After having to postpone our annual ladies blueberry picking trip back two times, we finally went on opening day, June 29. Third time’s the charm!  Except….one of the problems with going on opening day is that you have to get to the farm early and opening day usually isn’t during the peak of the season. We arrived at 9:30 am whereas the crowds got there at 7 am. Needless to say, it was slim pickings for our group. We were out there for 1.5 hours and on average, we managed to pick only 3 pints each. We got too spoiled last year where our buckets were overflowing after 30 minutes. Last year, we made LOTS of blueberry jam. This year, I decided to do something less labor intensive and make mini blueberry pies. Unfortunately, whenever you make “mini” of anything, the amount of effort put in just doesn’t seem quite worth it…..all for a measly, “so cute!”

Makes 10-11 mini pies

Pie Crust

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
• 1/3 cup ice water

Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Then add the butter and process. Add the ice water in slowly through the top opening and pulse until a dough forms. Divide the tough into two balls, flatten each into a disc (aka big pancake) and wrap it in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Pie Filling

• 2.5 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and gently mix with your hands.

To assemble the pies, flatten out the pie dough and use a cookie cutter (I used a ramekin) to punch out a round shape. Place the pie dough round inside a muffin pan mold. No need to pre-grease, there’s enough butter in the pie crust (trust me). Use your fingers and gently press the dough down until the bottom and sides of the muffin pan, doesn’t have to be perfect. Fill the blueberry filling to the top. Use the remaining dough to make pie tops. I used a lattice pattern at first. But then I got really lazy and started just rolling out full tops and punching holes in them for air. By the end, I was so exhausted that some of my pies didn’t have tops. Once everything is assembled, brush the tops with an egg wash (aka beat an egg and brush the liquid on top).

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Start checking on them at 20 minutes if you want picture-worthy or gift-worthy pies because the blueberry filling starts to burst quickly over the pie tops after 20 minutes.

My back ached, my neck was sore, and I was ready to pass out after I made these. If you received one of these as a present, count yourself lucky, because I’ll probably never be making these mini pies again. ❤