One of my favorite summer desserts is freshly baked pie. This seasonal beauty takes full advantage of the last of the season’s blueberries and basil.
I feel like our Summer Comfort Food series only just began.
It’s incredible how time flies, and yet we have so many more delicious meals to share with you before the last of the month. So with only one week left, let’s cross this Blueberry Basil Pie off our list.
You may be feeling a bit ambivalent now with all these desserts we’ve been sharing. Not sure which one to try first? I guess that means we’re doing our job as food bloggers 😉
Don’t be too concerned though, I have plenty of savory dishes coming up soon. Like I said earlier, there’s just so much to do and so little time to do it.
But let’s not stray too far away from today’s recipe. I promise this is one you will want to keep and if you have any blueberries and basil on hand, I suggest making it this weekend.
I started with a homemade pie dough seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and cloves.
Like I mentioned in previous posts, I’m looking forward to fall this year and I’m already getting the itch to bake with those warm, autumn flavors.
I thought it would also be a nice contrast to the sweet berries and savory basil. The crust is, after all, the best part. So be sure to use the ends and soak up all that blueberry juice that lingers at the end.
Blueberry Basil Pie
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
For Spiced Butter Crust:
- 3 cups AP flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Generous pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chilled butter, cubed
- 3 tablespoons shortening
- 1/4 cup ice water
Blueberry Basil Filling:
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup flour, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons black current preserves (optional)
- 1 egg, for brush crust
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
- 1/4 cup icing sugar, for icing (optional)
- 1–2 tablespoons milk, for icing (optional)
Instructions
For Spiced Butter Crust:
- In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, sugar, salt and dry spices. Add chilled butter and vanilla extract and either using your hands or a pastry blender, mix together until a slightly sandy-like mixture forms. Add the shortening and blend again. The mixture should be more like course crumbs now. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time until a soft, pliable dough comes together. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Divide the dough in half and on a well floured surface, roll out half of the dough to fit a 9-inch pie plate. The dough should be 1/4″ thick. Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork several times. Place a sheet of parchment over the crust and fill with baking beans or an oven proof bowl to keep the crust from sinking as it bakes. Let bake for about 10 minutes. Then remove and let cool.
Blueberry Basil Filling:
- In a large bowl toss the blueberries and basil together with flour until the berries are all coated. Add the sugar and preserves then pour the filling evenly into the prepared pie shell. Sprinkle an addition tablespoon of flour over the berries.
- Roll out the other half of the dough to fit over the pie. Trim and pinch the edges. Piece the top with a knife.
- In a small bowl, whisk an egg then brush it over the pie crust. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and place the pie onto a cookie sheet before baking.
- Bake the pie for 35-40 or until the crust is nice and golden and the juices begin to bubble.
- Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool before serving.
- If desired, whisk icing sugar with milk to create a drizzle for the pie.
Notes
Prep Time does NOT include Inactive Prep Time
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
I served the blueberry pie while it was still warm so it may be a little runny if you do the same, but I just love warm pie and scoop of cool ice cream.
I won’t lie, I had a slice of this for breakfast…but hey, it counts as a serving of fruit right?
Enjoy friends.
Warmest,
Tammy<3
Heather Pearce says
This pie looks amazing, I am going to try making it. I noticed you always prebake the bottom crust of a two crust pie, do you find this makes the final product less soggy, dense or tough? Also do you think a combination of butter and shortening is the way to go for flaky crusts? I have tried just butter which makes the crust quite crispy, and just shortening which I find makes it soft but not flaky.