Blackberry Pie

Blackberry Pie

Don’t you love how food is often associated with great childhood memories?  Me and blackberry pie have a story that my Grandma still tells today.  When I was a kid,  my Grandpa’s sister lived just a few blocks away from my grandparents.  She loved to bake blackberry pies and she was good at it.  One day I was looking out the door of my grandparents house and declared, “Well here comes Aint Violet (that’s Aunt Violet in my Arkansas-southern accent) and she’s bringin’ another one of those Seedy Pies!”  My Grandma told her what I’d said, so a few weeks later here she came again with a pie. This time she strained the seeds from the blackberries!  I can’t even imagine how long that took and guess what, I preferred to have the seeds!  What a pain in the you know what I must have been.

This is my first attempt at blackberry pie, mostly due to the fact that blackberries do not grow wild here like they did in Arkansas.  It was good, my kids and husband said, “Best Ever”.  My husband really bragged on the crust and I smiled, thanked him and admitted it was straight from the refrigerator!  I think I could eat blackberry pie everyday from now on.

Please excuse the not so natural lighting in the picture, no food styling, just right out of the oven.  I snapped it in a hurry before the boys declared mutiny and escaped with the whole pie.  Those who know my boys know that this is a total possibility!

Also I am participating in the Pie Party created by Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl and a few of her friends.  You should see all of the pies on the facebook Pie Party page, it’s amazing! Enjoy July 5th, Pie Day I know I am!

Blackberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 cups blackberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Dough for 2 pie crusts (I used Pillsbury)
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons natural sugar

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine black berries, sugar, corn starch, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Set aside while you roll out the pie crusts.

Roll pie dough into 10 inch circles and carefully place one in pie plate, use a cookie cutter to 3 or 4 pieces from the top.

Pour berry mixture into pie crust, carefully place dough over berries and add cut out pieces slightly off center of the holes.  Brush with butter and sprinkle with natural sugar.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbling.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Miss