Easy Crunch Berry Pie

Turkey carcass into the stock pot Monday morning, same as last year, same as it will be every year until I stop eating turkey or stop having a stock pot, whichever comes first. Bones, skin, cartilage, the wings nobody ate, an onion halved, celery tops, peppercorns. Six hours of simmering, the house filling with the second-day smell of Thanksgiving, which is quieter than the first-day smell but deeper, the way a song sounds different the second time you hear it because you already know where it's going.

Made turkey pot pie Wednesday. Leftover turkey, peas, carrots, cream sauce, pie crust. The pot pie is my addition to the Hensley post-Thanksgiving tradition, which previously consisted of turkey sandwiches until the turkey ran out and then pretending turkey never existed until November. The pot pie extends the turkey's legacy by two days and gives the pie crust a purpose beyond dessert, and I believe in giving things purposes, especially now that I'm looking for my own.

First frost hit Thursday night — hard frost, twenty-eight degrees, the garden finally and formally dead. The tomato plants that have been holding on turned black overnight, their stems collapsing like they'd been waiting for permission to stop. I went out Friday morning and pulled them up and stacked them by the compost pile and stood in the garden looking at the empty rows and felt the specific sadness of a growing season ending, which is the same sadness as any ending — the thing was alive and now it's not and you can't fix it, you can just clean up and wait for spring.

Connie found me standing in the garden and said what are you doing. I said saying goodbye to the tomatoes. She said Craig, they're plants. I said I know. She said are you okay. I said I'm fine. She said fine isn't an answer. Amber says the same thing. Clay says the same thing. The women in my life and my youngest son have all agreed that fine is not an answer and I have not yet found a replacement word that is honest enough to satisfy them and short enough to satisfy me.

I said I believe in giving things purposes, and then I went inside and made a pie — an actual dessert pie, the kind pie crust was always meant for before I conscripted it into pot pie duty. The garden was finished, the stock was made, the turkey was finally and completely gone, and it seemed right to end the week with something sweet and uncomplicated, something that didn’t ask me to be fine or to have a better answer ready. A crunch berry pie doesn’t require explanation. You just make it and eat it and let the week close.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 refrigerated or homemade single pie crust (9-inch)
4 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 375°F. Fit the pie crust into a 9-inch pie dish, crimp the edges, and set aside.
Make the filling. In a large bowl, toss the berries with 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until evenly coated. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and spread it level.
Make the crunch topping. In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and work them in with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse, clumpy crumbs.
Top and bake. Scatter the crunch topping evenly over the berry filling. Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake for 45–52 minutes, until the topping is deep golden and the filling is bubbling at the edges.
Cool before slicing. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before cutting. The filling needs time to set or it will run when sliced.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Crunch Berry Pie — Because Sometimes Pie Crust Deserves to Be Dessert After All