Canned peaches are just the best thing.  I remember the first time I saw them—note I said saw and not ate—I was seven and still lived in the Philippines.  Though I remember a mostly fun childhood I was also aware that maybe we didn’t have as much as others.  I say ‘maybe’ because as a kid as long as you have enough of the basics and it’s all you’ve ever known you don’t really think much about your station in life.  I also say ‘maybe’ because that feeling of being deprived and not having enough lurks about every now and again.  Said feeling crept in when I first saw a cousin eating forkfuls of the fifteen-ounce Del Monte peaches straight out of the can, finished every slice then tipped the can into his mouth and drank the syrup.  He and I sat in stony silence while he slurped every drop and I watched.  

I make this awesome peach cobbler every time with canned peaches, partly because canned peaches are a reminder of that childhood feeling of wanting and not having and that in this country, as long as you work hard the fifteeen-ounce Del Monte canned peaches are within reach.   That and peeling, par boiling and removing the pit from fresh peaches are way too many extra steps for me.

Recipe:

2 15 oz cans cling peaches with syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
Turbinado sugar (optional)*

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Melt butter and pour into a 9×12 baking pan.  Pour in 2 cans of peaches, syrup and all.  Mix sugar, flour, baking powder and spread over the peaches.  You can do this in one of two ways.  You can either pour the batter and spread it over the peaches with an offset spatula.  Or you can use an ice cream scoop and scoop it over the entire pan of peaches.  

Bake for about 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the cobbler which by now should be starting to brown.  Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes until cobbler is bubbly and golden brown.

*You don’t have to use the turbinado sugar but it gives the cobbler a nice sugary crunch when you bite into it.  So maybe don’t make it optional.