Hi, everyone! How was your 4th of July? Did you do anything fun? Eat anything awesome?
We pigged out here…
Hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, potato salad, tossed salad, roasted corn salad, beers, and…
Blueberry pie.
Oh. My. Goodness.
This was a total experiment, an amalgamation of different recipes I found online and a topping that I found on Pinterest.
And it actually turned out well. I cried when I took it out of the oven. I cried when I took my five million pictures of it. I cried when I ate it. I cried when I realized that there was no more left.
But no worries, it was super simple to make!
For the filling:
Get yourself some blueberries.
Fresh is best since it is the summertime and around here, blueberries are (slightly) dirt cheap. This is two pints.
Spread the berries on some paper towels, not only to dry them but to sort through them.
Discard any little bits of stem, mushed berries, etc.
Toss the berries in a bowl and throw in some lemon zest.
Then add the juice of half the lemon.
Lemon and blueberries… yum! One of the best combinations.
Depending on the sweetness of the blueberries, add some granulated sugar.
I ended up adding ½ a cup (which gave the pie the perfect tart-sweet ratio).
Now it’s time to choose sides. Half the recipes I found used tapioca as a thickener and the other half use corn starch.
I went with corn starch. Gotta stick with what I know (and what I have in my pantry!).
Along with the cornstarch, I added in allspice, cinnamon, and some salt.
Not too much, but enough to give the blueberries a little depth.
Mix it all together.
And resist diving in with a spoon. (please have more self control than I do!)
For the crust:
Here is what you need for the crust…
Yes, I am using store-bought pie crust. I have no qualms about using it. If you have a pie dough recipe that you love, go for it! Just make sure that you have enough for two crusts.
Place one pie crust in the GREASED pie plate.
Crimp the edges… please excuse my poor crimping skills. I try.
For 4th of July, I found the cutest idea on Pinterest – using cookie cutters to cut out pie crust stars for the topping.
I used a medium-sized star cutter and a small-sized star cutter.
I saw that the stars were getting slightly warm, so I popped them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and placed them in the freezer for a couple of minutes. It made them bake much more evenly!
To assemble:
Place the filling into the pie crust.
Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash (one egg with a tablespoon of milk whisked together). It’ll make your crust golden brown and shiny!
Then place your stars on top!
I think that the two sizes of stars makes it interesting.
I put egg wash on the stars and then sprinkle some sugar over the top.
Place the pie plate on a parchment-lined cookie sheet – this will save you from cleaning the bottom of your oven in case of spill over!
Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 35-45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling.
Look how beautiful.
It was delicious (and oh so patriotic!).
I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!
Your pie lovin’ friend,
C
Blueberry Pie
Ingredients:
2 pints of fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry
½ cup of granulated sugar (more or less, depending on sweetness of the berries)
2 tablespoons of corn starch
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
Juice of ½ a medium-sized lemon
⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon of allspice
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 pie crusts
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
Sugar for sprinkling
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. In a large bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, corn starch, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Stir to combine.
3. Place one pie crust in a greased 10” pie plate.
4. Using star cookie cutters, cut stars out of the second pie crust. If the stars get warm, place on a cookie sheet in the freezer until chilled.
5. Pour blueberry filling into the pie crust and top with the pie crust stars.
6. In a small bowl, combine egg and milk (egg wash). Brush egg wash over crust and the stars. Sprinkle sugar over the crust and stars.
7. Place pie in oven and bake at 400° for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, lower temperature to 350° and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes, or until filling is bubbly.
8. Let pie cool to room temperature for approximately 4 hours before serving with ice cream, whipped cream, or both!
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