Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm
Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm is a U-Pick farm
located just outside the Clay city limits.
We provide the buckets to use while picking
and bags to take home the berries.
CLOSED FOR 2024
SEE YOU JUNE 2025
Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm is a U-Pick farm located just outside the city limits of Clay, Alabama.
We provide the buckets to use while picking and bags to take home the berries.
No Public Restroom
Open Tuesdays and Saturdays
7:00 AM - Noon
$10 Gallon - CASH only!
Things to Bring
Cash
Sunscreen
Hat
Water
Bug Spray
Kids - Put 'em to work!
Camera
Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm
Phone: 205-286-2272 (leave a message)
Email: bearmountainblueberryfarm@gmail.com
Address
8245 Clayton Road
Springville, AL 35146
Send us your tried & true blueberry recipes!
Wondering what to do with all those blueberries you picked? These pages are dedicated to tried and true recipes. Please submit your favorite to bearmountainblueberryfarm@gmail.com or to our Facebook page, and we'll publish it here, giving you credit, of course.
Tips
I have often seen that you are to freeze the berries unwashed to avoid a thick skin when used. I have always washed my berries first and dried them on a paper towel completely before freezing them. I have not noticed any problems when baking with them. I don’t know how it affects eating them raw.
Freeze in pre-measured amounts to make it easier to grab for a recipe. Most of the recipes I have call for either 2 or 4 cups, so I measure that out before freezing and label the bag with the amount.
Links
Blueberry Recipes
in order of submission
Blueberry Bottom Cobbler
This recipe was given to me years ago by Pat Simmons of Springville, AL. It remains my favorite way to use blueberries.
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 Tbsp lemon juice, canned or bottled
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup white self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
- Place blueberries in bottom of greased 9 in. square pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice, set aside
- Cream butter; add 1/2 cup sugar, beating well at medium speed with electric mixer. Add flour and milk, mix well; spread batter over blueberries.
- Combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir well, sprinkle over batter.
- Pour boiling water over cobbler. DO NOT STIR!!
- Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
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This recipe is from a church cookbook of my grandmother's church. The recipe was submitted by my great-aunt.
Blueberry Cake
2 ½ c. sifted cake flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
½ c. milk
2 c. blueberries
Sift flour once, measure and add baking powder and salt. Sift again. Cream butter and sugar gradually and cream together well. Add egg; beat well. Add flour alternately with milk a small amount at a time. This makes a stiff batter. Fold in blueberries. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
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A 2015 customer told me he likes to take a cup of fresh blueberries and add it to his banana bread recipe. I have tried it, and it is delicious! If you don't have a banana bread recipe, you can use this one that I use. I got it from www.simplyrecipes.com. I make regular banana bread with it often. The addition of blueberries is a plus! (My changes will be in bold type.)
Banana Bread
2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350° and butter a 4x8 inch loaf pan.
In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.
Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Gently fold in blueberries.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)
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submitted by Liz Harding
French Fruit Cake (or French Buckle) medieval in origin, a type of pie
Preheat Oven to 425
Bake in 9x9 square, 9 inch round, or for a more authentic touch a deep pie pan… your choices are limitless
2 cups of fruit (apples, peaches, berries, etc…) Blueberries are best.
2/3 cup sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon (you can also add nutmeg, cloves, allspice, mace, ginger, whatever)
5 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
Mix fruit, cinnamon, spices, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, lemon juice, and zest in a bowl. Spread evenly in pan. Drizzle 4 tbsp. of butter over it evenly. In a bowl (sift before measuring) 1 cup flour. Resift with ½ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl beat together the eggs, milk, and remaining 1 tbsp. melted butter. Add it to the dry ingredients and spread evenly over fruit in the pan. Put it in the oven. After 5 mins drop the temp to 350 and bake for about 40 min. until cake is brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Flip over onto a plate or platter and allow it to cool to room temperature. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or powdered sugar, or all of the above.
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submitted by Liz Harding
Scones
Preheat Oven to 375
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup fresh blueberries
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Fold in fruit carefully. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Form into two equal sized circles and cut each circle into 8ths. Place on a baking sheet about an inch apart with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes or until brown.
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Submitted by Jackie Keener
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Blueberry Cheesecake Rollups
recipe from emilybites.com
Ingredients
3 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar
1 8 oz tube of reduced fat crescent roll dough, (8 rolls)
2/3 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Combine the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and use an electric mixer (I used a hand version) to mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate into 8 triangles along the perforated seams. Place one triangle of dough in front of you with the short flat side facing you and the long triangle pointing away. Spread about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture across the bottom third of the dough triangle (the part closest to you). Top the cream cheese layer with two rows of blueberries (pictured above). Starting with the edge closest to you, roll the dough forward all the way to the far tip of the triangle, surrounding the blueberries. Place the finished roll onto a baking sheet and repeat with remaining ingredients to create 8 rolls.
- Place the baking sheet of rolls in the preheated oven and bake for 10-13 minutes until the rolls are golden and serve.
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submitted by Stephanie & Andy Smith
Blueberry Salsa
Recipe from delish.com
YIELD: 6 SERVINGS
PREP TIME: 15 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 15 MINS
INGREDIENTS
2 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1/4 c. freshly chopped cilantro
juice of 2 small limes
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Corn chips, for serving
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine all salsa ingredients and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve with corn chips.
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Bette's Blueberry Muffins
submitted by Beth Bryant Allen
1/3 cup Crisco shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp lemon extract
Sift dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and soft shortening using a pastry blender. Fold in fruit.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
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Lemon Blueberry Trifle
submitted by Stephanie & Andy Smith
from amandascookin.com
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese 1 block, softened
6.8 oz instant lemon pudding 2 (3.4oz) boxes lemon pudding mix(dry mix only, do not prepare according to box)
3 cups milk brought to room temperature
8 oz whipped topping 1 tub, thawed
2 Angel food cake 2 loaves or 1 tube cake, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cups blueberries 2 pints fresh blueberries
Sliced lemon for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Beat the cream cheese and the dry pudding mix together until smooth. Slowly add the room temp milk until smooth. Fold in 2 cups of the whipped topping.
In a 3-quart bowl, layer 1/3 of the cake, 1/3 of the pudding and 1/3 of the blueberries. Repeat layers two more times. Garnish with reserved whipped topping and lemons.
Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Make sure milk is at room temperature so that the cream cheese doesn't seize up.
I use store-bought angel food cake for the cake layer, but buttery pound cake would be equally delicious.
You could also make a homemade angel food cake!
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Blueberry Pie Recipe
submitted by Roleen Bright Watson
from Natasha's Kitchen
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
The ultimate Blueberry Pie Recipe! The filling is bursting with sweet, juicy blueberries and tastes amazing with vanilla ice cream.
Author: Natasha Kravchuk
Servings: 8 slices of pie
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for pie crust, yields 2 crusts (recipe follows)
- 6 cups blueberries, rinsed and well drained, (2 lbs or 32 oz)
- 1 tsp lemon zest , from 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 4 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg , + 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash
Instructions
- Pre-make your pie crust and let it refrigerate for 1 hour in the refrigerator before using. Roll the first disk into a 13" circle and transfer it to a 9" wide, deep pie pan.
- Roll the second crust into a 12" circle and use a pizza cutter to slice into ten 1-inch strips.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 6 cups blueberries, 1 tsp lemon zest, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 4 1/2 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and toss to combine. Transfer blueberries into the dough-lined pie pan, mounding it just slightly in the center and keeping the edges clean of blueberry juice.
- Using the 10 strips of dough, create a lattice crust over the top: Place 5 strips of dough evenly over the pie, with the longer strips in the center. Fold back every other strip halfway and place a long strip in the center perpendicular to the first 5 strips. Fold the strips back over the new line and fold back the alternate strips. Continue adding and alternating strips, then switch to the other side of the pie and continue until the woven lattice is finished. Pinch the edges to seal then crimp for a fluted pattern.
- Beat together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water and brush the egg wash over the lattice crust and edges. Bake in the center of the oven at 375˚F for 50-60 minutes, or until the crust is golden and blueberry juice is bubbling at the edges.
Easy Pie Crust Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes
This homemade pie crust dough recipe yields a flaky tender crust with rich buttery flavor. This recipe uses only butter (NO SHORTENING) so it is all natural.
Skill Level: Easy
Servings: 12 people (makes 2 single or 1 double crust)
Ingredients for Butter Pie Crust Dough Recipe:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust, *measured correctly
- 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 lb COLD unsalted butter, (2 sticks) diced into 1/4" pieces
- 7 Tbsp ice water, (7 to 8 Tbsp)
Instructions
- Place flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add cold diced butter and pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs form with some pea-sized pieces then stop mixing. Mixture should remain dry and powdery.
- Add 7 Tbsp ice water and pulse just until moist clumps or small balls form. Press a piece of dough between your finger tips and if the dough sticks together, you have added enough water. If not, add more water a teaspoon full at a time. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.
- Transfer dough to a clean work surface, and gather dough together into a ball (it should not be smooth and DO NOT knead the dough). Divide dough in half and flatten to form 2 disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before using in recipes that call for pie crust.
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submitted by Kari Clements
Blueberry Bread
2 c. flour
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
2 c. blueberries
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
½ c. plain yogurt
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray loaf pan.
Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together; add blueberries and lemon zest—toss. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy—add eggs one at a time, then add yogurt and then dry ingredients. Try not to crush blueberries. Bake 1 hour, 10 minutes.
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submitted by Kari Clements
Blueberry Biscuits
2 c. flour
½ c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
5 tbsp. butter, frozen
3 oz. blueberries
Freeze butter. Preheat oven to 450°. Mix salt, sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and sift. Add milk. As dough forms, use cheese grater to add butter. Fold dough and knead. Fold in blueberries. Gently pull chunks of dough and pat to form biscuits. Bake 7 to 12 minutes.
Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/8 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. lemon juice
Mix and drizzle over biscuits.
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submitted by Elizabeth Vincent Gillenwater
Blueberry & Red Bell Pepper Salsa
adapted from thestayathomechef.com
Fresh summer blueberries are paired with sweet red bell pepper in this gourmet salsa recipe. Blueberry and Red Bell Pepper Salsa is a winner!
Author: Rachel Farnsworth
Yield: 4 cups salsa
Ingredients
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2 jalapenos, minced
½ red onion, minced
2 red bell peppers, diced small
½ teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced
Pour your blueberries out on a large cutting board. Give them a rough chop. You'll miss plenty of the berries giving you a nice mixture of whole berries vs chopped. Put them in a large bowl.
Add in your chopped cilantro, jalapeno, red onion, red bell pepper, salt, and lemon juice. Stir until combined.
Elizabeth wrote: I altered the recipe a bit because I'm not a fan of jalapenos (left them out), I used white onion instead of red onion and lime juice instead of lemon juice (already had the white onion and lime juice on hand).
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Submitted by Stuart Carter, author of Addicted to Canning, a blog you need to check out!
Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
scant 1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your GF flour blend already has some)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
TOPPING
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or similar (optional)
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold in blueberries. Get a separate bowl, put the egg, milk and butter in then whisk together. Mix into the dry ingredients, careful not to mush the blueberries. Pour into a buttered/oiled 8-in. x 8-in. baking pan.
Make topping to sprinkle over batter (put on last).
Once you have everything apart from the topping mixed, start preheating the oven. This will allow the xanthan gum to set before baking. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Can be served warm or room temperature.
WHAT GLUTEN FREE FLOUR CAN I USE?
Pretty much any of them. There are 1-to-1 substitute blends in the stores, you can use my pudding flour, or you could use a flour made from a psuedocereal. I used millet flour and it turned out nicely – next time I will try buckwheat flour to see if the nuttiness in the buckwheat comes through.
WHAT IS A “PSEUDOCEREAL”?
A pseudocereal is a seed grain that isn’t a grass, but that is used like it’s a cereal. Millet, buckwheat, and quinoa are 3 examples of seeds that are used like a cereal. They do not contain gluten.
A cereal is a grass derived grain such as wheat, rye, barley. They usually contain gluten.
WHAT DOES “SCANT” MEAN?
You want to have a concave surface instead of a flat or convex surface. If you force me to guess, I’d say about 0.8 tsp? But I will not judge you if it’s 0.7 or 0.9 tsp… only your tastebuds will!
WHAT IF I AM NOT GLUTEN FREE?
Use plain/all-purpose flour instead of the first 2 ingredients. Start preheating the oven before you start mixing.
TOPPING VARIATION
I made the topping with raw sugar, which comes in larger, crunchy sugar crystals. It made for a nicely crunchy topping.
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Submitted by Stuart Carter, author of Addicted to Canning
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
DRY INGREDIENTS
2 cups gluten free flour (recommended: buckwheat, but use whatever you have on hand)
1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your GF flour blend contains it already)
1 cup fresh, frozen or canned blueberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
WET INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
1/4 cup fruit/vegetable oil(e.g. avocado oil)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
STREUSEL TOPPING
1/4 cup GF flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
If using canned blueberries, drain them in a strainer. Rinse fresh or canned blueberries with cool water, and discard any crushed ones. Do not thaw frozen blueberries. Pull off any stems from blueberries.
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, adding the blueberries last. Stir thoroughly to mix all ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl.
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix thoroughly until all the dry is mixed and wet.
Heat the oven to 400°F. Spray just the bottoms of 12 regular-size muffin cups with the cooking spray, or line each cup with a paper baking cup.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, dividing batter evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the streusel topping. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If baked in a sprayed pan, let stand about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove muffins from pan to a cooling rack. If baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove muffins from the pan to a cooling rack. Serve warm or cool.
WHAT IF I AM NOT GLUTEN FREE?
Start preheating your oven before you mix any ingredients. Instead of the first 2 ingredients just use plain / all-purpose flour, likewise for the streusel topping.
THIS COMES OUT TOO SWEET, WHAT CAN I DO?
In the streusel topping substitute a good quality cooking oil such as avocado oil or regular (not extra virgin) olive oil. If you use a finishing sugar or other large grain sugar you get a nice crunch on the top as well as an almost savoury edge from the fruit oil.
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Submitted by Dianne Dempsey
Best Blueberry Cobbler Recipe
Blueberry Filling
6 cups fresh blueberries, washed and well-drained
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup water
Crust
¾ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Drizzle (don’t skip this part!)
¼ cup melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
Directions for making the Best Blueberry Cobbler:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
Put the washed and drained berries evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Filling: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring continually, until the sugar dissolves – pour this mixture over the berries.
Crust: In a mixing bowl, whip together the softened butter and sugar, add the eggs and whip well. Add the vanilla. Then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Spread the mixture evenly and carefully over the blueberries.
Drizzle the top of the cobbler with the melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with the 2 tablespoons sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown.
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Submitted by Dianne Dempsey
Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie
One 9″ Graham cracker crust
1 8 oz Cream Cheese bar
1 can condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix the cream cheese with the condensed milk with a mixer. Then add the lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well to thicken. Pour into crust.
Blueberry Topping
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
Heaping tsp. corn starch
Cook berries with sugar over medium/low heat, stirring well. Add a heaping tsp. corn starch to thicken. Mix well and cook about 5 min.
Pour over top of cream cheese mixture and chill for a few hours.
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Submitted by Dianne Dempsey
LEMON BLUEBERRY BREAD
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
8 ounces frozen blueberries (I use 1 cup.)
Icing
½ box powdered sugar (approx. 1-3/4 cups)
¼ cup melted butter
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 325 and grease & flour two loaf pans.
Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Add buttermilk. Whisk dry ingredients together and add to buttermilk mixture. Blend well. Mix in lemon juice and zest. Gently fold in blueberries and mix only until incorporated. Pour batter into loaf pans. Bake loaves on middle rack of the oven for 60-65 minutes. Cool bread 10 minutes, remove from pan and place on cooling rack, top side up. Place paper towels or cookie sheets beneath rack to catch any dripped icing.
For icing: Combine icing ingredients in bowl and beat with mixer until smooth. Drizzle icing over the warm loaves. The icing will harden when the bread cools to room temperature.
Note: If you make this bread without the blueberries, the baking time will be closer to 50 minutes and you will need to increase the buttermilk to 1 cup.
To keep blueberries from sinking to the bottom, add them on top of batter, after it has been poured into pan. The blueberries will sink, but not to bottom of pan.
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Submitted by Rosemary Robinson
Recipe from thenaptimechef.com
Blueberry Pie Filling in a Jar
Ingredients
10 cups blueberries, washed and dried
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 T. cornstarch
5 T. bottled lemon juice
makes 2 quarts
Instructions
1. Wash and dry the blueberries and set aside. Sterilize 2 quart jars along with the lids in boiling water or in a dishwasher run without soap.
2. In a large stockpot bring the water, sugar, corn starch and lemon juice and to a boil.
3. Pour in the blueberries very carefully and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring continuously with a long spoon. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes while the berries release their juices and the mixture thickens, becoming blue and glossy.
4. Set a funnel over a quart jar and ladle in the blueberry mixture, leaving about 1″ of room at the top. Repeat with second quart jar.
5. Placed the sterilized lids on the jar and seal them with the rims, only tightening the ring as much as you can with your own hand. Do not force it.
6. Place the jars in a pot of boiling water standing on end. Make sure the water covers the tops of the jars. Boil for 30 minutes, starting the timing when the mixture has returned to a boil after the jars have been added.
7. Remove jars and place in a cool, dry place on a kitchen towel. Allow to cool naturally for a few hours. Store jars for the long term in a cool, dry place until using.
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Easy Cheesecake
from kingarthurbaking.com
TOTAL YIELD one 9" cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups (150g) graham cracker crumbs (about 10 whole graham crackers, crushed)
1/4 cup (28g) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons (85g) butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Filling
two 8-ounce packages (452g) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Select a pie pan whose inside top dimension is at least 9", and whose height is at least 1 1/4". Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To make the crust: Stir together all of the crust ingredients, mixing until thoroughly combined.
- Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan, making a thicker layer on the bottom than on the sides.
- To make the filling: Mix together the room-temperature cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, again mixing until smooth. To avoid beating too much air into the batter, use a mixer set at low-medium speed. To avoid lumps, make sure the cream cheese is softened, and/or at room temperature.
- Set the pie pan onto a baking sheet, if desired; this makes it easier to transport in and out of the oven, and also protects the bottom of the crust from any potential scorching. Pour the filling into the crust.
- To bake the cheesecake: Place the cheesecake in the oven. Bake it for 20 minutes, then add a crust shield; or shield the crust with strips of aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 10 minutes (for a total of about 30 minutes). A digital thermometer inserted into the filling 1" from the edge should read between 165°F and 170°F; the filling won't look entirely set in the center.
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and set it on a rack to cool. Once the cake is cool, refrigerate it, covered, until you're ready to serve it.
- Serve cheesecake in wedges, with fresh fruit if desired.
- Storage information: Store any leftover cheesecake in the refrigerator for several days; freeze for longer storage.
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Blueberry Topping for Cheesecake
from Pastryandbeyond.com
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients
320 grams (2 cups) blueberries
70 grams (1⁄3 cup) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
165 grams (1⁄2 cup and 3 tablespoons) water 4 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Place cornstarch in a small bowl and dissolve with 3 tablespoons of water using a spoon. Set aside.
- Place the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and 1⁄2 cup of water into a medium saucepan over medium heat and gently stir with a spoon/spatula without breaking down the blueberries. Some will naturally break down, that’s fine. Let the mixture come to a boil.
- Once it boils, lower the heat and add the cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir for 1-2 more minutes. When you place a spoon into your mixture, the sauce should coat the back of a spoon and there should be a line visible when you run your finger through the spoon. This sauce will thicken as it cools so you shouldn't wait for it to completely thicken to remove from heat.
Notes
What happens if the mixture is too thick? If you keep the sauce on the stove longer than you should, it will be too thick but there is an easy solution. If it happens, simply add 1 tablespoon of water and stir at low heat. If needed add more water (1 tablespoon at a time). As you add water, taste the sauce and add a little bit of sugar if needed.
How to Store: You can keep this sauce in a jar for up to a week in the fridge or for up to a month in the freezer.