dish.) Place on a sheet pan, to catch any bubbling-over juices and bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes.
Rotate the pan halfway through. Aim for a crispy browned top. Remove from oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
