Blueberry Pie

Blueberries are everywhere & I am pretty happy about that! There are several recipes I love with blueberries & one of them is this blueberry pie. Just a basic blueberry pie, nothing fancy. 

I used a recipe from Martha Stewart.

The fresh blueberries I used were not very sweet so the pie wasn’t either. Some of the people who ate it loved it that way….I prefer it sweeter so a bit of ice cream can help with that!

The shortening I used for the pie crust was Crisco & I used the recipe for the crust that is printed on the box! I made the  Fresh Strawberry Pie  with the same kind of pie crust. There are many recipes for pie crust but I like to make the pie crust parve ( non-dairy) so that is why I use Crisco.

This pie can be vegan if you don’t use an egg wash on the crust & the recipe calls for using butter in the pie  (I didn’t do that) which you would not do to have a vegan pie. You could substitute the butter for a vegan margarine if you want. The pie was fine without any either’

Here is the recipe 

Ingredients

prepared pie dough, you need a top & a bottom for this pie. *** you could use frozen pie crust that comes 2 shells to a box, using one for the bottom of the pie & the other one of the top *** I use Crisco Vegetable Shortening & use the recipe on the box! You can use any pie crust recipe you like. Divide the dough into 2 discs… see #1 of the method.

some flour for rolling your crust on

8 cups of fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar *** my pie could have used more sugar… check the sweetness of your berries & if you like a sweet pie, add some more sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp unsalted butter or vegan margarine

1 egg yolk *** omit if you want a vegan pie

1 tbsp water *** omit if you want a vegan pie since the water is just to mix with the egg yolk *** note that the original recipe calls for 1 tbsp of heavy cream to be mixed with the egg yolk, but I used water. for 2 reasons, #1 I wanted my pie to be dairy free & 2, I sent have heavy cream in the fridge at all times…the water worked just fine

Method

Preheat oven to 400f

1. Roll out one of the pie dough discs on a slightly floured board to a 12 inch circle. Reserve the second disc…it will be the top of the pie.
2. Gently put the rolled out pie dough into a 9 inch pie plate & very gently press it into the corners of the pan leaving an overhang. Trim the overhang to about 1/4 or so over the edge of the pie pan. *** you need a bit of overhang so that when you put the top piece of crust over & you have some dough from the bottom one to work with when you are sealing the 2 of them together… see #10 of method
3. Roll out the second disc of pie dough & set aside…you can put it onto a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap & keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use so that the dough does not get warm
4. Put the blueberries into a large bowl & with your hands, crush about 1/2 cup of berries…
5. Mix the cornstarch into the sugar & add this to the blueberries
6. Add the lemon juice. Mix well to combine
7. Put the blueberry mixture into the pie shell
8. Dot with butter if using
9. Take the reserved rolled piece of pie dough & place it over the blueberry filling
10. Tuck the edge of the top dough underneath the bottom of the bottom crust…
11. Using your fingers, press the 2 layers of dough together really well to seal them & crimp them any way you like
12. Vent the top crust. You can use a paring knife to cut slits in any way like…this venting allows steam to escape.
13. Mix the egg yolk & water together. Brush the surface with the egg wash…don’t let the egg wash pool on the shell.
14. Put the pie in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes…this could the shortening in the dough which helps to make a flakey crust. I don’t always do this…depends on the time I have…
15. Place the pie on a lined cookie sheet for easy clean up. Use parchment paper if you have it. You can use foil but  when the juice from the berries ooze deliciously out of the pie… the pie plate will stick to the foil but not to the parchment…
16. Bake the pie for about 20 minutes until the crust gets golden brown…then REDUCE THE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350F. Continue baking until the crust is a deep golden brown & the juices from the berries are bubbling & is thickened….about 40 to 50 minutes
17. Cool the pie completely on a wire rack
18. This pie will keep for up to 2 days on the counter..

Enjoy!