That nip in the air, the earlier sunsets, the back-to-school gear that’s begun to monopolize the store shelves…there’s no point in sugar-coating it, kiddos: summer is almost finito.

The end of August marks a transition; it’s a seasonal no-man’s land that makes us feel a little uneasy about letting go of summer. You know the feeling: when you’re in a store at this time of year and see a crestfallen kid whose mother is stocking the cart with quad notebooks and pencils, both of them still wearing flip flops. You have that moment of empathy – that moment of wanting to say, “I know, buddy. It feels too early.”

Times like these require us to seize what we have, while we have it. This may translate into a final few evenings at the beer garden; or a couple more weekends out at the lake. In the realm of summer foodstuffs still available in northern latitudes, it means one last fling with blueberries.

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I secured a hefty batch of some of the last Quebec blueberries two weekends ago, the same weekend that I was invited to a friend’s for a last-minute dinner. The recipe below is the result of those lovely circumstances coming together. This cobbler was put together in about the same time it took me to shower, put on some clothes and dash out the door. It arrived at the dinner table still warm from the oven with a deep perfume of summer – one that will hopefully linger on just a little while longer.

Bueberry Cobbler (adapted from Bon Appetit) – serves 6

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 ½  tsp baking powder
• ½  tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” pieces
• ½ plain Greek yogurt (full-fat)
• 6 cups blueberries
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, whisk flour, oats, walnuts, baking powder, salt and 2 Tbsp sugar. Add butter, using your fingers and combine with flour mixture to make pea-size clumps. Gently mix in yogurt. Knead until biscuit-like dough forms, being careful not to over-mix (which will toughen the dough).

In a separate bowl, combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar, berries, juice and zest. Toss to coat. Pour into a baking dish. Tear biscuit topping into rough pieces and scatter over berries.

*Note: Technically, a cobbler has spaces between the topping pieces, but somehow mine just sort of melded together while it baked – it doesn’t effect the taste, but aesthetically, it ended up looking more like a crisp and less like a cobbler. For a more “authentic” look, just use less bits of topping and make sure there are spaces so that that the berries can pop through.

Bake until juices and thick and bubbling and topping is cooked through and golden brown (35-45 minutes).