A well made blueberry pie is delicious! And I like both blueberry and cherry pies to have a crumb topping instead of a regular piecrust. Crumb topping can be made easily by hand with flour (1/2 cup), sugar (1/4 cup), cinnamon (1/2 tsp.) and cold, diced butter (3 tbsp.) but I leave it to you to choose the type of pie topping you prefer.

This recipe uses fresh or frozen blueberries which is fine except for one major point. That point is, do not make the pie with raw blueberries. Instead, cook them in a large saucepan over medium heat with the rest of the filling ingredients, using cornstarch as necessary to produce a thickened mixture. Otherwise, buy canned pie fillings of high quality, like Comstock®.

Once you have made a blueberry pie using canned pie filling you will know how thick the mixture made with raw blueberries in this recipe should be prior to baking.

Crust:

One double Crisco® recipe for pie crust dough, or use the single recipe if you plan to make the crumb topping.

Filling Ingredients:

6 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed, drained and stems removed

1 teaspoon of lemon zest

2 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp. (or more if necessary) of cornstarch (when the blueberry mixture boils it should noticeably thicken)

1 1/2 cups of white granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 tbsp. of butter, cut into small pieces, if you are using a top crust

Directions:

Prepare the crust. If you made the double crust recipe, roll out half of the dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle on a lightly floured work surface, about 13 inches in diameter. Otherwise use all of the dough when you roll it. Fit the dough over and then into a 9-inch bottom diameter pie pan, and trim the edges vertically with a kitchen knife all around the outside of the pie pan.

If you are making a crust topping then roll out the other half of the dough into a 13 inch diameter circle. Set it aside.

Heat the oven to 425°F.

Mix the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large (2 quart) saucepan. Then add the blueberries and mix gently but thoroughly.

Heat the mixture on medium heat while gently stirring until the mixture comes to a low boil and thickens. Then remove the saucepan from the heat.

If the mixture has not thickened appreciably then dust the top with another tbsp. of cornstarch and then stir the mixture well. It will thicken during baking.

Transfer the mixture to the bottom crust of the pie pan. Dot it with butter pieces if you are using a top crust.

If you are using a top crust place it over the pie pan and contents, then crimp the edges of the upper and lower pie crusts with your fingers.

If you are using a top crust then score the pie on the top with 4 cuts (so steam can escape while cooking).

If you are using a crumb topping then crumble it evenly on the top of the blueberry filling.

Place the pie on the middle rack of the oven with a 12" x 17" baking sheet positioned on a lower rack to catch any filling that may bubble over.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425°F.

Reduce the oven temperature setting to 350°F and bake for up to an additional 30 minutes or until the crust has turned golden in color.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool. Let it cool completely before serving.

Suggestion: Blueberry pie ala mode is fabulous!