Nova Scotia Blueberry Grunt
Though we have many regional recipes and dishes, seafood chowder, homemade molasses baked beans, and Nova Scotia blueberry grunt are three of my all-time favourites!
Blueberry grunt is basically a cobbler, however, where cobbler is baked in the oven, grunt is traditionally made on the stove top. To make Nova Scotia blueberry grunt, a blueberry mixture is topped with biscuit dough and cooked on the stove in a tightly covered Dutch oven. It’s said as the biscuits steam, you can hear the berries “grunting” in the pot.
Ingredients
- flour
- baking powder
- salt
- butter
- milk
- fresh wild blueberries
- sugar
- water
Step-By-Step Instructions
Have a Dutch oven ready. Cut a large square of parchment paper to fit over the top of the pot.
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl to combine.
Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.
Add the milk and use a fork to mix everything together to a soft dough. Set aside.
Bring the blueberries, water, and remaining sugar and butter to a boil in the Dutch oven, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook the berries until the juices have been released and the liquid is syrupy, about 10-12 minutes.
Drop the biscuit dough by the spoonful all over the top of the hot berries. I took my pot off of the stove to demonstrate for photos, so my berries have a jammy, wrinkly film on top, however, drop your dough right into the berries on the stovetop.
Place the parchment paper over the top of the pot, then cover the it tightly with the lid. Continue to simmer the berries for 15 minutes. Do not open the cover while the dough is steaming! You want all of that warm luscious heat to cook the dumplings through.
Remove the lid from the pot, then carefully lift off the parchment paper. The paper will be very wet from the condensation of cooking. Don’t let it spill into your blueberry grunt!
Serve Nova Scotia blueberry grunt warm from the pot with a generous dollop of whipped cream, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes & Tips
Feel free to use fresh or frozen blueberries for Nova Scotia blueberry grunt. High bush blueberries are also great in this recipe.
My favourite way to serve Nova Scotia blueberry grunt is with a generous dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. You can also try serving it with a drizzle of 35% heavy cream, a spoonful of homemade lemon curd (it takes less than 5 minutes to cook!), or some clotted cream. And of course, a hot cup of tea is pretty much mandatory in Nova Scotia.
Substitutions
You could really use any fruit you like in this recipe, however, fresh wild blueberries make it a traditional Nova Scotia blueberry grunt.
Substitute organic cane sugar for white sugar if you prefer.
Make this recipe plant-forward by swapping your favourite plant-based butter in for regular butter. Shortening is also a great substitute and yields a light, fluffy dumpling. Just be sure to choose vegetable shortening.
Spelt or whole wheat flour make fine substitutes for white flour.
Any plant-based milk can be used in place of dairy milk.
More Recipes Using Summer Berries
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Printable Recipe Card
Nova Scotia Blueberry Grunt
Special Equipment
- 1 Medium to large pot with lid cast iron or metal
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- Liquid measuring cup
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- Fork
- Parchment paper optional
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
Ingredients
For The Blueberries
- 4 cups wild blueberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
For The Dumplings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
Instructions
- Bring the blueberries, water, sugar, and butter to a boil in a medium-large pot that has a tight-fitting lid. Cook the blueberries for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer the berries until the liquid is syrupy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the berries are cooking make the dumpling dough. In a medium-large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt with a fork. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Add the milk, then use a fork to mix everything together to a soft dough. Set aside.
- Once the berries are cooked, use a spoon to drop chunks of dumpling dough all over the hot berries. Keep going until all of the dough has been used. Cover the pot with a large square of parchment paper and top it with the pot lid. Continue to simmer the berries for 15 minutes. Do not open the pot lid while the dumplings are steaming.
- Remove the lid from the pot, and ***carefully*** lift off the parchment paper (be mindful of the hot steam underneath the paper which can burn your skin!!!). The top of the paper will be quite wet from the condensation of cooking. Do not let it spill into the pot! Serve blueberry grunt warm from the pot topped with ice cream or whipped cream or both.
