Cobbler topping
A cobbler topping is a lid of soft scone or biscuit dough dropped or arranged in rounds over a filling and baked, giving a pie-like dish without rolled pastry.
The rounds are placed with small gaps between them, so the topping bakes into a cobbled surface with crisp tops and soft undersides where they meet the filling. It goes over a hot filling and into a hot oven, around 200C (400F), so the base of the dough cooks through rather than turning gummy.
For savoury chicken cobblers the dough is usually enriched with butter and buttermilk or milk, and often flavoured with herbs, mustard, or cheese. It is faster and more forgiving than pastry, which makes it a good weeknight substitute for a pie lid.