Cinnamon's Christmas River Blueberry Pie

I made a batch of mini blueberry lemon pies this past weekend to celebrate the release of Mayhem in Christmas River. Let me tell you -- Cinnamon has a tough job! I was in the kitchen for half the day working on the dough, mixing the filling, and cutting lattice tops. But in the end, the pies came out great. I had to put them high up in the cupboard overnight so I wouldn't demolish them in a fit of midnight snackery! 

The recipe is loosely based on a Bon Appetit recipe I tried out a few years ago and loved. It combined the fresh and tart flavors of blueberries and lemon juice with cinnamon and brown sugar. It's an outrageously tasty combination, and I think these little pie-lets captured the flavors well. And I think Cinnamon would have been proud of me! 

Here's the recipe if you want to make these at home. They'll make about four small tartlet-sized pies. 

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter

3 tablespoons of cold shortening

5 tablespoons of water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut butter and shortening into flour using a pastry cutter. When the pieces become small and gravel-sized, add water. Combine into eight small balls of dough, and wrap them in aluminum foil. Then put them in the freezer for fifteen minutes to half an hour before using. 

For crusts: Butter small tart pans. Take cold balls of dough and roll out four of them into circular rounds to cover the tart pans. Press dough into pans. Prick bottoms with a fork. Pre-bake for about 10 minutes at 375. 

Filling: 

Two cups of blueberries (recipes always say to use fresh, but sometimes you just can't get fresh blueberries. I think frozen ones do a pretty good job most of the time. Just make sure they're mostly thawed.)

Juice from half of a lemon

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of regular sugar

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl. Taste for sugar vs. tartness, and add more of one or the other to balance out. Then divide filling among four tart pans.

Make lattice tops out of the remaining balls of dough. Roll out, cut into strips, then weave them together on top of the filling. Brush the tops with water and then sprinkle sugar on top. 

Bake pies at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Pull them out and let cool for 20 minutes or more. Then, enjoy your hard work!