All this week and next, we are bringing you stories we hope will help you stress less this Thanksgiving. We want to help you elevate your dessert bar this holiday.
I turned to pastry chef, Meghan Niemczyk, for help.
Pie crust recipe:
- 15 Tbs. unsalted frozen butter (2 sticks, minus 1 tablespoon)
- 2 1/2 Cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 5/8 oz cold water
Pulse flour and butter in a food processor, 8-10 times
Run processor and drizzle in water
You want small chunks of butter in the dough, this helps release steam to cook the crust
(If you don’t have a food processor you can use a hand mixer or a fork to mash the butter into the flour)
Divide the pie crust into two pieces, one for the crust the other for the top
Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate
* It’s important you keep the crust cold so do not let it sit out before adding the filling
Pie filling ingredients:
- 2 1/2 Pounds of blueberries
- 6 Tbs All purpose flour
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 egg (to brush on the topping)
- Raw sugar (to sprinkle on the egg brushed topping)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
Combine flour, sugar, salt in a medium-sized bowl
Zest lemon and mix into blueberries
Remove pie crust dough from refrigerator and roll into the size of your pie shell
Add to shell
Other dough will be used to cover the pie
This is important: Add a small handful of flour mixture to the bottom of the crust, before filling
*prevents a soggy bottom crust
Add half flour mixture to berries and toss
Pour half of the berry mix into pie crust
Sprinkle with remaining flour mixture
Add remaining berry mix
Roll out the other half of the dough and add to top of pie.
Brush with egg
Sprinkle with sugar (raw if you have it)
Cut air vents
Bake for 20 minutes, 450 degrees F
If top is brown after 20 mins., cover with aluminum foil
Reduce to 375 degrees F
Bake another 40 minutes, but do not remove until the center of the pie reaches 212 degrees F
Cool completely, before covering with foil and places in frig until ready to eat
Meghan Niemczyk is a pastry chef by training, but is the Associate Director of the Center for Nutrition and Food Security at the University of Florida. She also teaches a culinary elective class at UNF for undergraduates so they can learn vital life skills making themselves healthy meals.
Click here to see our segment making pumpkin-apple bread.
Happy Thanksgiving!