Four-Berry Pie

by Shelbi Stoneback, associate director of customer experience at Rodale

It’s no secret that berries are health-promoting powerhouses. They can reduce cholesterol, help prevent diabetes and cancer, and are great sources of immunity-boosting vitamin C, which can also help protect skin from free radical damage. This pie is packed with four different types of berries, adding nutrients plus the delicious delight of classic berry pie.

Antioxidant-Packed 4-Berry Pie

Ingredients:

Butter Crust

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into ½” cubes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup ice-cold water

Filling

• 1 4.4-ounce package blueberries
• 1 1-pound package strawberries
• 2 packages (12 ounces total) blackberries
• 2 packages (12 ounces total) raspberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup cornstarch

Directions:

Butter Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the flour, salt, and sugar.
3. Gently toss the butter cubes in the flour mix until they are coated.
4. Using your fingertips and thumbs, press each cube of butter into a thin leaf and fully coat it in flour.
5. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing all the ingredients together gently until the mixture starts to look ragged and just holds together when squeezed.
6. Divide the dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and chill them for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
7. Roll out one disk on a lightly floured surface and transfer it into your pie pan. Roll the edges under to make a thick rim at the top of the pan; the dough sides will shrink down a little.
8. Line the piecrust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or stainless steel pie beads.
9. Bake the crust in the lower half of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment, and bake it in the upper half of your oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until it’s just golden around the edges. Set finished crust aside.

Filling

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix the berries, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Let the berries sit for a few minutes.
3. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the filling into your pre-baked piecrust.
4. Add a lattice or cookie-cutter designs to decorate the top: Roll out the second disk of dough and cut it into strips with a rotary cutter or a knife, or use cookie cutters.
5. Layer that dough on top of the pie, covering it to the edges of the pan.
6. Mix 1 egg in a bowl and brush it on the top crust.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top crust is golden.

Letting the warm pie rest for about 1 hour will allow the filling to set so it isn’t runny when you cut and serve it. Serve with fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!

Short on time? The berry filling is also delicious fresh and unbaked. Just mix the berries, sugar, and vanilla and place the mixture in the pre-baked crust. Serve with coconut sorbet, ice cream, or whipped cream.

Shelbi Stoneback is associate director of customer experience at Rodale. In sixth grade, she started a juice-box recycling campaign at her elementary school and has been championing sustainability and organic living ever since. She’s a hand model, loud whistler, and polar plunger, and also an avid sea glass collector and treasure hunter, with the prides of her collection being a fossilized great white shark tooth, a message in a bottle, and several 19th-century pot lids.

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