I always offer to bring something over when invited to dinner. And because I love to bake, I get really happy when I get to bring dessert! The dilemma usually is…. what to bring?!
Pies in general are easy to make and are attractive in presentation. I haven’t made a blueberry pie since last 4th of July and thought, what the heck! I read a few recipes on- line but created this one on my own. Its got my special twist.
I do have a pretty good recipe for home-made pie dough but, I’ll let you in on a little secret. The majority of the time that I make pie, I use store-bought pie crusts. When I make the dough from scratch, I make double batches. I use half and stick the other half in the freezer for future use. Yesterday, however, I had no more frozen pie dough waiting for me in my freezer so I had to buy some from my grocery store. It turned out just as yummy. Here’s how I did it.
Ingredients:
- Two store bought raw pie crusts defrosted
- 4 cups of blueberries
- 3/4 cup of sugar (vanilla sugar is also great with this if you have any)
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tbsp of butter cut into small cubes
- optional egg wash: one egg, one tbsp water
Directions:
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- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and measure 4 cups of blueberries
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- Zest one lemon right on top of blueberries using a microplane
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- In a separate bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except butter. Then pour over blueberries and mix well using your hands so as not to bruise berries too much.
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- Pour mixture into store-bought or home made pie crust. Scatter the small dabs of butter on top.
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- Cut second pie crust into strips using knife or pizza cutter.
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- Create a lattice on top of the pie using these strips then crimp edges with a fork.
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- Beat one egg with a little bit of water then brush on top of pie. This egg wash is optional but gives the top of the pie a pretty shine when it comes out of the oven.
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- Place the pie on a sheet tray before placing in the center rack of your oven. (It’ll bubble over blueberry juice all over the floor of your oven if you don’t.)
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- Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Lower heat to 275 then bake for another 30 to 35 minutes.
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- Enjoy with some vanilla ice cream!
For those of you who are a little freaked out about making a lattice top for your pie, here’s a super simple tutorial on youtube. The woman in the video measured the strips with a ruler but… just eye ball it guys… You’re making a pie, not conducting a science experiment. It doesn’t have to be that perfect 😉
Little Miss Sunshine State 