Blueberry Pie

By Danilo Alfaro

culinaryarts.about.com

Blueberry pie.

Photo © John E. Kelly / Getty Images

Blueberry Pie Recipe

This blueberry pie recipe is a wonderful way to use fresh blueberries when they're in season and plentiful. But you can definitely make this blueberry pie with frozen blueberries, and it'll still be really good. If you use fresh blueberries, just rinse them and pick off any stems. Frozen ones should be thawed and drained.

Since this is a double crust pie, you'll need a full batch of this flaky pie crust dough. But since you want the top crust to be flakier than the bottom, you'd have to make two batches, one with the butter cut in to the size of cornmeal, and one with the butter cut in to the size of peas. The one with the bigger lumps will be flakier, and you'd use that one for the top crust. The bottom one needs to be less flaky so it doesn't get soggy. What that means is you'll have enough dough to make two pies, and you can easily double this recipe.

Or, you could buy one pre-made bottom crust and make your own flaky crust for the top.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 batch flaky pie crust (see above)
• 6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
• ¾ cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ tsp lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes
• Milk for brushing

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F.


2. Combine the blueberries in a large bowl with the sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir to combine.


3. Divide the dough in half, and roll each half into a round that's about ⅛-inch thick and 12 inches across. Fit one round over a 9-inch pie tin. Press the dough all the way down firmly without stretching it.


4. Fill the bottom pie shell with the blueberry mixture and dot with the cubes of butter.


5. Brush the edges of the bottom crust with milk to moisten it, which will help get a good seal with the top crust.


6. Now fit the top crust over the bottom one and press the edges firmly to seal them. Crimp the edges with a fork to trim off the excess dough, or flute the edges with your fingers. Cut a few small slits in the top crust to allow steam to vent.


7. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.


8. Transfer the pie to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and flaky. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before slicing.