Best Blueberry Pie!

There’s nothing like fresh blueberries simmering in a buttery, flaky pie crust with aromatic fruit juices getting bubbly and syrupy. It’s tough to let this mouth watering concoction cool for three hours when all you really want to do is scoop some vanilla ice cream over a slice letting the cream melt onto the crispy crust and gooey berries submerging oneself into pie heaven! This might just be the perfect dessert bite!

There are recipes out there that have you use flour as a thickener in some fruit pies but with this best blueberry pie recipe I think it’s important to use cornstarch. Blueberries release so much juice the best one for the job is cornstarch. You can add orange zest or lemon zest to brighten up the flavors and then there’s always cinnamon or nutmeg. Blueberries happen to be one of my favorite fruits and I feel that they are already flavorful enough so I only add one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to balance everything out. Blueberries are also considered to be one of the healthiest fruits out there offering up one of the highest levels of antioxidants of all fruits and vegetables so I think it’s a win-win here!

Cutting out decorative leaf shapes (or what ever shape you like) from the top sheet of pie crust is a no brainer for me because it’s so gosh darn easy to do, it looks like you spent all day on it and it’s very forgiving. When it bakes in the oven getting golden, crispy and slightly shiny from brushing on the egg wash it’s going to look and taste amazing no matter what!

This best blueberry pie recipe might just become your decadent dessert ritual for your holiday dinners! Making the “perfect pie crust in 5 minutes” a week or two ahead of time and popping it into the freezer until you need it is a great way to cut down on some of the work that’s involved in throwing a Thanksgiving dinner or any holiday feast for that matter. If you get ambitious you

can always add a chocolate pecan pie into the mix. To help save some time with the side dishes you might try these roasted brussel spouts. They are so delicious roasted like this you’ll never eat them any other way. Have fun and enjoy 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups blueberries (that’s after you have sorted thru bad berries…start with 5 cups to have enough)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 corn starch

1/8 tsp salt

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 1/2 tbsp cut up cold butter

1 egg

1 tbsp heavy cream

1 “Perfect Pie Crust in 5 Minutes!” recipe

Parchment paper for rolling out pie dough

1 1/2 ” – 2″ pie leaf cut outs or what ever shape cookie cutter you want to dress the top of the pie with instead of using a whole sheet of pie crust dough

DIRECTIONS:

Trace the edge of the pie plate onto both pieces of parchment paper

Roll out 1/2 of the pie crust at a time in between two pieces of parchment with circle drawing on the outside

When the dough is rolled out to approx 1/8″ thick and the proper circle size flip pie dough over with parchment paper into pie plate

Gently fit pie dough into dish without pushing down hard and place into the fridge

Wash and dry blueberries, picking through them to remove any under and over ripe berries and stems

Place berries in a large bowl and add 1/4 cup corn starch, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt and juice from 1/2 lemon and toss until coated

Put the bowl of blueberries into the fridge

Roll out the other pie dough disc and cut out leaf shapes or what ever shape you want to be the top layer of the pie

Lay down a piece of parchment on a cookie sheet with a sprinkle of flour and place leaf cut outs onto the cookie sheet

Put leaf cut outs into the fridge

Take out pie dish with pie dough from fridge and crimp edges

Pour the blueberries into the pie dish and back into the fridge

Whisk 1 egg with 1 tbsp of heavy cream

Take the leaf cut-outs on the cookie sheet from the fridge and brush with the egg wash

Take the blueberries in the pie dish out of the fridge and dot the pie with 1 1/2 tbsp of cut up cold butter

Begin to place leaf cut-outs on top of the blueberries. Go along the edge of pie all around and then work your way in (you only need to gently push a couple of the edges of the leaf to crimped edges of the pie and to each leaf

Put the pie back into the fridge for 15 minutes while you pre-heat oven to 400º

Place blueberry pie on the cookie sheet that has a piece of parchment covering the bottom in case of spillage and pop into the oven for 30 minutes

Turn the oven down to 350º and bake for another 40 minutes until a golden crust and juices are bubbly

You must let cool 3 hours so the blueberry juicy can thicken properly

Serve with your best vanilla ice cream and you will be one happy camper! 🙂

Homemade Chocolate Pecan Pie at Barbara’s

Barbara’s homemade chocolate pecan pie is like nothing you’ve had before. Not only do you get that gooey texture with a hint of nutty caramel because it’s a pecan pie but a chocolaty finish slides right on in and makes you say wow! Gooey, nutty, caramel, chocolate …need I say MORE? In fact, it is plenty chocolaty so if you wanted to nibble on those “special dark” Hershey’s chocolate chips while you are making the pie feel free it wouldn’t make the pie any less delicious.

When Barbara first delivered her scrumptious homemade pecan pie to my house I was beside myself. I just couldn’t believe my eyes and with an invitation to her Christmas Eve party to top it off which she also cooks for. I later found out that she makes seventy pies that get hand delivered with the invite to her party. It all began fifteen years ago at a surprise party her husband Peter threw for her where stories evolved of first meetings with Barbara and her gifts of homemade chocolate pecan pie. From that point on the pie numbers grew and it now totals out at around 72 pies.

This gourmet chocolate pecan pie of Barbara’s has become a tradition for many of the families on her pie list that wait in anticipation of her delivery in order to take the pie to their relatives on Christmas Day. This pie freezes extremely well and slicing it before freezing making for easy removal without having to thaw the whole pie is ideal. I must say though eating my slice right out of the freezer before it thaws is my new favorite way…wait til you try it!

Barbara is very busy in the month of December when all the pies get baked and delivered. She does get things going back in September though putting in an order for a twenty-two pound box of pecans from Georgia which arrive around Thanksgiving time. Then the whole process takes off from the chopping of the pecans in the food processor, measuring exact amounts placed into baggies and stored in the frig , to purchasing large bottles of Karo syrup that are shelved until needed and so on until December is upon her and the baking begins.

This truly is a labor of love for Barbara and I’m very grateful to have become a part of this amazing tradition and see first hand how inspirational she is. You can see for yourself and hear some of the extremely funny stories that go along with Barbara’s pie making in my “Homemade Chocolate Pecan Pie Show” above. I hope you enjoy the show and now you too can make this blueberrypie homemade chocolate pecan pie part of your family tradition. If you have the time and are only making a pie or two you can check out my “Perfect Pie Crust In 5 Minutes Recipe” or even my “Best Blueberry Pie!” recipe if you are looking to have a second pie 😉

Ingredients – Pre-Heat oven to 375º:

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (on the finer side but NOT a powder)
handful pecan halves for decoration
6 oz. HERSHEY’S Special Dark chocolate chips (full bag for 2 pies)
1 cup light Karo corn syrup -NOTE: Spraying the inside of measuring cup with Pam vegetable or coconut oil will help the Karo syrup ease out (full bottle of Karo for 2 pies)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup melted butter and cooled to ROOM TEMPERATURE or LUKE WARM
1 1/2 Tsp pure vanilla
4 lg eggs lightly beaten (WITHOUT any frothiness occurring)
1 pkg. Pillsbury Prepared Pie Crusts ROOM TEMPERATURE@ (2 crusts inside)
1 tsp all purpose flour
1 – 9″ deep dish pie plate

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375º
Place out rolled out pie crust in the deep dish pie plate
Form edges like a scallop shell as shown in show above, then put into the refrigerator until its needed
In a large bowl mix cooled-melted butter & sugar with a spatula, you are NOT CREAMING the two just stir to combine
Add in Karo Syrup and stir
Then add in vanilla and whisked eggs, don’t want froth so just stir to combine
Mix in chocolate chips, stir
Then add in ground pecans, mix with a spatula
Pour into pie shell
Decorate the top of the pie with pecan halves
Add rim covering on top of pie so crust does not burn if using A Prepared Pie Crust from the store
NOTE: No need to cover my HOMEMADE PIE CRUST with rim covering because it won’t burn
In a 375º pre-heated oven, place the chocolate pecan pie on the lowest rack so the top doesn’t burn and if the top begins to get too dark towards the end place a piece of foil over the pie for the duration
Let cool slightly, slice and serve with bourbon, scotch, wine, coffee or milk…oh and also great with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream 😉
Freezes incredibly well- make sure to cut into slices before you freeze for easy removal. In fact, I love the texture of having the chocolate pecan pie right out of the freezer without thawing! – you should try it this way 🙂