Blackberry Pie

My roommate, our cat and I picked blackberries last night (yes... our cat comes out with us, on a leash). We came home with several pounds of blackberries and did the only possible rational thing:PIE!!

I use my grandmother's pie recipe, with a few substitutions. It makes two 9" pies' worth of dough, but freezes really well for months.

Pie Dough:
1. Combine 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour, and 2 cups sofened (not melted!) butter in a large bowl. Use two forks to break up the butter and combine it with the flour. Usually I get frustrated with the forks and just dive in with my hands.
2. Add 1 TBS apple cider vinegar, 1 TBS salt, 1 egg, 1TBS sugar, 2 Tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water. Combine until it just comes together, otherwise your dough will be chewy.
3. Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes, and up to 3 days.

Filling:
1. Combine 2c blackberries, 1/4c sugar, 1/4c flour, 2 Tsp cinnamon, 1TBS lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, and 1 Tsp salt in a large bowl GENTLY. Don't squash your berries!

Assembling the pie:
1. On a well-floured surface, roll out 1/2 the dough into a circle about 4" in diameter greater than the diameter of your pie dish, and about 1/4 inch thick. Don't forget to flour your rolling pin, too!
2. Spray your pie dish with vegetable oil and lightly (!) coat the dish with flour. This will help the pie not stick, especially if berry goodness leaks out.
3. Carefully transfer the pie circle to the pie dish, using your rolling pin to start at one side and unroll it across the dish.
4. Slide the dough carefully down the sides of the dish. Leave any extra dough hanging off the sides.
5. Pour the pie filling into the crust.
6. Cut off any extra dough by running a knife around the outside edge of the pie dish. save this extra dough to make the lattice top.
7. Roll out your dough again into a square-ish shape. I would have a hard time telling you how to create the lattice-top, but this link does a pretty good job. Thanks, YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jv8BGw31Cg

8. Bake your pie at 350F for 40 -45 minutes. Because of the whole wheat flour, it may be hard to tell when your pie is "golden brown." If you poke a section of crust and it pops back up, it's probably done.

That's it! Easy as..well.. Pie!

Any leftover pie crust can be rolled thin and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, then baked for 15-20 minutes. Hellooooo elephant ear!

Om Nom Nom!