When I was growing up my parents had several blueberry bushes in our backyard. I remember those berries were always fat, with a silvery-gray-blue sheen. Every summer my mother would make something delicious with them. The first pickings were always served plain, freshly washed and topped with a blob of sour cream and, of course, sugar.
The rest?
Pie mostly.
Like this one, with a tender, easy-to-make, crumbly streusel top.
Btw, if you don’t wish to bother with a bottom crust, that’s ok. Make this into a “crisp”- place the seasoned berries in a baking dish, cover with the streusel and bake.
Blueberry Oat Streusel Pie
Streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking or rolled oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, vegetable shortening or margarine, cut into chunks
Place the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and mix ingredients to distribute them evenly. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Set aside.
Filling:
6 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 unbaked pie crust bottom
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the blueberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice in a large bowl. Pour the filling into the pie crust. Cover the top with the streusel. Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 8 servings