This post is also available in: Suomi (Finnish)
A sunny hi from the sea! A week in beautiful Croatia is now behind me and I can warmly recommend the beautiful waters and lovely atmosphere in there. We truly loved it there, and the best part of the trip was when I spotted our N’Ice Cream book in Split and heard that it’s been really popular. Yay! It’s so cool to hear that people are loving these good-for-you frozen treats around the world!
After a quick stop back home, we continued our holiday travels to my home town and to our boat, and now we’re heading towards the open sea and the the beautiful archipelago. Once we get enough of the sea breeze, we’re planning to go to eastern Finland to my man’s summer cottage for a few days before it’s time to get back to business. Changing scenery and spending time offline has done me good: I’ve refound my love both for books and very simple foods and flavors. The best thing right now: all the wild berries that our backyards and forests are full of. So of course I just had to bake a gluten-free and vegan blueberry pie for you guys to kickstart the berry season and to celebrate the magical summer vibes!
Blueberry pie is a real Nordic classic, but somehow I make it quite rarely. I tend to overcomplicate things sometimes even though these classic desserts almost always come out great and are loved by everybody from kids to grandparents. To make sure this one’s really good, I’ve been making a few versions of it and wanted to try a vegan version too. So I replaced the egg with a ‘flax egg’ and the honey with coconut syrup, which I got a while back from Urtekram to try on my summer bakings.
I’ve used coconut syrup before and we use it in our ice cream book too as a vegan sweetener, as it’s great for frozen treats. The syrup is made from the nectar of coconut palm blossoms and it’s a got a delicious, aromatic and very caramel-like taste to it, which makes it great for any sweet treats. In addition to ice cream. I like to use it on top of my porridge and pancakes whenever I feel like sweetening up my breakfast. Urtekram’s coconut syrup has a pretty mild taste, which doesn’t come through too much like some other syrups tend to. And in addition to the syrup, they also have coconut palm sugar, which I love on top of my rice porridge and in sweet breads.
My version of blueberry pie is very simple, as you’ll only need a few ingredients. The dough is basically just oats with coconut oil and coconut syrup, which make a delicious cookie-like crust. And then I just top it with lots of blueberries and decorate the pie with some crumbled dough, and that’s it. I like it as it is straight from the oven, but I also think ice cream is kind of mandatory whenever there’s pie. So I made a super quick vegan ice cream from only bananas and coconut milk in my blender and had my piece of pie with a generous scoop of ice cream. Loved it. And I hope you will too! Or if you’re more of a whipped cream type of person, you could go for some coconut cashew cream.
Sending lots of love + some blueberry pie to you friends! xo
This post was created in partnership with Urtekram. All opinions are my own, as always in here. Thank you for reading and supporting! :)
Gluten-free + Vegan Blueberry Pie
notes: if desired, the flaxseed can be replaced with an organic egg, which works well too, but then the pie won’t naturally be vegan. if you’re using frozen blueberries, I recommend mixing a bit of potato flour or tapioca starch with the frozen berries, so that the pie won’t turn out too moist.
into a 10-inch / 25 cm pie dish
1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (or 1 organic egg)
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup coconut blossom syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
a small pinch of salt
2 cups fresh / frozen blueberries
1/2 tbsp potato flower or tapioca starch, if using frozen berries
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C. Mix the flaxseed and water in a small bowl and let thicken for 5 minutes. In the meantime, measure the oats into a blender or food processor and ground into rough flour. Pour the flour into a big bowl. Add the flax mixture, coconut oil, coconut syrup, vanilla and salt, and mix well until the dough forms a big ball. Take about 3 tablespoons of the dough and set aside for topping.
2. Cover the bottom of the pie dish with baking paper and smear the edges with coconut oil to avoid sticking. Press the dough evenly to the bottom and to the sides of the dish. Pre-bake for 10 minutes. If you’re using frozen blueberries, mix the potato flour with the berries and set aside.
3. Take the crust from the oven, add the blueberries and crumble the leftover dough on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the crust has a beautiful golden brown color. Take from the oven and let cool before serving. Serve as it is or with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Instant Vanilla Ice Cream
makes 3-4 scoops
3 frozen bananas
2-3 tbsp full-fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
METHOD:
Add all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You might have to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times before achieving a smooth texture. Scoop into balls, serve straight away and enjoy!
For more inspiration, follow me on Instagram and tag photos of my recipes with #tuuliablog so I can see!
I’m a coconut blossom syrup lover too! This cake could be great to use the huge amount of blueberries we ended up in the fridge :P
Huge amount of blueberries sounds great! Hope you like the pie if you make one! xo
beautiful recipe, tuulia! blueberries this time of year are the best! xo!
Thanks so much Lindsey! xo
This pie is so beautiful! It screams summer! :-) It’s been a long time since my last blueberry-ish recipe so I think it’s time to try this wonderful recipe of yours. Oh and the instant nice cream looks creamy and delicious too!
Enjoy your summer Tuulia!
xo
Thanks so much Gemma! Have a lovely summer! <3
Is it necessary to use starch and how can I replace it? Thank you for this delicious recipe, I ‘m definitely gonna make it!
If you’re using frozen blueberries, I recommend using some starch. You can use tapioca starch instead of potato flour, if that’s easier to find! :)