I absolutely love everything containing blueberries, so yesterday my simple living project involved making blueberry pie from scratch (yep, the crust and everything). It’s not as difficult as one would think and takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish.

For ingredients, you need 2 1/4 cups of flour plus extra for rolling the crust, 1 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons Crisco, ice water, 6 cups of blueberries, 3/4 cup of sugar, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 egg, milk, and butter. For the flour, I used Bob’s Red Mill 100% Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour, which made for a healthier and absolutely delicious pie crust. For the blueberries, I opted to use frozen, although fresh would work just as well. Living in the desert, it’s hard to come by good quality fresh produce, and organic produce is generally cheaper when frozen.

For the pie crust, mix 2 cups of flour, the salt and Crisco in a large bowl. You’ll want to mix with something light, like a fork, so the dough doesn’t get too tough. Add up to 6 tablespoons of ice water, 1 at a time, until the dough sticks together. Separate the dough into 2 balls.

Cover each with plastic wrap, flatten into pancakes, place in the refrigerator, and chill for at least 45 minutes.

While the pie crust is chilling, mix up the filling: 6 cups of blueberries, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, and the juice of 1 lemon. The mixture may end up looking something like zombie brains, but it will be oh-so-delicious.

When it’s time for the dough to come out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Now comes the tricky part: rolling the dough. Sprinkle your clean countertop and rolling pin with flour, and roll the dough into a large circle that is several inches larger than the diameter of your pie plate. Don’t worry about it being a perfect circle, because you can fix it up once it’s in the pie plate. Here, size is what matters.

Now, tranfer the dough to the pie plate. Since this is a bit difficult, I recommend folding it up a bit and then unfolding it once it’s in the pie plate. Move scraps of dough around to ensure the pie plate and edges are 100% covered. Paint the dough with a beaten egg white to help prevent soggy pie crust.

Then, add the berry mixture.

Roll the top crust in the same way as the bottom. Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with water, and lay the top crust over the pie. Trim the excess dough with kitchen scissors or a knife, leaving about 1 inch on all sides. Brush milk over the pie top. Crimp the top and bottom together all the way around with either a fork or your fingers. Carve 4 tiny holes in the center of the pie to ensure proper venting. Wrap the edges of the pie with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil border, and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from the the oven and let cool before serving.