Blueberry Dumplings

It’s that time of year!  The lazy days of summer are here and the blueberries are ripe.  I look forward to fresh blueberries each summer.  What a treat. I picked several quarts today, so it’s time to pull out the blueberry recipes!  My favorite way to eat blueberries is right off the bush, but there are lots of good blueberry recipes.  One my family really enjoys is Blueberry Dumplings.  The dough is easy to work with and the baking process is simple.  Once the dumplings are assembled and in the baking dish, a sugar and water mixture is poured over the top.  Seems crazy but it works.  This process gives the edges of the dough a chewy caramelized texture which goes great with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/3 cups shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk plus enough water to make 1 cup

fresh blueberries (1-2 cups)

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

Combine flour, 2 Tbls. sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  Mix to combine.

Add shortening and cut it in with a pastry blender or a fork til mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Place egg yolk in a measuring cup, then add enough cold water to make one cup.

 Stir the egg yolk up into the water, then pour over flour mixture.

Stir until the dough comes together and all flour particles are moistened.  Turn out onto a floured surface.

Roll out into a large rectangle.

Use a pizza cutter, knife or pastry wheel to cut the dough into rectangles or squares big enough to fold with blueberries encased inside.

Place a few blueberries on each dough piece, and fold over to encase.

Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.

Continue until all dumplings are filled, and place in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Stir together the 2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar and pour over the dumplings in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.  Welcome to summer!