A Flavor You Will Pie For

Lemony Blueberry Crumb Pie

This pie hits every taste bud in your mouth and you will be begging for more. Everything from it's homemade crust from scratch to the fresh blueberries and lemon zest, devourers certainly enjoy.

2 hours is typically the time needed to bake the entire thing which is allocated to pie crust (20 minutes), filling (30 minutes), pie crust placement (15 minutes), baking (45 minutes), cooling (15 minutes). Note there is a 1 hour minimum requirement to let the dough settle in the refrigerator. Also, if you have little hands working with you, this will add more time.

Prepping Dough:
Mixing Bowls
Large Mixing Spoon
Knife
Dough Blender & Cutter
Measuring Spoons and Cups
Rolling Pin
Large clean space for dough rolling
Flour

Prepping the Filling:
Whisk
Large Mixing Spoon
Colander
Lemon Zester
Handheld Juicer
Measuring Spoons and Cups
Pie Dish

Prepping the Crumble:
Knife
Fork
Rubber Spatula
Measuring Spoons and Cups

Dough Ingredients:
Flour - 1.25 Cups
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 Stick of Cold Butter cut in 1/4-inch cubes
3-5 Tbsp Cold Water

Pie Filling
4 Cups of Fresh Blueberries (5 if reserving some for topping)
1 to 2 Tbsp of Freshly Grated Lemon Zest
2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
7 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Oat and Nut Crumble
1 Cup of All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds (nut allergy? remove)
1 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar (Dark is fine too)
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
7 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted

1. Mix together the 1.25 Cups of Flour, 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt, 1 tsp Sugar, 1 Stick of Butter (cut into 1/4 inch cubes) in a mixing bowl.
2. Using the Dough Blender and Cutter, cut up the butter cubes into smaller clumps. Try not to ever use your hands as the heat from your hands will melt the butter faster. This will reduce the flakiness in the crust.
3. Carefully add a Tbsp of water to allow the ingredients to stick together. Once it's able to form into a ball with your hands, you are ready to go.
4. Remove the ball of dough from the bowl and place in plastic wrap. Flatten the dough.

1. At least hour of fridge time is required for the dough.
2. If you have more than one disk of dough, you can stack them.
3. Do not put anything else on top of them.
4. Dough in the fridge can last a couple of days but it will start to lose it's moisture.

Following the first dough preparation, clean the area before you start the filling. You will be using some of the same utensils so this is crucial.

Also - clean while the pie is cooking. You will be able to really enjoy your final creation much better since all the cleaning will be done.

This part of the pie manufacturing is my favorite part.

1. Rinse the 4 cups of blueberries thoroughly and place them in a large mixing bowl.
2. Zest the lemon thoroughly and place the zest in the bowl. You need 2 Tbsp worth. Mix carefully so the zest is all over the blueberries.
3. In a separate and smaller bowl, mix the 7 Tbsp of cornstarch, 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Ensure it is completely blended.

1. Using the same lemon, squeeze the juice out to get 1 tablespoon amount. Ensure no seeds get into the juice that will be poured into the sugar mixture. Pour it into the sugar mixture.
2. Add 1 Tbsp of water and whisk until smooth. If the cornstarch and sugar still clump, you can add an additional tablespoon of water.
3. Pour over the blueberries and gently toss to coat.
4. Set this aside.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit
2. After the 1 hour in the fridge, place the crust on a flour covered area (so it doesn't stick).
3. Carefully roll out the crust. You want it to be thin but not so thin that when you pick it up, it still stays together.
4. Using the pie pan, measure to see if you rolled out the dough large enough. Go beyond the edge of the pie dish by about 2 inches to ensure it covers depth and has some hangover of the side of the dish.
5. Transfer to pie dish and carefully tap down the dough. Round out the edges so it's covering all areas and about a 1/4 inch hangover. The pie dough will shrink in the oven so this is important.
6. Excess dough on the edge - use scissors to cut. Don't use your hands to tear - you will tear too much.
7. Short on the sides, use excess dough from other areas to mold together the pie.
8. Set aside and don't place on the oven.

Also - if you have miniature pie dishes, you can absolutely make them. Just use smaller portions of dough and filling. We also have some leftover dough and it turns into a large pie and a baby pie.

1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of salt with a fork until combined.
2. Cut up 7 Tbsp (7/8 of a butter stick) of cold unsalted butter on a cutting board and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until fully melted.
3. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is thoroughly combined. The crumble mixture should clump easily when pressed together.

This is when all your hard work in each of the 3 areas (dough, filling and crumble) come together nicely.

1. Pour the blueberry mixture into the pie crust. Ensure the blueberry mixture goes up to the sides all the way around. Don't overfill this. It's ok to have the blueberries be slightly lower then the pie crust edges since we need to add the crumble.
2. Add the pie crumble and layer evenly. You will have some clumped crumble so break that up. Add additional blueberries now on top if you wish - 10-15 is enough. Make sure they are imbedded into the topping or they will roll off during transfer to the oven.

1. Make sure the pie is placed near the back of the oven and in the middle. If you are cooking 2 pies at the same time and one has to be on the top rack and one on the bottom, rotate them every 7-10 minutes for evening cooking.
2. Your pie crust on the sides and that is hanging over will cook faster than the bottom of the pie. After about 25 minutes, take the pie out and cover the top of the pie with a piece of tin foil. Don't press too hard when applying or the crust will break. This will prevent direct heat on the rim of the pie crust and allow for additional cooking for the bottom.
3. Your pie is done when the sides of the crust are brown, your pie is sizzling and the bottom is light brown. It's recommended that 40 minutes is enough time for this to cook but I have gone as long as 45 and as short as 35.
4. When done, remove pie and place on either a cooling rack or on top of the oven. Allow for at least 20 minutes of cooling before serving.
5. Be careful with little hands near the oven. Don't let any child participate in this step.

Serves 8 large slices. We have had 10 people enjoy this pie at a dinner so pieces can be smaller.

There are a couple ways you could serve this pie to fit everyone's requests:

• Cold - Some people like their pie at room temperature or colder
• Hot - Either not too long out of the oven (but allow for cooling) or heat up in the microwave.
• With vanilla ice cream. This cuts the sweetness down and provides a creamy compliment. Heating up and then serving with vanilla ice cream is my favorite. You could also add chocolate drizzle to really make this pop.

Life of a Cooked Pie

• Can sit on top of your oven for 48 hours wrapped in plastic wrap.
• Beyond that, place in the fridge.
• Beyond 5 days, the pie gets thick and while it still might be good, it may be too thick to really enjoy.