Blueberry Cobbler

Cobbler is the lazy man's pie; that's my snobbish maxim. But I'm not above making it, as it is perfect for large parties. This is a variation on a recipe from the St. Louis Post Dispatch that was published at least a decade ago. Making cobbler is much less work than making pie (especially if you only put crust on the top), but it's just as satisfying to eat. I took this to a BBQ, and it got rave reviews (including my personal favorite, that it was "off the chain"). 

Gather blueberries, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, unsalted butter, and half and half (or milk, provided it's at least 2%). Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash 10 cups of blueberries thoroughly and make sure all the stems are removed (this is the most tedious part of making this cobbler, because about one in every ten blueberries has a stem attached, so you have to carefully examine them).  Then put the blueberries in a 9" by 13" glass or ceramic dish. 

Next, pour 6 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/2 a teaspoon salt over the blueberries and mix carefully.

Then dot the blueberry mixture with 2 tablespoons of butter and set it aside while you make the dough.  

In a bowl, mix with a fork 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in 1/2 a stick of butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture looks like this:

Then pour in half a cup of milk or half and half, mixing as you pour.   

Now you will have a crumbly mixture that you can gently form into balls.

Gently form twenty dough balls (roughly the size of golf balls), which should contain about 1 tablespoon of dough each. Place them on top of the blueberry mixture. You will have five rows containing four dough balls (dough balls? I feel there should be a more eloquent way for me to describe that...).

Bake for thirty minutes or until the dough is golden brown and the blueberries are bubbling. It will come out looking like this and smelling amazing.

Blueberry Cobbler

For filling:

10 cups blueberries

6 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1/2 a teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For topping:

1/4 (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk or cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

For filling:

Thoroughly clean blueberries and place them in a 9" by 13" glass or ceramic dish. Gently mix in cornstarch, sugar and salt. Dot with unsalted butter and set aside.

For topping:

Mix flour, sugar, and salt with a fork. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender or with two knives (until the butter is in roughly pea-sized pieces). Add milk and mix with a fork. Form the dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon each, and place them about a half-an-inch apart on the blueberry mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and the blueberries are bubbling. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream. 



Bite-Size Blueberry Pies

Because you love me but you just don't know it yet, I give you bite-size blueberry pies! I thought I was so clever when I came up with this. Miniaturize something - how original! I thought I was even more clever with my inadvertent alliteration when I listened to Brothers by the Black Keys while making bite-size blueberry pies (followed by a sigh and a moment of deep self-loathing).

I took these pies to Shakespeare in the Park, solving the age-old problem of how to include pie on a picnic menu without making a mess. I may use this recipe for pies that I can ship to friends in other cities as gifts (don't get your hopes up, guys).  

I used my tried-and-true crust recipe, seen here. I wasn't sure how the proportions would turn out, so I made enough dough and enough filling for one pie. I ended up with leftover filling, so my recipe below adjusts the blueberries and other ingredients to the right amount. Fortunately, the additional filling allowed me to try this recipe twice in one week.

First, I brushed the mini cupcake tins with melted butter. 

Next, I rolled out the dough, used a glass to cut it into rounds, and pressed them into the cupcake tins.

Then I made the filling and filled the tins to the edge so that they were full but not overflowing. And I morphed into a wannabe Martha Stewart and made teeny-tiny lattice crusts.

But my Marthaesque perfectionism was thwarted when they came out looking like this! I was convinced they were ruined and was deeply saddened by my mini pie failure!  

Reeling over my first world problems, I was delighted that they came out of the tins looking like this:

The lattice crust pies were yummy - sweet, tart, and flaky - but there was not quite enough filling in them. Obviously, some was lost when the filling overflowed. To prevent this, next time I will use more constarch or switch to tapioca. I may also mash the blueberries a bit so they will not explode, as I'm convinced that has something to do with the filling overflowing.

Two days later, I tried again with the leftover filling, which I did not alter. This time I opted for a single crust on top rather than a lattice crust. I thought this might help with the overflowing problem. This mitigated the problem but had some collateral consequences, seen below. 

I brushed the pies with egg whites, as I did with the lattice pies, but I forgot to sprinkle them with sugar. The sugar on top is important - it adds a sweet crunch, which is nice because these will probably not be served with ice cream.
   

This batch didn't overflow quite as much, but they ended up being a bit soggy on the bottom. 

These reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.

So I had to add a tiny scoop of ice cream...

Sadly, even though I made these creature-sized delights, the creatures just weren't that into it.

Oh well.

Bite-Size Blueberry Pies

Crust seen here.

Filling: 

3 cups of blueberries

2/3 cup of sugar, plus 1 tablespoon of sugar set aside

3 tablespoons cornstarch or quick-cooking tapioca (this is 1/3 more than I used in the pies shown above)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 

3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon salt 

2-3 tablespoons salted butter, half cut into small pieces and half melted

1 egg, separated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice & rind, and salt. Let stand for 15 minutes. Cut butter and set aside.

Roll out dough to about 1/8 inch or slightly thinner. Cut rounds with a large glass or cookie cutter. Brush pie tins with melted butter, and press dough rounds into the tins. 

Fill the pies until the filling reaches the edge. Do not overfill. Dot each pie with butter, then cover with tiny lattice or single crusts. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes or until top crust is light brown and filling is bubbly.

Enjoy!