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 The blistering temperatures and high humidity have been replaced by comfortable temps and a cooling breeze.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!
- 5 cups blueberries
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Crystallized sugar (for the top of the pie)
- 2 pie crusts
- Combine 3 cups of the berries with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a saucepan.
- Simmer on low heat until sugar mixture is melted, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and water in small bowl to make a slurry.
- Add slurry to the pan with blueberries.
- Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens.
- Remove from heat and add lemon juice and butter, stir.
- Pour hot mixture into large bowl.
- Fold in remaining 2 cups of blueberries.
- Let blueberry mixture cool before adding uncooked pie shell.
- Fold remaining pie crust in half and then half again.Cut four slits in remaining pie crust. (To allow steam to escape)
- Push tubes of brown paper into slits. (This prevents the filling from bubbling over the pie crust)
- Sprinkle crust with crystalized sugar. (Regular sugar works too, but I like the look of the larger granules. Available at cake decorating stores)
- Chill pie completely before baking.
- Preheat oven to 400°F but reduce heat to 375°F when you put the pie in the oven. Bake about 40 minutes. Check pie halfway through baking; cover edges with a strip of foil if they are getting too brown.
- Remove from oven to a rack to cool, remove brown paper tubes.
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?
Monica, this looks so delicious. We both love blueberry pie in this household and I haven’t made one in a very long time. I like the fact that you precooked most of the berries as that would prevent a lot of “boil-over” and waste of the yummy fruit. I remember, now that you said this, that Mum used the paper chimneys as well.
Now to get some fresh berries and get cooking!~ Thanks for the great recipe.
Thanks, Pat, and yes, that is exactly what mom called them, chimneys! I had forgotten that. Get some berries if you can and make this pie, it was such a nice treat!
Monica Parlee recently posted…Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Great recipe. I love your pictures. I will try your venting technique. My husband is a fan of all things pie.
Fariha recently posted…Bye Bye Germs! Hello #PURELL30 #ShakeOnIt #ad
I had my first blueberry pie this summer! It was delicious, I can’t wait to try your recipe – my family will love it.
Randa Derkson recently posted…Pulled Pork Sundae
Thank you for this! I really want to start baking pies this Fall. Starting with apple and the blueberry pie-the sugar on top looks so nice.
{Erica}EverythingMomandBaby recently posted…Nudge Food #GetNudged #PoweredbyGrass #FoodMadeBetter
I have never attempted to make a blueberry pie or any pie but that tip about venting is great! I may just try to make one myself :) Looks so good
Gingermommy recently posted…Frankenstein Mason Jar craft for parties
This sounds amazing! I love blueberries and it’s been forever since I had a blueberry pie!
Thanks, Stephanie! You should make one, this pie was really delicious.