Blueberry apple pie with a hint of lemon and cinnamon baked in a delicious all butter pie crust. A perfect entertaining springtime dessert.

Pie is such a perfect dessert to highlight seasonal fruit. The combination of fruit fillings is endless and with the right crust you can create a delicious dessert perfect for entertaining. A pie is warm and homey and even makes a great hostess gift or a sweet welcome gift to new neighbors.

I used to be intimidated by making homemade pie crust. It seemed that I could never get it quite right and would usually end up with a tough crust that was difficult to cut with a fork. So I typically baked pies with store bought crust. In fact, as a kid in our household I became known for my apple pie (even with a store bought crust). It was my go to recipe for making dessert for my family.

I would make apple pie so much that in 4th grade I taught my classmates how to create the perfect apple pie. Our assignment required teaching the class a topic of our choice. Naturally I chose to teach the class how to make my favorite recipe. I pre-baked an apple pie at home and brought it to class for everyone to sample, and for the assignment I demonstrated step-by-step how to assemble my famous apple pie.

Fast forward many years later, I decided it was time to learn how to make a proper pie crust. I learned through trial and error by making many pie crusts by hand. Using a stand mixer or food processor is one way to create a pie crust, but doing it by hand allowed to me really get to know my pie crust and feel it come together.

I have always preferred an all butter pie crust as opposed to all shortening or a mixture of the two. The flavor is superior to the other options and creates a lovely foundation for a variety of pie fillings including fruit, cream and custard pies. Blueberry apple pie is no exception. The all butter pie crust goes wonderfully with this pie.

A lattice pie crust makes for a beautiful presentation. Although it looks intricate to create, it really is simple to put together. The most important thing to remember when working with pie dough is to keep your dough cold. Work quickly and if your dough begins to get warm, pop it back into the refrigerator to chill for 5-10 minutes before resuming.

How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust

Roll out your top crust, beginning from the center and rolling outwards, to a circle that is 3 inches larger than your baking dish.
Using a pastry cutter wheel (or sharp knife), cut the dough into strips. The thickness or thinness is a personal preference. For my pie, I chose to cut dough into 3/4 inch thick strips.
Arrange enough strips parallel to each other over the filled pie.
Fold every other strip loosely in half and lay a strip of pie dough along the center of the pie perpendicular to the other strips.
Fold the strips back down over the perpendicular strip and fold the other strips up to the point of the perpendicular strip.
Lay another perpendicular strip and repeat the process of threading the strips until a full lattice top is complete.
With a sharp knife, trim away excess dough from the strips and roll excess dough from bottom crust up and over the edge of the pie crust.
Pinch dough together with fingertips and crimp edge of pie.

Tips for pie baking

Keep pie dough ingredients cold. This will help create a flaky and tender crust.
An egg wash adds a richer color to your pie crust. Even though there is sugar within the pie dough (which helps in the coloring of the crust), the egg wash will give a nice, shiny golden brown color to your finished pie.
Glass heats in a slower, even manner. Therefore, using a glass baking dish for your pie helps to ensure your bottom crust is evenly baked.
Always bake a pie on a baking sheet. This will help prevent spillover in your oven!
Bake pie on the bottom rack of your oven. This will help ensure the bottom crust becomes golden brown and not a soggy mess.
Begin baking the blueberry apple pie at a high temperature 400°F/204°C for 20 min then reduce the oven to 375°F/190°C for an additional 40 minutes. Because the crust uses all butter for its fat, the initial high temperature allows for the crust to set and helps prevent it from slouching.

More pie and tart recipes

Make sure to tag me @thesweetoccasion on Instagram and leave me a review below if you make this Blueberry Apple Pie. I’d love to see your creations and read your feedback. And if you would like to make this recipe later, be sure to pin this recipe using the button on any of these images. Let’s make every occasion a sweet occasion!