When asked what my favorite thing is to make, my answer is always pie. I love the rustic, simplicity of pies, and how they bring about a warm coziness and feelings of nostalgia. Making the dough by hand and forming the crust brings a sense of accomplishment. Perfect in its imperfections, and always welcome.

The perfect blueberry pie full of bright flavor, subtly sweet, and a perfect no-drip filling.

A lot are intimidated by making pie crust from scratch, and duly so. But once you understand the basic do's and don'ts of dough, you can confidently maneuver the world of homemade pie crust.

So here are a few key tips to pie crusting:

1. COLD BUTTER. Cut into cubes, and put it back into the refrigerator. Make the dough, and refrigerate. Assemble dough into pie plate, REFRIGERATE again! Keeping the butter cold is the most important step to ensure the flaky layers that are the essence of a good pie crust.

2. Don't over-work the dough. Really, everything comes down to keeping the butter cold, and keeping them in chunks for the layers. Over-working the dough will warm the butter up too much, and mix it into the dough, when you really want the chunks of butter to stay in chunks.

3. Don't stress. Baking should be fun, and you shouldn't worry about your crust looking perfect, but focus more on making it taste good! Every pie is different and any mistakes just give it character ;)

There's really not much more to it! I have a lot of step-by-step photos in this post for pie crust.

So about this pie. This blueberry pie is the only recipe for blueberry pie you'll ever need to try. It's packed with blueberries and not overly sweet. Just enough sweetness to offset the tart berries, and lemon juice to brighten the flavors.

When making fruit pies, you want to make sure your filling isn't going to be runny. I am still tortured with memories of my first apple pie. The filling was like apple soup! It was horrible. I can happily say I've come a long way since that fateful day.

Now I am always sure to take the extra steps necessary to ensure a thick, delicious, no-drip filling. Puddles in pies are no fun.

To thicken the filling, we not only use cornstarch, but cook the berries on the stovetop. Cooking them gets some of the juices out and thickens them into a jelly-like syrup. Then in the oven and when it cools (you MUST let it cool), the filling thickens and sets even more.

This pie is so simple and easy to make, and so delicious! Don't be afraid to try making pie from scratch. Once you do, I promise you won't ever look back. Happy baking!

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Blueberry Pie

by Julia Hampton - Sprinkled With Jules May-26-2015

The perfect blueberry pie full of bright flavor, subtly sweet, and a perfect no-drip filling.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 T. sugar
1/2 tea. salt
1/4-1/2 cup ice water
1 cup butter, cold and cubed
5-6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 T. lemon juice
3 T. corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tea. salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F. To make pie crust: Mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut cold butter cubes into flour mixture until butter chunks are the size of large peas. Add 1/4 cup of the ice-cold water and mix. Add more water 1 T. at a time as needed, until the dough is still crumbly, but sticks together when pinched. Divide dough in half, form into discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least half an hour. For the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix blueberries, lemon juice, corn starch, sugar, and salt. Stir gently, being careful not to crush the berries. Let the mixture bubble until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Roll out one disc of dough, and fit it into your pie plate. Pour blueberry filling in, and spread evenly if necessary. Roll out second disc of dough and cover the pie however you like, crimping and sealing the edges. Coat in egg-wash and sugar if preferred, and refrigerate for 5-10 minutes before placing in the oven. Bake pie on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper to catch drips. Bake for about 40 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Use foil or a pie shield to protect outer crust from browning too much after about 20 minutes. Let pie cool for at least one hour before serving.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: 40 mins Yield: 1 9" pie