Blueberry pie with coconut oil crust – an incredible vegan, egg and dairy free lattice topped blueberry pie made with coconut oil pastry. Includes step by step instructions for making coconut oil pastry and lattice.

It has been an absolute age since I last made a pie, so when I found blueberries on sale last week I couldn’t help but make a blueberry pie with them. I’ve been meaning to experiment with coconut oil pastry for a while now so this also seemed like the perfect occasion to try that out too and I am happy to report that it turned out fabulously!

Using coconut oil instead of butter means that this blueberry pie with coconut oil crust is vegan, as well as egg and dairy free. The pastry is crisp, flaky and utterly delicious. It does have a slight hint of coconut but that works beautifully with the blueberry filling.

I went for a lattice crust, with a few braids and hearts just because. The coconut oil pastry is very pliable and easy to work with so go for whatever design you like on the top.

I really recommend using fresh rather than frozen blueberries in this pie as frozen ones will make it too wet and juicy. They will also make constructing the lattice crust difficult as they will chill the pastry down and make it prone to cracking; so go for fresh!

The pie ideally needs to cool for at least three hours after baking before it is served. I know that waiting that long is hard, but it gives the pie time for the filling to set up a bit so it isn’t overly wet when you slice into it.

How To Make Coconut Oil Pastry:

Coconut oil pastry is crisp, flaky, delicious and easy to work with but it can be a little tricky to make. The key to making good pastry with coconut oil is to remember that it is not a direct substitute to butter and it needs to be treated a little differently.

First off, I do not recommend rubbing the oil into the pastry by hand, it is much more difficult to do than with butter and you may end up with empty pockets in your pastry if you don’t get it all rubbed in properly.

I use a food processor to blend the coconut oil into the flour; the coconut oil should be solid, not melted. You need to process it long enough that no lumps of coconut oil remain; as we are making a fairly large batch of pastry for this recipe you may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your food processor.

Next up, we add homemade buttermilk made with almond milk and apple cider vinegar. This helps to tenderise the pastry and gives it a nice flaky texture. It may seem like a lot more liquid than you usually add to pastry; this is because coconut oil has a much lower water content than butter, so you need to add a little extra liquid to compensate for that.

This should be enough to bring the pastry together; if you squeeze it it should stick together. If it is still crumbly then you can add a drop of ice water to bring it together. Turn it out onto a floured surface and bring it together into a ball.

It is now ready to use straight away, no need to chill it before rolling it out. In fact, you don’t want it to be cold as that makes it difficult to work with and liable to cracking. It can be wrapped up and stored in the fridge for a couple of days if you like, but let it come up to room temperature before using it.

Divide the pastry in two balls and roll one half out into a large circle, about the thickness of a pound coin, then carefully transfer it into a 9 inch pie tin and add your blueberry filling.

How To Make A Lattice Crust:

Roll the other ball of pastry out as above and use a pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut it into 1-2 inch wide strips.

Using your two longest strips, lay on the tart to make a cross in the centre – don’t attach the strips to the edges. The strip that’s vertical as you look at it should be on top.

Lay two strips of pastry horizontally, either side of the horizontal strip.

Fold the middle horizontal strip back on itself to the left and put a vertical strip on the tart to the right of the folded back strip. Unfold the pastry strip back to its original position, then repeat on the other side.

Now repeat with the vertical strips: fold up the middle vertical strip, put a horizontal strip at the bottom, then fold back the middle strip. Repeat this process on all sides until the pie is covered.

Press all the edges down to seal then trim off the excess and either crimp the edges or press with a fork.

If you want to take it up a notch and make braids, cut three long, thin strips of pastry then pinch and roll them out gently to make them a little longer and thinner. Pinch the ends together then braid tightly but carefully. Repeat as many times as desired.

Place the braids on top of some of the pastry strips when making the lattice, or just on top of the finished lattice, whichever you like. Use a little bit of water to help them stick. *You may need to re-roll some pastry trimmings in order to have enough pastry to make braids as well as a lattice.

Place the finished pie in the fridge for 20-30 minutes while you heat up the oven then brush with soy milk, sprinkle with sugar and bake.

Blueberry Pie With Coconut Oil Crust Recipe:

4.5 from 2 votes

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Blueberry Pie With Coconut Oil Crust (Vegan)

Blueberry pie with coconut oil crust - an incredible vegan, egg and dairy free lattice topped blueberry pie made with coconut oil pastry.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings 8 people

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Coconut Oil Pastry:

• 160 ml (2/3 cup) unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 435 g (3 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 60 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 225 g (1 cup + 2Tbsp) coconut oil solid

Blueberry Filling:

• 800 g (28 oz/about 6 cups) fresh blueberries not frozen
• 125 g (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) caster sugar
• 30 g (1/4 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp semolina
• soy milk and granulated sugar to glaze

Instructions

Coconut Oil Pastry:

1. Mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
   

2. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the coconut oil and blend well until absolutely no lumps of coconut oil remain. If your food processor isn't very big you may need to do this in two batches
   

3. With the motor running, drizzle in the almond milk until the pastry starts sticking together. You may not need to add all of the milk or you may have to add a teaspoon of ice water if it isn't quite enough liquid to bring it together.
   

4. Tip the pastry out onto a floured surface and gently knead it into a ball, be careful not to overwork it. Set aside to rest while you prepare the filling.
   

5. *At this point the pastry can be refrigerated or frozen if not using straight away. Double wrap in clingfilm and then freeze. Allow to defrost overnight in the refrigerator then leave the dough at room temperature for an hour before rolling out to make it easier to work with.
   

Blueberry Pie:

1. Mix together the blueberries, sugar, cornflour, cinnamon and lemon juice in a large bowl. Set aside.
   

2. Divide the pastry in half and shape each half into a ball. Roll one half out on a floured surface into a large circle about 3mm/1/8in thick. Carefully lift it into a 9 inch pie dish and press into the edges, trim off the excess pastry, leaving a couple of cm overhanging.
   

3. Sprinkle over the Tbsp of semolina then tip in the blueberry filling and spread level. Set aside.
   

4. Roll the other ball of pastry out as above and use a pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut it into 1-2 inch wide strips.
5. Using your two longest strips, lay on the tart to make a cross in the centre – don’t attach the strips to the edges. The strip that’s vertical as you look at it should be on top.
6. Lay two strips of pastry horizontally, either side of the horizontal strip.
7. Fold the middle horizontal strip back on itself to the left and put a vertical strip on the tart to the right of the folded back strip. Unfold the pastry strip back to its original position, then repeat on the other side.
8. Now repeat with the vertical strips: fold up the middle vertical strip, put a horizontal strip at the bottom, then fold back the middle strip. Repeat this process on all sides until the pie is covered.
9. Press all the edges down to seal (use a drop of water to help them stick if needed) then trim off the excess and either crimp the edges or press with a fork.
   

10. *See post above for photo instructions for making a lattice and for making pastry braids.
    

11. Pop the pie in the fridge for 20-30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
    

12. Brush the top of the pie with soy milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 20 minutes then turn the oven down to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden. If the crust starts to darken too much before the pie is done then loosely cover it with tin foil partway through baking.
    

13. Allow the pie to cool for at least 3 hours at room temperature before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
    

Recipe Notes

Pastry adapted from: https://vanillaandbean.com/how-to-make-a-coconut-oil-pie-crust/