Wild Blueberry Pie

Even though fall is here my countdown of summer berries isn't over yet. The berry list so far is:

1. Raspberries
2. Red Currants
3. Black Currants

I will give you a hint about the fourth berry on the list. They're round, they're blue, they're delicious...if you guess blueberries you'd be right. I love blueberries and nothing beat wild blueberries. Each year we head out into the bush to stock up on firewood for the winter and one year I hit jackpot....wild blueberries.

The wild blueberry patch I found!

 Okay I admit wild blueberry picking comes with it's own set of dangerous, like bears picking with you in your patch. But my oh my you haven't had blueberry pie until you had wild blueberry pie. It is so good that it makes the bear scare total worth it!!! Next year I'm buy bear mace....

Wild blueberries are nature's antioxidant super fruit. With twice the antioxidant capacity of ordinary blueberries.They have cancer fighting and other disease benefits. Have cholesterol lowering properties and promote heart health. They have been called "brain food" and can help with Alzheimer's prevention. Are an excellent anti-diabetes food, both in prevention and control of the disease. In short they taste fabulous and are good for you.  

Fresh blueberries are the best for you but unfortunately they are usually only in season during summer months here. You can still find them in store at other times but they're just not the same. The next best choice is frozen, usually available year-round and I have even found frozen wild blueberries. 

I love using wild blueberries when I'm baking. 

You get twice the amount of blueberries when you use wild ones which means your baked goods have more berries in every bite. The wild one have more skin and less water so your berries bleed less, don't make your muffins/pies/scones soggy and pack more "blueberry punch." I say they next time your buying blueberry try the smaller wild variety you'll be hooked for life :)

My favorite thing to make with wild blueberries is....Wild Blueberry Pie. I use my adapt version of No Fail Pie Dough. I love this pie crust recipe because it absolutely NEVER fails!! Try my version or the original  Tenderflake No Fail Pie Crust recipe found here. Either way you will not be disappointed, it is the best pie crust recipe out there :)

~Wild Blueberry Pie~

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 lb chilled butter, cut into cubes
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold lemon juice
1 cup cold water

Stir the flour and salt together. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the butter is in pea size pieces.
In a small bowl combine egg, and lemon juice. Whisk the egg and lemon juice together, add the cold water.

Stir the liquid into the flour mixture. Stir with wooden spoon until all ingredients are thoroughly combine and you have a soft dough.  Gather the dough into a ball and cut dough (like a cake) into 6 portions.

Cover and refrigerate for one hour. You can chill the dough overnight but bring it to room temperature approx 15-20 min. before rolling out.

You can roll out the dough by lightly flouring work surface and rolling into circle. I always use my "up-cycled" cereal bags for this part, click here. 

Lightly flour two clean, wash cereal bags and roll the dough out between the bags. The dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick and you can use the bag to transfer and flip the rolled out pie crust right into the pie pan. 


~Blueberry Pie Filling~

3 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the blueberries, sugar and cornstarch in a pot.  




Simmer on low heat until the blueberries, sugar and corn starch mixture starts to melt and the berry release their nature juices. 

Add lemon juice. 







Cook, while stirring, over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil and is thick, approx. 5. Allow the filling to cool completely before adding to pie crust. 

You can use this filling for tarts, cake filling or cheesecake topping. I never add any extra water when I make this filling, just the juice from the berry so the filling is full of flavour. 

See how many more blueberries you get when you use wild blueberries.

Add top crust and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with raw sugar or turbino sugar if desired. I love the added crunchy texture the sugar adds so I always sprinkle the top crust with sugar.

 Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes, check halfway through and turn the pie to bake evenly if needed. Cover the edges with a strip of foil if edges are getting too brown. 

Delicious Wild Blueberry Pie!

Don't you wanna piece now?

Look how flaky and golden the crust is, it always works out perfectly.

Blueberry pie is just one of the many ways you can enjoy these delicious  sweet little berries. Actual I made a batch of Blueberry Streusel Muffins recently and I used the Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffin recipe I posted earlier. You can find the muffin recipe here.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Well there you go, two great reasons why you should start using blueberries in your baking. Now get in the kitchen and bake up a storm. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend. See you soon!!

Love,
 Katya 

Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins...oh ya!

One of my favorite things about summer is berry picking and eating;) I thought I share some of my favorite summer berries recipes with you. The best way to start is with my favorite berry.... the Raspberry!! 

The berry family is known for the health benefits each offers. Raspberries are a great source of fiber and manganese which promote weight loss and keep your heart healthy. They are an excellent source of vitamin C. Slow down the aging process and leave you feeling and looking younger!! Aside from being healthy for you and your body they are delicious!!

Actually raspberries and I have quite a history, my very first paying job was picking raspberries. We had a huge raspberry patch on our farm in Ontario and each year we picked berries, lots and lots of berries.What a great way to spend summertime, in the berry patch, picking raspberries, eating raspberries and getting paid in the process!! 

Raspberry Patch

After the berries were picked we'd make raspberry jam. The old farmhouse kitchen would turn into a small factory of fresh berries, jam jars and aroma of warm delicious raspberry jam cooking......yum...that part I always enjoyed because I could sneak a taste while stirring the jam :)  Truthfully said I probably didn't appreciated it all as much when I was younger but I'm left with some great memories. Now I enjoy berry picking and the best part is that I have my fill of fresh berries and plenty to freeze, make jam and bake with.

The best way to freeze raspberries is to spread the berries single layer thick on a cookie sheet. This way the berries will freeze quickly and won't freeze into a large clump. Once the berries are completely frozen pack into a large Ziploc bag and pop them back into freezer. Frozen raspberries are a great snack anytime. Best part is that frozen berries have virtually identical nutritional values to those of fresh fruit.

    

I will never forget the summer when my granny came to visit us all the way from Australia. We were all so excited. She came just in time for the summer so she helped picked raspberries that year. I guess before I continue I need to mention that we had a beautiful big barn, it's was bright red and had a green sheet metal roof. Well one day we all heading out to the berry patch to pick berries. My mom, my granny, my sisters, my brother and I. My sister D and my bro decide to be pranksters so instead of picking berries they decided to throw rocks at the barn roof. 

Clang!....bang!.... I guess my granny heard all the racket and it was starting to annoy her. Apparently she thought it was me, so she gave me a few warnings about not throwing rocks at the barn. I was busy daydreaming instead of picking berries and never heard anything, not even the snickers of my two sneaky siblings. I was snapped back into reality when my granny came over, gave my ear a good tug and told me to stop fooling around and start picking. I just thought I got in trouble for day dreaming until a few days later I was told what actually happened by the 2 troublemakers!! Of course they had quite a laugh at my expense, come to think of it I never got a chance for payback.....one day I will be avenged!!!

You'd think I'd be quite traumatized after that berry picking event and never want anything to do with raspberries but you'd be wrong. Those were the good ole' days something we sit, laugh and reminisce about nowadays. 

One of my favorite things to make with fresh raspberries are muffins. And I have a great recipe for you. These muffins are everything a muffin should be. Soft and fluffy, a cross between muffin and coffee cake, not to sweet, filled with delicious juicy tart raspberries and a sweet buttery crumb topping. 

Perfect for breakfast, lunch, snack anytime....I found these delicious muffin recipe on Joy of Baking.com. The muffin base is perfect I made a few modification but overall it's a great recipe. I like the fact that you make the streusel topping from the muffin base ingredients, no need for extra bowls and extra work. Try these muffins with your favorite berry, you'll Luv 'em!! Here's the link to the original Blueberry Streusel Muffins....

~ Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins ~

11/4 cup milk (room temperature)

2 eggs

1/2 pure vanilla extract

1/2 almond extract

3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

~ Streusel Topping ~

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16-18 muffin cups with muffin liners or grease lightly.

In a small bowl, mix together with a whisk the milk, eggs and extract.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the chilled, cubed butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or a fork. Mixture should look like a course crumbs. Reserve one cup of the muffin mixture in a separate bowl to make streusel topping. To the remaining muffin batter, gently fold in the raspberries. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined, batter will be lump, don't over mix or muffins will be tough when baked.  

Fill the each muffin cup 3/4 full with batter, using a spoon. Fill any unused muffin cup with water to prevent warping.

Streusel Topping:

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the sugar and sliced almonds into reserved crumb muffin mixture. Drizzle with melted butter, mix with a fork until it's crumbly. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the streusel over the top of each muffin.  Place in oven and bake until very lightly brown, firm to touch and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean about 18-22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. 

Makes 16-18 regular sized muffins :)

***if using frozen raspberries don't thaw the berries use frozen from freezer and don't over mix once you add liquids because otherwise your muffins will be pink!! ***

We still have a couple weeks of summertime and berry picking left. If you don't have time to pick your own berries I'm sure your local Farmers Market has plenty to offer. I seriously recommend making some of these delightful, delicious berry muffins. Be brave, be wild and be creative, there a world full of flavors out there to try ;) I'm thinking apple cinnamon is next on my list.....

Happy Berry picking you'all !! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love,

  

Delicious Oatmeal Muffins

I got this recipe for Oatmeal Muffin from a friend many years ago and I have been making these muffins ever since. Oatmeal muffins, seems pretty simple and nothing noteworthy right? But try making these muffins once and you will be hooked for life, I know I am! This muffins are so tasty; they're soft, moist oatmeal muffins with a hint of  buttermilk and brown sugary sweetness. They make the perfect breakfast muffins, it's like having a bowl of oatmeal on the run. There are many variations possible when making these muffins, I have tried making them with blueberries, chopped dates, walnuts, shredded carrots and all kinds of different spices. 


This time I tried apple and cinnamon, a classic flavour mix that didn't disappoint!  I don't know which is my favorite variations because they are all so good :) Next time you need a good muffins recipe, that's quick and easy to make, try making these Oatmeal Muffins. Be brave, go ahead and add your favorite berries, nuts or spices. Be creative and come up with something that your family members will love. Feel free to share some of your creative variation with me too, I'd love to try them out!

~ Oatmeal Muffins ~


  Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup oil

1 cup well packed brown sugar

1 egg, well beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Celsius.

Combine oats with buttermilk in a bowl and let stand while for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile in another bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder. 

Add oil, brown sugar and beaten egg to oatmeal mixture. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine with wooden spoon. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins

Variations: 

Apple Cinnamon Oat bran Oatmeal Muffins: Substitute 1/2  cup oat bran for oatmeal, add buttermilk and let mixture stand for 5-10 minutes, add 1 cup shredded apple and 2 teaspoons cinnamon to oatmeal  mixture add to the muffin mixture and stir to combine.                                                             

Date Oatmeal Muffins:  Add 1 cup chopped dates at the end

Carrot Walnut Oatmeal Muffins: Add 1 cup shredded carrots, 1/2 chopped walnuts at the end and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to dry ingredient

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins: Add 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries at the end and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg to dry ingredients 

Apple Cinnamon Oat Bran Oatmeal Muffins

             

  You'll need:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 oat bran

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup oil

1 cup paked brown sugar

1 egg, well beaten

1 cup shredded apple

2 teaspoons cinnamon

        * I doubled the recipe when I made these muffins*

Place oatmeal, oat bran and buttermilk in a bowl.

Combine the ingredients and let the mixture stand for 5-10 minutes

In another bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk ingredients together.

Add oil, brown sugar and well beaten egg to flour mixture.

Stir to combine wet and dry ingredients.

Add the oatmeal/buttermilk mixture, shredded apple and cinnamon to muffin mixture

Stir to combine all ingredients together.
Spoon Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffin batter into lined or lightly oiled muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes.

When  muffins are ready place the muffin pans on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes then remove from the muffin pans.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins....breakfast on the go!!

You can make the muffins larger if you like but I chose to make them medium size because then each muffins is only 195 calories, add a piece of fruit and coffee or tea and breakfast is served. You can substitute half the oil for applesauce for an even lighter version of these muffins:)  

Apple Cinnamon Deliciousness.......

Thanks for stopping day, 

An apple a day......

Love Katya