Packed with fall flavors, this Bourbon Apple Cranberry Cobbler with Anise and Vanilla Bean recipe is a delicious and easy dessert to pull together for your most festive dinners. Disclosure: Star Anise and Vanilla Bean Gifted by: Rodelle Kitchen. All opinions are my own.
This time of year is aligned with all things comfort like Bourbon Pecan Pie, warm cozy socks, a crackling fire, Mamaw’s Holiday Coffee, and your most favorite cozy sweater. There’s another comfort to add to your list; bourbon apple cranberry cobbler with anise and vanilla bean.
My friends over at Rodelle Kitchen sent me a goodie pack a few weeks ago. Included was a bottle of anise extract. I’ve had anise in chai, apple cider and pho but had not discovered its unique flavor in baking, so I wasn’t really sure what I would do with this fragrant extract.
Contemplating how it would pair with other flavors, I was first drawn to apples and cranberries, because, well, they’re in season, and we had a nice bunch of apples from our apple pick a few weeks back.
Since it’s the season of festivities, I thought I’d break out my favorite baking booze; bourbon is always a winner with apples.
I adapted this from a grunt recipe, yet after doing a bit of research on what a grunt is, I had to change my title from grunt to cobbler. A grunt is in the same group as crisps, pandowdys, cobblers, brown betties, slumps and buckles.
While all of these desserts focus on seasonal fruit, the difference between most of these is the crust or topping; from the ingredients to how the dessert is assembled and/or baked. I realized, what I created was a cobbler, not a grunt (splitting hairs?).
A cobbler is a comforting baked mix of seasonal fruit with a biscuity dough topping. This dough is creamy and tender, not flaky, with a hint of crunch on the surface. I’m a little in love with dough, so I tend to go a bit overboard with this particular component. I find it imperative to have a tender, creamy bit of dough with every mouthwatering bite of sweet apples, tart cranberries, anise and caramelized bourbony, buttery syrup.
Pure comfort. Delicious served after a festive meal or a cozy night by the fire.
Serve fresh from the oven in single serve 10 oz ramekins with a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice or whip cream. This recipe will also fill an 8×8 baking dish for community servings. Either way, their bowls will be clean.
Bourbon Apple Cranberry Cobbler with Anise and Vanilla Bean
Ingredients
Cranberry Mix:
- 1 C Fresh Cranberries 100g
- 1/3 C Bourbon such as Jim Beam Reserve or Makers Mark 78mL
- 3/4 tsp Star Anise Extract or two star anise I use Rodelle
- 2 Tbs Brown Sugar 30g
- 1/2 Vanilla Bean I use Rodelle
Apple Mix:
- 3 Baking Apples: I prefer Jonagolds but Gala and Honeycrisp are lovely (550g before peeling)
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 Tbs Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbs Brown Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- 4 Tbs Unsalted Butter 56g
Tender Dough Topping:
- 1/4 C Sugar Evaporated Cane Juice, 56g
- 3/4 C All Purpose Flour 118g
- 2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- 3/4 C + 2 Tbs Heavy Whip Cream 207 mL
- 1 Tbs Turbinado or Sanding Sugar for finishing
Serve With Your Choice:
- Sifted powder sugar
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
- Vanilla Bean Whip Cream
Instructions
Prep the Cranberries:
- The evening prior to making this dessert, prepare the cranberries for maceration. Place the cranberries in a bowl with the bourbon, star anise extract (or anise) and brown sugar. Scrape out the vanilla bean and put the beans and pod in the cranberry mixture. Stir, cover and refrigerate over night or for at least 8 hours.
Prep 4, 10 oz Baking Ramekins or 8x8 Baking Dish:
- Take 1 Tbs of unsalted butter and spread it on the bottom and sides of the baking dish(s) of your choice.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat.
- Preheat oven to 400F.
Prep The Apples and Filling:
- Peel and dice the apples into 1/4"-1/2" pieces, place in a bowl; compost the peel.To the apples add the lemon zest, juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt.
- Remove the vanilla pod from the cranberry mixture and pour the cranberry mixture into the apple mixture. Stir to incorporate all the flavors. (Rinse the vanilla bean pod and set it out to dry overnight. When dry, add it to your sugar bowl or sugar container for vanilla sugar).
Prep The Dough:
- In a mixing bowl add the sugar, flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk. Add the heavy whip cream and stir just to incorporate the ingredients. Do not over work the tender dough. It will be a shaggy mess.
To Assemble:
- Place the fruit mixture into the baking dish(s) of your choice. If using ramekins, divide the fruit equally among the ramekins. Pour the remaining juice evenly over the fruit. Divide the remaining butter evenly among the ramekins and place it on top of the fruit.
- Spoon the dough evenly over the fruit mixture. Pack it down if needed. The ramekins will be full, but the fruit mixture will breakdown as it bakes.
- Sprinkle the top of dough with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 400F. Start watching the crust at about 20 minutes. You want a golden brown crust.
- Remove from oven and allow to set for at least 10 minutes before serving
Crisps are my favorite type of dessert, and this one is heavenly! I live in the heart of Bourbon Country in Kentucky, but for whatever reason, I seldom cook with it. That may be about to change! The bourbon and the star anise really put this crisp over the top. I used a combination of Honeycrisp and Gala apples and Buffalo Trace bourbon. What a glorious combination of flavors! I will be making this again when my family comes for Christmas…if I can wait that long.. This is seriously wonderful!
So happy to hear this Jonel! Oh my goodness… it’s such a fabulous ingredient for the baker’s larder! Mmm honeycrisp and gala … but I’ve not tried Buffalo Trace.. I’ll be on the lookout! You’ve inspired me to refresh this scrumptious dessert.. I posted it my first year of blogging! Thank you for your note! :D
It just makes me a little sad that I did not find this recipe sooner!! But at least I found it! I’ll check for you about Buffalo Trace. They are local to Frankfort, KY, about 30 miles from me; best bourbon in KY, “in my humble opinion.” I’ll try to find out how widely it is distributed and let you know! I LOVE your recipes! I am relatively new to your blog, and at age 76, I don’t cook as much as I used to; but I have absolutely loved every recipe I have tried from Vanilla and Bean! I also love your blog commentaries, especially on environmental issues, which are so near-and-dear to my heart! :)
Thank you for your kind words, Jonel! Please email me with more on Buffalo Trace! I love a good recommendation!
Buffalo Trace is awesome!
Thank you Allyson! I’ll be on the loodout!
Wow, lovely pictures, they speak for themselves. I’m pinning this for later. I love the flavors you’ve used as well, totally smitten with your post.
Hi Oana, thank you for your kind words. I’m so happy you enjoyed the post and look forward to hearing from you after you make this cobbler!
I feel like this has been an unofficial bourbon week in the food blogosphere and I love it. This sounds like a really nice, simple but different layering of flavors – will have to put it on my list!
Hi Carolyn! Tis the season for boozy baking, right? Bourbon just fits with apples and when I decided I needed to macerate the cranberries, bourbon was a clear choice. I hope you enjoy the recipe, Carolyn!
I have cranberries in the freezer and I just bought, literally, a giant thing of star anise! The timing couldn’t be more perfect! Excited to enter the giveaway too. Thanks for hosting! :)
Hi Emilie! Star anise is such a beautiful yet unusual spice. Sounds like your stocked up for the holidays!
These are lovely Traci! And yes, I’m with you, there HAS to be crust with every bite. Love the flavors in this! Cranberries are my weakness.
I am starting to admire cranberries more and more. I used to disdain them as I only knew them as a blob of cranberry jelly from a can. :( But now that I know there are fresh to be had, I welcome their tartness to the table! :D
What a beautiful dessert, and your photographs are truly enticing. This is my first visit to your site, and I will surely return.
Hiii Adri! Welcome to Vanilla And Bean and thank you for your kind comments. :D
This looks so delicious! Your photos are beautiful :)
Thanks so much Lilli! :D
Well this looks wayyyyy to pretty to eat–-almost! Apples and cranberries are my absolute favourite together, especially this time of year. Such an elegant yet casual way to serve dessert. And I’m a sucker for anything in a ramekin (no one can touch my dessert!). Beautiful recipe, photography, and story as always, Traci! xo
:D Why, thank you, Allison! Yeah, I think if I had a whole shelf of ramekins, I’d bake just about everything in them! I love the personalized feel they give.
Yummy! I wish I could try this out, I love cobblers and anise especially. Unfortunately it is quite difficult me to get some fresh cranberries, let’s say impossible :D
And so bad, I am not in the US, very lovely giveaway.
Hi Evi! I’m sorry I was unable to open this up to readers outside of the US and that you’re not able to get fresh cranberries. Can you find frozen? It is possible to leave them out and just add more apples. If you can get your hands on dried cranberries, you could mascerate them overnight, and try them in this recipe. I have not done that, but it may be worth a try!
I have never seen frozen ones either, but dried ones always! Actually I always have some at home. So thanks for the tip, I’ll try it out :)
I was thinking more about using dried cranberries and because they’re so sweet, you may want to consider reducing or leaving out the brown sugar for the maceration. There’s a fair amount of sugar in the final mixture so I don’t think you’d be missing any sweetness here. Let us know how you do Evi!! :D
Traci, your photos are STUNNING!!!! They make me want to run home and make cobbler, STAT. And this is such an amazing-sounding giveaway–I just made these really chocolate-y, toffee-studded cookies that I’m newly in love with, so I would most probably use some of the cocoa from this giveaway in making another batch of those. And OMG vanilla beans!!! I’ve never actually baked with them before, but I have so many recipes that I want to try with real-deal vanilla beans–I don’t think I could pick one! Thanks for doing this amazing giveaway!!!
Oh, Erika, thank you my dear! :D Hummmm… chocolatey toffee studded cookies!? Will you be posting them? I need them!!
Vanilla Beans are pure deliciousness and take any baked recipe to gourmet! I think you’d appreciate them! Thanks for stopping by Erika!!
I would try looking into what Wassail could be used for–never used it!
Hi Kathleen! Rodelle Kitchen has a tasty recipe over on their site: http://rodellekitchen.com/our-recipes/pumpkin-spiced-mulled-wine for using Wassail. I love trying out ‘new to me’ ingredients too!
Apples and cranberry is a beautiful combination… this cobbler looks delicious!! Love it Traci!! :)
Thank you Arpita! Beautiful and delicious… it’s that red, I tell ya!
I’d use the vanilla beans to make homemade ice cream and the other items to bake cookies, sweet breads, and cakes.
SO much deliciousness going on here, Annette!!
That recipe looks so good! Something warm with something cold! Yum. I would love to bake up some goodies for the upcoming Holidays.
This dessert is fabulous with a big ole’ scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, shortly after coming out of the oven! I hope you enjoy the recipe Jackie!
I would love to make this! Sounds so yummy and I love anise.
Thanks, Janet! :D
I love the combination of apple and cranberries. I have to make more fall desserts. You’ve inspired me ;-)
This recipe looks so tasty and delicious!
Thanks so much Olivia! The fruit combination is such a nice balance of sweet and tart! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
this cobbler looks divine! i love to cook but definitely need to work on my baking skills!
Hi Lizzy! This apple cobbler would be a great place to practice your baking skills! You’ll love the results!
I will be making this recipe, but swapping pomegranates for the cranberries. My in-laws have a pomegranate tree that has been very prolific this year, and I’m quite honestly sick-to-death of juicing the darn things so I’m trying the arils in just about everything right now!
Hi Tina! That sounds like a great idea… use what you have on hand. I am curious to hear how you like the results. It’s quite an effort to get all those delicious arils out, but worth it! Good for you for taking the time! Thanks for stopping by!
I’d use the star anise to make pho! :)
I would make Chocolate Banana Caramel Cake!
Now that, Carolsue, sounds delicious!
Traci, this looks simply delicious! I love apple desserts in the fall, especially with wonderful spices like these. If I had all those great spices, I would probably make some sort of fruit buckle in my iron skillet, which is one of my favorite fall desserts. I might need to make some mulled wine with that Wassail, too :)
Thank you, Julia! Apples do taste so great in baked recipes. An apple buckle in a cast iron skillet would be fantastic! I just got a cast iron skillet this week! :D I like how you think!!
Wow Traci, this looks incredible! I love this time of the year, with all the fresh cranberries around! This cobbler looks delicious, comforting and not too difficult to make! Definitely a great and eye-catching dessert for a family gathering! Love the flavors! Pinned!
Thank you, Mira! Definitely an easy dessert to pull together. With so many things to do during the holiday season, it’s nice to have something that’s relatively quick to make, but tastes amazing! Thank you for your pin!
I would use these to make pies!
So much to work with here for pies! Thank you, Carolyn!
These cobblers look delicious Traci! Love the apple and cranberry, perfectly warming seasonal pud!
Thank you Jess! :D
This is everything I need for a perfect Christmas dinner.
Hi Susan! Thanks for stopping by!
I’d use the vanilla in my favorite holiday cookie recipes!
It’s a perfect match, Liz! Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful photos, Traci! This cobbler looks so delicious…what I would give for one ramekin of it right now! The first few lines of this post made me melt. Wonderful description, so fitting <3
Thank you, Tash! So happy you enjoyed the post :) !
I’d make deluxe cocoa with vanilla bean and cinnamon
Hi Karen! A deluxe cocoa sounds fabulous! It would be soooo good right now; it’s cooooold outside!
I’ve never tried such a dessert. But it looks totally awesome.
Thank you Parichita! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I have never heard of a grunt before, but I think I like the sound of a cobbler much more, haha! A grunt just sounds not so tasty! I love the ideas of apples and cranberries together! I have been so slacking on making some fall dessert recipes and I really need to get to it soon because before I know it it will be 110 degrees again and I’ll be wishing for the cooler days and wishing I had some pumpkin pie or this cobbler to eat! I also love to get some of the soft flaky topping in every bite, so this will be perfect! Also, what an awesome giveway, Traci! I’m keeping my fingers crossed :)
Hiiii! Izzy! The thing about making fall desserts is one has to pace themselves as to not have too many desserts in ones house at the same time!! :D This cobbler is so tasty warm. About 10 minutes into dinner, I pop these in the oven, so they are nice and hot shortly after dinner!
I would make chocolate cake
Hi Becca! Chocolate cake is always a winner!!
This dessert looks delicious so I would definitely be trying it. I would also make my chocolate cherry fruitcake with the cocoa and vanilla. What a great gift pack.
Hi Mary, thank you! Your chocolate cherry fruitcake sounds delightful!
Traci – this looks perfect. So delicious and easy to make – my kind of dessert. I love a little booze in my dessert as well :). Like the tip about putting the vanilla bean in your sugar – I didn’t know that – would make a great flavored sugar for coffee. Your pictures are just gorgeous – love the pictures of the cranberries marinating and the apples in the basket – you go girl!
Aw, thank you my dear! Red against white is a joy to photograph… especially the cranberries and apples. Such lovely contrasting colors! Vanilla in sugar is the best! It really makes the sugar bowl fragrant.. the more vanilla beans you add to the bowl, the better the coffee gets! They last forever too! So keep em’ in there.
Oh and the bourbon… it is soooo good in desserts! Can’t get enough!
One of my favorite ways to make my home smell like the holidays is to simmer a cinnamon stick in a little bit of water with a drop or two of vanilla. Smells delish and always puts me in that holiday spirit.
Hi Tasha! Oh that sounds delightful! Thank you for the tip and for stopping by!
Cinnamon Sticks for an rustic Apple Crumble. Vanilla Extract to make authentic Vanilla Icrecream and the Cocoa to make Molten Choc Fudge to go with all the summer fruits that are coming into season.
Hi Melissa! Thanks for stopping by! Ummm, I love the idea of molten choc fudge! Sounds lovely!
I love cooking with Rodelle products! I would make my cinnamon gingerbread cake!
Your cake sounds lovely! I was eye’n your cinnamon rolls with cinnamon cream cheese frosting! Wow! I’ll be looking for your gingerbread cake! Thanks for stopping by Sharde!
I would use the bourbon vanilla to make caramel corn…as you know I love caramel!
Yes please, Lynne!! One can never have enough caramel!! You and my Ma!
I would use these giveaway to make your cobbler. The photos look so luscious! I’m going in!
LOL, Barbara! You’re going in! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the recipe! :)
Oh my goodness. Traci. NO. Stop.
Everything on this page is like painfully gorgeous! It has a brightness yet softness to it all, like fresh snow.. ugh, I”m gonna tear up over here! Love that you’ve paired up with Rodelle and please don’t judge me as I try feverishly to win the prize… because… this is a giveaway I’m actually super excited about!
:D Why thank you my dear! Fresh snow… are you wanting some? It certainly feels like it could snow today… a cool 28F this morning! Whaaaa? Good luck, Cheryl!
I’d use the cinnamon sticks for spiced cider or mulled wine :)
Ummm spiced cider sounds so good right now!
I would use the anise extract to make some black licorice caramels and a vanilla bean to make amaretto.
Hi Dana! Your black licorice caramels sound divine and would make excellent holiday gifts! Thanks for stopping by!
My goodness, this cobbler looks so comforting! Lemme just don my fuzzy socks and wooly sweater and cozy up with a ramekin of cobbler goodness!
It’s that dang bourbon, Sarah! It goes with everything! I think a scoop of your apple pie bourbon ice cream would make this recipe over the top delicious and more mouthwatering than one could stand!! Put those together with a wooly sweater and fuzzy socks and let the pampering commence!
I would use the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean from the gift pack for Pumpkin Spiced Mulled Wine recipe I just found on the Rodelle Kitchen website!
Hi Deanne! I think that Pumpkin Spiced Mulled Wine is a must make for the holidays. Add that to the pure comfort list!
I will use these items to make Bourbon Apple Cranberry Cobbler with Vanilla Bean for my family during the holidays this year! It sounds delicious!
Hi Kyle! Yeah, what a gift pack, eh? All the delicious things one needs in the pantry to make those holiday desserts extra special! I hope you and your family enjoy the recipe!