This delicious fresh blueberry pie is the best! Loaded with fresh local blueberries, then to heighten the flavour of the blueberries is by adding fresh lemon zest and juice and it only goes without saying cinnamon and nutmeg enhances this scrumptious pie!
Blueberries are a simple straight-forward and an easy fruit to cook and bake with. You can make your desserts and sauces using fresh blueberries or frozen. Before baking with blueberries, give them a taste, if they are a little tart, add a little more sugar to your recipe. Depending on the weather when purchasing local, if it’s been a dry summer, the blueberries will be sweeter, but then a wet summer will create tart blueberries, but they will larger, due to water content.
Growing up the fruits that we would eat most in the summer months were the ones that were assessible, whether we grew them or could find them in our local grocery stores. They were apples, pears, peaches, watermelons, cantaloupes, strawberries but we didn’t start eating blueberries until we were introduced to them. My Dad was completely against eating this dark blue tiny round fruit. Until we made a pie with them and it was my sister Barb who brought us a freshly baked blueberry pie. We all thought we died and gone to heaven! It was soooo delicious and from then on we can’t seem to get enough of this fabulous fruit! My Dad eventually became fond of blueberries 🙂
DID YOU KNOW.....
Blueberries are consider a SUPERFOOD and one of the most nutrient dense food out there. It is the KING of antioxidant foods. Rich in fiber, Vitamin C and K, and manganese are your major nutrients. Studies have shown by eating blueberries you improve your mental health, more specifically improves your memory; fights diseases such as cancer and heart disease, aids in digestion, helps to protect against aging and lowers blood pressure are the major health benefits. When you look at it, try to include blueberries in your diet daily to get the full benefits.
WHEN MAKING THIS DELICIOUS BLUEBERRY PIE
Pastry Dough: I will always suggest to use COLD butter whenever you’re making pastry dough, for a light, flaky pie crust. I have been using this pastry dough recipe for years and it works every time. It’s tender, flaky and light in texture. A personal preference is to roll out the dough a little thinner then most people do, something I learnt from my Mom.
Blueberries: using fresh blueberries is such a treat! If you are like me, I freeze a bunch of blueberries to use throughout the year and I find the flavour is still there. For this recipe, I used 4 cups for a 9 inch pie plate, and when washing your blueberries, important to allow them to dry before adding them to the recipe so the flour will stick to the berries.
Frozen vs fresh: if you use frozen blueberries, treat them as you would fresh berries. Combine the ingredients together and fill your pie plate while the berries still frozen.
Lemon: using lemon juice or zest adds a fresh tangy flavour to the pie but it enhances the blueberry flavour as well. So don’t hesitate to use a little extra.
Spices: who doesn’t love adding cinnamon and nutmeg to a blueberry recipe? Those spices added to a berry recipe, or even a peach recipe, gives it that extra punch of flavour! The combination of spices and the fruit will further enhance the yumminess we so enjoy!
SOME DELICIOUS BLUEBERRY RECIPES TO TRY...
HOW TO MAKE THIS DELICIOUS PIE
This is by no means a difficult recipe. Once you have the pastry dough made and allow to rest in the refrigerator. Then combine the ingredients for the blueberry filling. Roll out the dough and if you desire to create a lattice design, that will take a little extra time, and in that case, I would wait to combine the ingredients for the filling. FOLLOW the recipe and instructions with photos BELOW.
Best Blueberry Pie
Equipment
- 9 inch pie plate (23 cm)
Ingredients
- pastry dough recipe
- 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 2/3 cups raw cane sugar
- 4 tbsp tapioca starch/arrowroot starch/cornstarch
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- dash salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Follow the instructions on the link for the Perfect Pie Pastry recipe.
- Using a clean surface, dust with flour, and roll out one disc of dough, and the place in a 9 inch pie plate.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, add blueberries, sugar, starch, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, combine with a rubber spatula to avoid breaking any berries. Pour the berry mixture into pie plate, drizzle lemon juice, and add dollops of butter.
- Roll out second layer of pie dough. Options for the topping are a lattice, or simply lay over the blueberries. Brush the top and sides with beaten egg. Cut slits for the steam to escape if not creating a lattice topping.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden in colour.
- Enjoy with ice cream or whipping cream.
Nutrition
HOW TO MAKE THIS DELICIOUS PIE
This pastry dough recipe has been in the family for years and it is the best! It doesn’t include shortening, only fat added to this recipe is butter and the results are so flaky, and such a tender, yummy crust. Click the link for the pie pastry recipe: Perfect Pie Pastry
Once you have made the pie dough and it’s had a chance to rest. Roll out it out and have your topping ready by cutting the strips with a sharp knife and about 1/2-3/4 inch wide.
In a medium bowl, add the blueberries, sugar, starch of your choice, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice. Then add it to the lined pie shell and then add dollops of butter.
I decided to create a lattice topping, and always start in the center with the long strips, and making sure you are placing each strip under then over. Brush the top and edges with an egg wash.
Blueberry pie is the easiest pie to make! All it takes is adding a few ingredients to your blueberries, then add it to your pastry lined pie plate, with a few dollops of butter, and layer the top to your preference. Here I decided to create a lattice layer for the topping.
With fresh blueberries, it will often overflow with the juiciness of the blueberries. When baking with fresh berries, or any fresh fruit for that matter, the pie will be juicy. The longer the pie sits, it becomes firm. So keep that in mind when making this pie.
Enjoy a fresh out of the oven blueberry pie with a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of whipping cream. Oh so yummy!
