Blueberry Pie
Crust:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1½ cups butter (3 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2+ Tbsp. ice water
Filling:
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp. milk
- 3 pints blueberries, picked over
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- sparkling sugar, if desired
Make the crust: In a large, wide bowl, add the flour, powdered sugar, and fluff with hands to combine. Add the cut up butter and mix into the dough using your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal, about 5 minutes. In a small measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, and ice water. Make a well in your flour and butter mixture and add a little bit of the egg mixture. Fluff the mixture by sticking your fingers, spread out, under the flour and fluffing up, a couple times. It should not be very well mixed. Add the rest of the egg mixture in increments, making a well and fluffing with your fingers each time; the dough should be much stickier now. Knead the dough until you have a cohesive ball. Put the dough on a flat surface (just makes it easier), and spread it using the heel of your hand in all different directions; repeat two more times. This incorporates the butter into the crust. Split the dough into two parts, one with more dough than the other (one for a bottom crust and one for a top lattice crust), and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Make the filling: Whisk together egg and milk to make egg wash; set aside. Combine blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl; set aside.
Assemble the pie: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half the dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle, about 13 inches in diameter. Drape dough over a 9-inch pie pan, and transfer to refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
Pour the blueberry filling on the chilled pie crust and dot with butter. Roll out the remaining dough to the same size and thickness. Cut into strips and lay on top of the blueberry filling, all going the same way at first (don’t have any cross yet). Once the strips go all the way across one way, fold up every other strip halfway and place one strip in the middle so that it crosses over half of the old strips but will cross under the other half of the strips once you lay them back down flat. Then, fold up the other half of the strips, every other one, and place another strip perpendicular to them and next to the last one so it goes over the strips not folded back and will eventually fall under the strips folded back. Repeat until finished. A better visual is shown here. Brush the rim of the crust with the egg wash to better seal the lattice crust. Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Brush the lattice crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more or until juices are bubbling. Tent the pie with aluminum foil for the last 10 to 15 minutes if it is browning too quickly.