Singing the Blues

At my house, you just might have to talk until you're blue in the face to actually get pie. But, Randy seems to think it's worth the wait to get a pie once every blue moon.

I made him a pie for our wedding anniversary. Nothing says "love" to him like blueberry pie. I made him a two-crust blueberry pie for Valentine's Day. My Never Fail Pie Crust recipe makes three crusts, so I stuck the other one in the freezer.

I've never made an "open-faced" blueberry pie before. But there was a perfectly good pie crust in the freezer leftover from the February pie-baking adventure, so I decided if I could a crumb topping for apple pie, surely it would taste just as good with blueberries.

In our 32 years of marriage, Randy has been on the receiving end of kitchen experiments a time or two. This experiment turned out better than some he's experienced in three decades of recipes.

Crumb-Topped Blueberry Pie

For 8-inch pie:
1 prepared pie crust (Click here for Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups fresh blueberries (or substitute frozen - partially thawed)
1 tsp. lemon juice
Crumb Topping (see below)

For 9-inch pie:
1 prepared pie crust
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Crumb Topping:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare one pie crust, fitting it into the pan and fluting it around the edges.

Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir in blueberries. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Mix together topping ingredients using a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly and butter is evenly distributed among the dry ingredients. Put crumb topping evenly over the blueberries, spreading to the crust.

Cover the pie crust with pie shields. Bake for 20 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. The foil is needed so that the crumb topping doesn't get overly browned. Bake until the filling begins to bubble up through the crumb crust and the crumbs are nicely golden brown (though not over brown).

Remove from oven to a wire rack. Remove the pie shields from the crust. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

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I'm linked today to What's in Your Kitchen Wednesday on Wichita blogger Ashley's Kitchen Meets Girl: Successes from the Kitchen of a Reluctant Cook. Join me in checking out what's cooking in kitchens elsewhere!