It’s finally here! This blueberry pie is. one of the best recipes I’ve ever created, which is why it’s on the cover of my cookbook. You don’t get better than this: loads of summer fresh blueberries with a pinch of cinnamon in the dreamiest crust you’ve ever had. It’s such a miraculous recipe, it’s just as good cold right out of the fridge as it warm from the oven. Crazy, I know!
What’s the Surprise in Blueberry Hill Surprise you ask? Pie lovers always ask me why the heck this pie is so delicious. I invented this blueberry pie when I was a teenager after picking an insane amount of blueberries at a farm near our lake house, which we call Blueberry Hill. I wanted to make a pie but the only problem is…I’m not really a big pie crust person. So I used an old German kuchen recipe for the crust that tastes like a sugar cookie. So the “surprise” is that it looks like a pie but really it’s a fancy pastry that is out of this world.
The filling is very simple: blueberries layered with a mixture of flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Crazy, but it works! Does pie filling get easier than this!?
This is a must-have recipe for pie lovers and blueberry lovers alike. People light up when they eat this pie. It’s a whole experience. It’s delicious with my magic homemade whipped cream (recipe follows) or homemade vanilla ice cream.
I make Blueberry Hill Surprise every single summer, often for Independence Day, and every year my friends ask me, “Is this on your blog?” I would say no and they’d ask why not. And the truth is, this recipe is so very special to me since it’s really the first recipe I ever truly created that I always swore I would only publish it if I ever had my dream of having a cookbook come true.
Well as you all know, that dream came true and The Rose Table Cookbook came out last fall and I insisted on putting this pie on the cover. I decided to let it be a Cookbook exclusive for a while but now, just in time for Independence Day, I’m finally releasing it on the blog. I hope you adore this pie as much as my family does!
Blueberry Hill Surprise
For the pastry:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp salt
For the filling:
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp cinnamon
5 cups blueberries, rinsed and dried
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch pie plate.
- Make the pastry: Beat butter with vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in flour, sugar, and salt. Using clean hands, gently spread half of the dough on the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pie plate.
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of the mixture over the crust. Pour half the berries onto the crust, sprinkle them with about 4 Tbsp of the cinnamon sugar mixture, then top with the remaining berries and sugar mixture.
- Using the palms of your hands, flatten the pastry dough and set pieces over the pie. Repeat with remaining dough until the pie is covered. (It’s okay if some blueberries peak out!) Lightly brush pastry with milk.
- Make roughly 8 slits in the crust to ensure even baking. Bake until crust is golden and berries are bubbling, about 45-50 minutes.
- Remove pie from the oven. Immediately spread a tablespoon of butter on the crust. Let cool completely before serving. Delicious with homemade vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
- Beat heavy cream with a metal whisk in a chilled metal bowl until cream starts to thicken.
- Add remaining ingredients and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Do not over mix. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days.
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