My mom and I were talking about blueberry recipes the other day because she still has a few bags left in the freezer that I took her from last years crop. She asked if I could share a good recipe for blueberry pie so I thought I'd share the one we use around our house. It is from one of my favorite baking cookbooks that I love: Heartland Baking ~ All-American Cakes, Cookies, Pies and Pastries, Breads and Bars, printed 1995 by SMITHMARK Publishers Inc..

For the filling: 

• 1 pound blueberries
• 1/4 sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced

For the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut in pieces
• 3 tablespoons cold shortening, cut in pieces
• 5-6 tablespoons ice water
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for glazing

For the crust, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and shortening and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With a fork, stir in just enough water to bind the dough. Gather into 2 equal balls, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface roll out 1 dough ball about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a 9 inch pie pan and trim to leave a 1/2 inch overhang. Brush the bottom with egg glaze.

Mix all the filling ingredients together, except the butter (reserve a few blueberries for decoration, if you'd like). Spoon into the shell and dot with butter. Brush the egg glaze on the edge of the lower crust.

At this point, place a cooking sheet in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. (do not put the pie in the oven yet though)

Roll out the remaining dough on a baking tray lined with wax paper. With a serrated pastry wheel (or you can do like us and just use a plain pizza cutter), cut out 24 thin strips of dough. Roll out the scraps and cut leaf shapes for the top of the pie. Mark veins in the leaves with the point of a knife. Weave the strips in a close lattice, then transfer to the pie using the wax paper. Press the edges to seal and trim them. Decorate the pie by arranging the dough leaves around the rim. Brush with egg glaze.

Place in the top half of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 40 more minutes.

Decorate with reserved berries.

Blueberries are so healthy, and we eat a lot them around here... in pancakes, muffins, pound cake, pies, as a topper for ice cream, and more. I hope you enjoy this favorite recipe of ours! Let me know if you give it a try :-)

In Christ,

Sallie