31 Day Blogging Challenge Day 27: My Favorite Recipe

I love food. There is no denying that. And I love recipes because I am not one of those people who just knows what flavors work well together. 

I have to say that my favorite recipe to date is home-made blueberry pie. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes years ago and have made this pie so many times, the piece of paper my recipe is on looks like I dipped it in oil and flour and baked it.

This one is definitely a crowd-pleaser around my house. I don't follow the original recipe exactly (I'm not big on measuring) but it always turns out great.

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) chilled unsalted (I sometimes use salted if it's all I have) butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water, very cold
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk

Filling 

• 6 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, defrost and drain first)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest 
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter (unsalted), cut into small pieces

Directions

1. First, you will need to prepare your crust. *Note- If you wish to use store bought crust, I recommend deep dish. When I make this pie, I buy the frozen crust for the bottom and make crust for the top of the pie myself. If you want to make a bottom and top crust, you will need to double the crust recipe.* Take one stick of butter and cut it into slices and place it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. 
2. Grab a food processor and toss in your flour, salt and sugar. Pulse a few times to combine your dry ingredients. Then add your cold butter. Pulse about 6 times and add a tablespoon of water. Continue this back and forth until your dough has formed (pulse, water, pulse, water). It shouldn't take more than 4 tablespoons of water. (Sometimes it only takes me 3.)
3. Sprinkle flour on saran wrap to keep your dough from sticking. Shape your dough into a ball or disc and wrap with saran wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. To make your filling, combine blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, sugar, & cinnamon in a bowl.
5. Next, roll out your dough. (You want to make sure you let it sit for 10 minutes or so after removing it from the refrigerator before rolling.) If you are making your own bottom crust, roll out a circle of dough about 13 inches wide, place into your baking dish and pour in filling. If you bought a frozen crust, make sure it is thawed completely before pouring your filling into it.
6. Place the pieces of butter on top of your filling.
7. If you are making a top crust, you can do one of two things: Either roll out your dough the same as you did the bottom crust or roll it out and cut pieces to make a lattice top. I always do the lattice (although mine is more of a crisscross). I cut pieces about 1/2 inch wide and 6-12 inches long to lay across the top of my pie. If you want your pie to look fancier, find directions here.
8. Once you have the top crust on, mix up your egg wash (eggs & milk) and brush it over the top crust of your pie.
9. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-40 minutes.

Here's a photo from my Instagram of a blueberry pie I made once:

Not super fancy, but cute. And soooo good.


You can find the original, more in depth, recipe here:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/blueberry_pie/