How to Make Blueberry Pie

After a long, hot summer, I love the fall of the year. The blistering temperatures and high humidity have been replaced by comfortable temps and a cooling breeze.

Another reason I love this time of year is the abundance of local fruits and vegetables available at markets and roadside stands.

One of our favourite fruits is blueberries. They grow in wild abandon in fields all over southern New Brunswick.

Not only are they delicious, blueberries are very high in antioxidants.

One of my favourite things to make using these tasty little navy blue jewels is a classic Blueberry Pie; which incidentally is one of the only desserts my hubby and son will eat. Blueberry Pie is also an often requested “birthday cake” by these two.

Some people just dump the blueberries into the pie shell with a little sugar, flour/cornstarch and butter. I like to partially cook some the berries first as we prefer the consistency and taste of that filling. It takes a little more work but is well worth any extra effort.

I have made this pie for so long, that I really don’t use an exact recipe. When I made it last week, I knew I wanted to share the recipe with you, so I took note of ingredients and quantities.

I hope you will give this Blueberry Pie recipe a try and that you enjoy the final result as much as we do.

Beautiful, tasty, freshly picked wild blueberries!
You could also use frozen blueberries for this recipe.

These berries are quite sweet on their own, I have only added a scant 3/4 cup sugar to the five cups of berries in this recipe.

I love the look of the sugar-coated berries!

Stir the cold water and cornstarch together to make a “slurry”.

Add slurry to blueberries and continue cooking, stirring frequently. The slurry is what causes the mixture to thicken.

Cook until mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of your wooden spoon or spatula.

Once thickened, remove mixture from heat and stir in lemon juice and for a silky texture, butter.

Pour cooked blueberries into a large bowl and add the additional two cups blueberries; stir gently to combine. These berries will soften a bit in the hot mixture and give the filling a second layer of texture.

When the filling has cooled, add it to an icy cold, pastry lined pie plate.

Fold the top pastry in half and then in half again. Using a sharp knife, cut out four small triangular vents.

Place top crust on top of filling. Trim and fold the two crusts together. I don’t get fancy, I almost always just finish the crust by going around the edge with a flour-dipped fork.

My mom taught me this trick and I use it for all berry based pies.

Using a small brown paper lunch bag, cut out eight squares. Shape each square into a tube and stick one tube in each vent. These vents will allow steam and juices to escape up the tube and keep the top of the pie clean.

The final result is well worth little bit of extra effort that it takes to make this spectacular pie!

If you have any questions at all about this or any of my recipes, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my very best to answer.

What is your favourite pie to make or eat?