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    Home » Recipes » Desserts (Baked) » Raspberry Pandowdy

    PUBLISHED: June 16, 2022 • By Toni Dash 54 Comments

    Raspberry Pandowdy

    Jump to Recipe

    This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    raspberry pandowdy overhead in pan.

    Raspberry Pandowdy is brimming with sweet fresh raspberries cooked with a flaky pastry topping for a rustic dessert you’ll love! It’s a homey, relaxed dessert with classic American comfort food roots.

    raspberry pandowdy overhead in pan.

    Despite it’s odd name, pandowdy is a favorite old-fashioned dessert recipe dating back to colonial times in the early 1900’s. That doesn’t make it out of date, quite the opposite! This easy, delicious dessert recipe is always a crowd pleaser. Sweet bubbling fruit filling topped with torn pie crust dough on top of the filling.

    It all bakes into a tasty scoopable dessert made even better with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream served on top of the crust. If you like an easy cooking process this will be one of your favorite desserts!

    Raspberry Pandowdy is one of the classic Americana recipes you’ll love!

    Jump to:
    • What is a pandowdy?
    • Recipe Ingredient Notes
    • Note about pan and serving sizes
    • How to make Raspberry Pandowdy
    • Variations
    • How to Store
    • More recipes you’ll love!
    • Recipe

    What is a pandowdy?

    If you’ve never heard of a pandowdy or have no idea what it is, you aren’t alone. A pandowdy is part of the Crisp and Crumble family of desserts. Like cobblers and crisps, it’s very basic and simple to prepare.

    It’s a homey comfort food with sweet berries cooked in a casserole dish or baking pan with a pastry topping making a relaxed summer dessert.

    The homemade pastry topping is layered on in pastry scraps which allows the steam from the bubbling juices to escape during cooking. It has patchwork pattern look. Hence the name pandowdy; ‘pan’ from being cooked in a pan instead of a pie dish and ‘dowdy’ because of it’s messy, inelegant appearance.

    A pandowdy is almost an upside-down pie in concept though with a format like a crumble. It’s very simple; fruit on the bottom, crust on top in a very rustic form. It is not a fussy dessert by any means but rather a flavorful and simple celebration of seasonal fruit.

    Apple pan dowdy and peach pandowdy are more well known. We used fresh raspberries and I adapted one of my Great Grandmother’s pie crust recipes that is light and flaky for the topping.

    Ruby red fresh from the oven Raspberry Pandowdy, an Americana dessert, in a white baking pan

    Recipe Ingredient Notes

    All-Purpose Flour. Regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour can be used. We love Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour for a gluten-free version.

    Unsalted butter. You’ll need 5 1/3 tablespoons of cold butter for the flaky crust plus a bit more to grease the baking pan.

    Fresh raspberries. 5 cups of fresh raspberries rinsed and patted dry.

    Granulated sugar. This is used to sweeten the fruit mixture.

    Lemon juice. Use freshly squeezed juice for best flavor.

    Nutmeg. If you can freshly grate the nutmeg, do it! If not ground nutmeg works great too.

    Kosher salt. We recommend kosher salt because it’s a less salty tasting salt.

    Cornstarch. Corn starch thickens the juicy filling as it cooks. Arrowroot starch can be substituted if preferred.

    Ice water. Combine cold water with some ice to really chill it. This will be added to the crust mixture.

    Note about pan and serving sizes

    Raspberry Pandowdy is a scoopable dessert so though the size of the pan will determine how deep the recipe is, a serving is more the volume of your scoop!

    Typically I’ve found making the recipe in an 8-inch by 11-inch baking dish is about right (refer to photo below for the depth), though even a 9-inch by 9-inch pan or a deep-dish pie pan would work well. The Raspberry Pandowdy in the photos above was cooked in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan which leaves it a bit thin.

    It serves six perfectly maybe even eight with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

    A single scoop of freshly baked gluten-free Raspberry Pandowdy

    How to make Raspberry Pandowdy

    STEP 1. Preparation

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8-inch by 11-inch baking pan with butter (the extra butter).

    STEP 2. Make the crust

    Combine the flour, butter (1/3 cup), salt in the bowl of a food processor equipped with the kneading blade and process until forming a coarse meal. If making by hand use a dough or pastry blender.

    Slowly add ice water while blending to allow the dough to make a smoother consistency and form a ball. Do not over blend.

    NOTE: depending on whether you use gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour, you may not need to use all of the ice water.

    Place the dough ball between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and roll out to be about 1/8 inch thick with a rolling pin. Place in the dough in the wax paper in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to chill.

    Note: if the dough is too warm/sticky to roll out, you can chill the dough ball 20 minutes and then proceed with rolling out and re-chilling.

    STEP 3. Make the raspberry filling

    While the dough chills, in a large bowl combine the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg and gently fold in to combine. Sprinkle the mixture with the cornstarch and fold in completely. Spoon berry mixture into the prepared baking dish.

    STEP 4. Make and bake the pandowdy

    Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Breaking off pieces of the crust, cover the berry mixture completely. Placing the crust in this way allows for steam to more easily escape as well for the berry juices to seep through to the top over some of the crust. 

    NOTE: If using a smaller pan, place on a baking sheet before baking in case of any spillage.

    Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour baking time. Remove and allow to cool 20 minutes before serving.

    Freshly baked Raspberry Pandowdy, an Americana dessert, in a white baking dish with wire cooling rack

    Variations

    Use a store bought pie crust. If you are feeling lazy you can even use regular pie dough or a store-bought pie crust especially since it’s broken into pieces when added to the top to allow steam to escape. Regular or gluten-free pie crust will work.

    Cut out shapes. If you’d rather have a less rustic appearance to the pandowdy, cut the top crust into dough squares or use a large cookie cutters to make shapes. Be sure to leave some small spaces when putting it on top of the fruit so it cooks properly.

    How to Store

    Store cooled pandowdy tightly sealed or transferred to an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Warm before serving leftovers.

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    Recipe

    raspberry pandowdy from overhead in pan.

    Raspberry Pandowdy

    Raspberry Pandowdy is a classic Americana dessert that is rustic and simple to make.  This easy, relaxed dessert has a thick fresh cooked raspberry layer topped with a flaky crust.
    4.97 from 32 votes
    Print Save Recipe Recipe Saved! Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American, gluten-free
    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 20 hours 55 minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 316kcal
    Author: Toni Dash
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    Equipment

    Rolling pin

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup all purpose flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend
    • 1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter cold and sliced (plus extra to grease the pan)
    • 3/4 teaspoon kosher Salt
    • 2 1/2 tablespoons ice water
    • 5 cups raspberries rinsed and patted dry
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 pinch ground nutmeg freshly grated if possible
    • 2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot starch

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch by 11-inch baking pan.
      NOTE: this is a scoopable dessert which will be about 1-inch thick in this pan size.  The serving size provides enough volume per person.
    • Equip a food processor with the kneading blade (or if making by hand use a dough/pastry blender). Combine the flour, butter (1/3 cup), salt in the food processor bowl. Blend until grainy.
    • Slowly add ice water while blending to allow the dough to make a smoother consistency and form a ball. Do not over blend.
      NOTE: depending on whether you use gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour, you may not need to use all of the ice water.
    • Place the dough ball between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and roll out to be about 1/8 inch thick.
    • Place in the dough in the wax paper in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to chill. If the dough is too warm/sticky to roll out, you can chill the dough ball 20 minutes and then proceed with rolling out and re-chilling.
    • While the dough chills, in a large bowl combine the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg and gently fold in to combine.
      Sprinkle the mixture with the cornstarch and fold in completely.
    • Spoon berry mixture into the prepared baking dish.
    • Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Breaking off pieces of the crust, cover the berry mixture completely.
      Placing the crust in this way allows for steam to more easily escape as well for the berry juices to seep through to the top over some of the crust.  
    • Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. Remove and allow to cool 20 minutes before serving.

    Notes

    Recipe times
    The prep time represents 20 minutes of chilling for the light, flaky pastry dough that tops the dessert.  The true prep takes about 10 minutes tops!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 293mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 350IU | Vitamin C: 27.1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 0.8mg
    Did you make this recipe?Mention @boulderlocavore or tag #boulderlocavore!

    Originally published: July 2012

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    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    TONI DASH
    Toni Dash head shot

    Toni Dash, is a Certified Nutrition Coach and the writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer and creator of Boulder Locavore®. She has been developing easy to make, well-tested recipes since 2010. Her seasonal recipes bring excitement to the dining table for both gluten-free and gluten diners. Toni has been featured in numerous publications and on culinary websites for her creative, delicious recipes and travel features. For more details, check out her About page.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Amy says

      June 18, 2022 at 8:09 pm

      5 stars
      So delicious and I am so excited to make this agsin for my family,

      Reply
    2. Kim says

      June 17, 2022 at 12:06 pm

      5 stars
      This is such a great dessert. Made it the other day and the whole house smelled amazing the rest of the day. It was really easy to make and the flavour is out of this world. Thanks for a great recipe!

      Reply
    3. wilhelmina says

      June 17, 2022 at 11:52 am

      5 stars
      Love this yummy dessert! Raspberries are a summer favorite and they are shown off to perfection in this. Delicious!

      Reply
    4. Bessie says

      June 17, 2022 at 8:45 am

      5 stars
      This really turned out so good! Loved the uniquness!

      Reply
    5. Jess says

      June 16, 2022 at 9:27 am

      5 stars
      Gimme all the fresh berries! Such a yummy dessert!

      Reply
    6. kushigalu says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:44 am

      5 stars
      What an interesting dessert recipe to try with raspberries. SOmething new to me. So delicious. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    7. GDB says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:43 am

      5 stars
      The pandowdy was delicious everyone was asking for the recipe! thanks!

      Reply
    8. Ieva says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:29 am

      5 stars
      Lovely recipe! I used frozen raspberries, and it made this dessert one of the most budget-friendly treats ever!

      Reply
    9. Claudia Lamascolo says

      June 16, 2022 at 8:09 am

      5 stars
      Huge huge fans of raspberry and this recipe was loved by all will make it often in this season its amazing!

      Reply
    10. Stacey D says

      June 16, 2022 at 7:56 am

      5 stars
      So incredibly delicious! I think next time I’ll make it with blueberries!

      Reply
    « Older Comments

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    About Toni Dash

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    Welcome! I’m Toni. I’m a Certified Nutrition Coach and my goal is to MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER with delicious, well-tested recipes and travel tips! More About Me …

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