Pineapple Cream Cheese Cobbler

This pineapple cream cheese cobbler is an old-fashioned butter-batter cobbler: a thin batter of flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk is poured over melted butter in a 9×13 dish, then topped with drained pineapple chunks, small cubes of cream cheese, and cinnamon sugar. In the oven the batter rises up around the fruit and fries in the butter at the edges. It comes out tender and buttery, with distinct pieces of pineapple, soft pockets of cream cheese, a lightly golden top, and browned, crisp corners. It has no eggs and no cake mix, and it serves 12.

Jump to Recipe

Cobbler, Dump Cake, or Upside-Down Cake?

All three show up in searches for pineapple desserts, and they bake differently:

• This cobbler starts with a homemade pour-batter. The batter goes in first, over the butter, and the fruit and cream cheese sit on top. As it bakes, the batter rises through them, so the fruit ends up partly enclosed in a soft cake.
• A dump cake layers fruit (often pie filling or undrained crushed pineapple) on the bottom and covers it with dry boxed cake mix and butter. The top bakes into a crumbly crust over a saucy fruit layer. Our fall dump cake recipes show that method.
• A pineapple upside-down cake is an egg-based cake baked over pineapple rings and brown sugar, then flipped onto a plate.

The cream cheese doesn’t make this a cheesecake either. It stays in separate soft pockets instead of being beaten into a filling.

Ingredient Notes

Pineapple chunks: One 20-ounce can of chunks gives about 2 cups of fruit (roughly 12 to 14 ounces once drained). Drain it in a sieve for about 10 minutes, then blot the chunks on paper towels. Juice left on the fruit seeps into the batter and is the main reason a pineapple cream cheese cobbler turns gummy in the center. Leave the chunks whole; standard canned chunks are about 3/4 inch, which is the right size to stay distinct. Halve only the occasional oversized piece. Crushed pineapple and undrained fruit are too wet for this batter.

Cream cheese: Use a full-fat block, not spread from a tub. Softened cream cheese is hard to cut neatly, so cut the block into 1/2-inch cubes while it’s cold, spread the cubes on a plate, and let them sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes while the butter melts. They should feel soft but still hold their shape.

Flour, baking powder, and milk: Two teaspoons of baking powder for one cup of flour is on the generous side, but it’s typical for this style of cobbler, which has to rise up around heavy fruit without any egg. Whole milk gives the most tender batter; 2% also works. Check that the baking powder is fresh, since this batter relies on it completely.

Butter and salt: The recipe uses unsalted butter with 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the batter. If you only have salted butter, cut the added salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

How to Make It

Melt the butter in the dish

Put the stick of butter in a 9×13 baking dish and set it in the oven while it heats to 350°F. Take it out as soon as the butter has melted, usually 5 to 8 minutes; if it starts to brown, it can scorch during the long bake. Tilt the dish so the butter covers the bottom evenly. Putting the dish in while the oven heats, rather than into a fully hot oven, is also gentler on glass and ceramic.

Mix the batter and pour it over the butter

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then whisk in the milk until the batter is smooth and pourable, like a thin pancake batter. A few tiny lumps are fine; stop once the dry flour disappears. Pour it slowly over the melted butter, starting in the center and moving outward, and don’t stir. The butter will pool around the edges and over parts of the batter. That’s what gives the edges their crisp, browned finish.

Add the pineapple, cream cheese, and cinnamon sugar

Scatter the drained pineapple evenly over the batter in a single layer, then dot the cream cheese cubes in the gaps between the fruit so each serving gets several. Don’t press anything down; the batter will rise around them. Mix the 3 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the whole surface, edges included.

Bake, then rest

Bake on the center rack for 40 to 50 minutes. The edges brown first; the center, where the fruit and cream cheese are densest, takes longest. If the edges are deep golden but the center still looks wet, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the dish and bake 5 to 10 minutes more. Let the cobbler rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so the batter sets and the butter settles back in.

How to Tell It’s Done

Look for these signs together, not just a timer:

• The edges are deep golden brown and pulling slightly away from the dish.
• The batter between the fruit in the center is golden and set, and it springs back when pressed lightly.
• A toothpick pushed into the batter near the center (not into a cream cheese pocket) comes out with moist crumbs but no wet, raw batter.
• The cream cheese pockets are soft and may have a few lightly golden spots.

Under the golden top, the batter is soft and cakey with buttery edges, the pineapple holds its shape, and the cream cheese stays in small creamy pockets rather than melting into a layer. If the center seems underdone when you cut it, return the dish to the oven for a few minutes; the rest time alone won’t finish raw batter.

Serving

Serve it warm, cut into 12 squares (3 by 4). A light dusting of powdered sugar goes on after the rest, if you use it; on a hot cobbler it melts away. Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is optional. For a make-ahead pineapple dessert that needs no oven, the ambrosia in our classic dessert salads is a cold option. If you’d rather have a crumble-topped bar, try the cinnamon apple crumble bars, or browse more desserts.

Storing, Reheating, and Freezing

Because of the cream cheese, leftover pineapple cream cheese cobbler belongs in the refrigerator. Cover the dish or move the squares to an airtight container within 2 hours of baking; they keep for 3 to 4 days. Reheat single portions in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or warm the covered dish at 325°F for 10 to 15 minutes. The edges soften after chilling and won’t be as crisp as on the first day.

You can freeze cooled squares, wrapped well, for up to 2 months, but expect a change: the cream cheese pockets turn a little grainy and the batter gets softer after thawing. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as above.

Pineapple Cobbler FAQ

Recipe Card