Fresh Blueberry Pie

                                                                         

Bursting with goodness this pie is a winner! Thick filling full of fresh plump berries & not running, not to thick & gluey either just right!

The flaky crust bakes up perfectly to hold all that goodness!

Crust:

2 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Heaping Teaspoon Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter, very cold butter cut into small pieces & kept cold!

1/3 Cup Shortening

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

5 Tablespoons Cold Water

I used my Kitchen Aid to mix up this crust & it worked out beautifully! By hand is ok too! In the bowl put in the flour, salt, & sugar, mix well, use the dough hook attachment! Now cut in the butter & shortening until you have very fine crumbs. Now add enough water & the vanilla, mix only until the dough comes together, do NOT over mix. Now divide the dough & roll out the bottom crust on a well floured surface. Place in your 9 inch pie pan, crimp the edges. Now gently line with foil, Dump in about 2 cups of raw rice & spread out gently over the bottom. Bake this in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven & carefully lift out the foil & rice. You now have a blind baked bottom crust that guarantees a crispy & brown bottom crust! Set this aside while you make the filling,

FILLING 

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Water

4 Heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch

Dash of Salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3 Pints Fresh Blueberries washed, drained, & stems removed!

Stir in a deep heavy saucepan the sugar, cornstarch, & salt. Whisk in the water & vanilla. Cook & stir over medium high heat until mixture is thick & starting to bubble. Continue to cook & stir as you gently stir in the blueberries, folding them in . as soon as the mixture turns from a clear white to blue, remove from heat. Set aside as you roll out your top crust!

TOP CRUST:

Roll out remaining 1/2 of the dough on a well floured surface, until you have a large circle big enough to cover you pie with a 2 inch extra to fold under & crimp! Fold the circle in 1/2 & cut small slits in the center of the dough at the fold! This lets the steam escape! Carefully lift over your pie & unfold the dough, Fold the extra edges under the rim & crimp the edges! I then sprinkled a tablespoon of sugar over the top. Bake pie at 375 degrees in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely brown & pie is bubbling! Let cool to room temperature , or chill to serve! Top with  whip cream or vanilla ice cream if you desire! YUMMY HEAVENLY PIE! From start to finish this pie took about 1 hour to assemble & bake! If you wish to save time use a store bought crust, but it cannot come close to the taste & flakiness of this beauty! If you do not want a top crust & want to use crumbs instead mix up the following crumbs & skip the top crust!

CRUMBS:

1 Cup Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Dash of Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon; optional

1 Heaping Tablespoon Shortening

Mix all the dry ingredients together well. Cut in shortening until you get fine crumbs. Sprinkle over the pie filled with your berry mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for the 40 minutes!