I’m here to tell you with conviction that you can eat berry pies all through the winter!  Blueberry pie is not always the most popular, people kind of love it or feel ehh about it, but I’m a fan, and I felt that instead of double crusting it, a nice heavy oat crumble would do wonders with some blueberry goodness.  I was super right about that.  Not only did this pie have amazing flavor with the sweet berries, lemon, cinnamon and sugar, but the texture was fruit pie perfection!  Whenever you make a fruit pie you must send up a prayer that it sets up and you don’t end up with soup.  This little number sets up like a champion every time! Sturdy slices, but still so juicy and with that delicious oatmeal crunch on top, hands down best blueberry pie I’ve EVER HAD! And frozen blueberries are just fine, put them in the fridge the day before and STRAIN ALL JUICES! Trust me on that one, and be sure to have some good quality vanilla ice cream on hand because that combination will send you! -CK 2.0

Crust:

• Traditional 9″ Pie Crust – we like King Family Pie Crust the best, but make or buy whatever crust you like and line a 9 inch pan.

Filling:

• 6 cups blueberries fresh (or frozen works too as long as you thaw them and drain ALL the juices.  You will probably need to measure 8 cups frozen because once they thaw the volume goes way down)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar (I reduced because there is sugar in the streusel, but if your berries aren’t sweet go to 1/2)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamon

Oat Crumble:

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (if you don’t have the above spices, just increase cinnamon to 1/2)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes at room temperature

1.  Make your crust and roll out into a 9″ pie pan.  Keep in fridge or freezer while you prepare your filling.
2. To make the filling: Put the blueberries first in a strainer to make sure you have no extra juices, then place them in a bowl with the lemon juice and stir to coat.  Separately combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and cardamon.  Mix them thoroughly then add them to the blueberries stirring until all combined.  Take filling out of bowl with a slotted spoon leaving any extra juices out of your filling.  Spread filling into prepared crust and put it in the refrigerator to set while you make your crumble.  The recipe says to let it set 30 minutes, but mine set up perfectly and it was only in there about 15.
3. Set oven to 425.  To make the oat crumble stir together all the ingredients except the butter in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the butter pieces and toss to coat.  Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the butter is incorporated and the mixture is chunky but not homogeneous.  Put on your pie and let chill for another 5 minutes or so.
4. Bake (on a baking sheet if it looks pretty full so you don’t leak onto the oven) for 20 minutes at 425 then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until the juices are bubbling and your crumble is a gorgeous brown.  I put a pie shield on my crust or you can put some little foils strips around the edge to avoid the crust getting too brown on the outside.  Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before slicing, then chill in the fridge.  Serve with a really thick vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Blueberry Pie recipe adapted from Mrs. Rowe’s little book of Southern Pies and Oat Crumble from Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book