Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups blueberries - fresh or frozen
  

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar ~OR~ 1/3 cup each: sugar Splenda
• ¼ cup tapioca (or 7 tablespoon corn starch)
• ½ tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon allspice (optional)

• 3 tablespoon water (or grape juice)
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2-3 teaspoons of minced lemon zest (optional but SO yummy!)

• 1 9-inch deep-dish pie crust (2 crusts for double crust pie or 1 crust for a crumble topping pie, see below)

Crumb Topping (optional)

• ¼ cup sugar ~OR~ 1/8 cup each: sugar and Splenda
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup butter or margarine, chilled

Instructions:

• Use your favorite pie crust recipe or cheat like I do and buy the one pre-made in the handy red box found in the dairy section of the grocery story. I make a terrible pie crust and over the years have learned to make do with the boxed kind. It’s not as oh-my-gosh delicious as a truly wonderful homemade one, but it’s far better than any of mine have ever turned out. (Remember to take it out about a half an hour before you want to use it.)

• I used frozen blueberries as it’s not blueberry season right now, and blueberry pie was specifically requested by the birthday, um, boy.

• Rinse in a colander under cool water, it’s not necessary to defrost and actually I prefer not to as I feel it makes them mushy and disgusting (but that’s my opinion).

• In a small to medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients combining sugar, tapioca, and spices in a bowl. Then mix in the lemon juice and water. Do NOT mix the blueberries with the bowl ingredients!

• Fit the bottom crust gently into your pan (I usually spray my pan first with Pam and dust a bit of flour).

• Now, take your blueberries and pour them into the piecrust, mounding a bit as needed. Pour the bowl mixture over the blueberries trying to hit each berry as best you can.

• Here is where you would make the crumble topping if you want this option. Just mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and then cut in with a pastry blender (or two butter-type knives) and then sprinkle all over the pie. That is actually my fav way of making just about any pie. Jeff likes a more traditional pie with a piecrust topping so that is what I used this time.

• Fit the top crust over the berries, either using a lattice design or a single crust that you would then put slits in the top. Make sure to seal the edges well and flute as desired.

• Something I do that some would cringe at – gently spray a bit of Pam (most folks would melt some butter) over the top of the crust and dust with sugar.

• Bake at 375º for about 1 hour until the pie is all bubbly; start checking at about 45 minutes as all ovens are different (mine took about 1 hour 20 minutes - I hate electric ovens!). Cool on a rack for an hour or so (if you can bear to, we never make it that long!). Yum.