Laurie Hamano’s late mother, Marjorie Hirokawa, would make her signature dessert often. Now, Laurie carries on the family tradition to make blueberry cream cheese pie with a mac nut crust. The recipe for the crust makes it different from other versions. This Kailua resident includes larger chunks of macadamia nuts with butter, brown sugar and flour. Every five minutes, she takes it out of the oven to stir it until every bit of crust is browned, tasty and crunchy. She cools it overnight, then tops it with a mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, Cool Whip and vanilla. The final topping is usually canned blueberry pie filling. But she also substitutes chocolate pudding for husband Wayne and daughters Lauren and Kelsey. The crust is crumbly, the filling sweet and light, and the combination is delicious. I predict this recipe will be the most-clipped recipe of the year. It’s a winnah!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie with Mac Nut Crust

Ingredients for crust:
• 1 stick salted butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped mac nuts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Ingredients for filling:
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) tub Cool Whip, or 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 21-ounce can blueberry pie filling, chilled

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Pour all crust ingredients in an 8-by-8-inch pan. Put in oven. Every 5 minutes remove from oven and stir. Bake until browned, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and press into pan. Cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.

To make filling: Using a hand mixer, blend cream cheese, cool whip, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread evenly on the cooled crust. Top with blueberry filling. Chill for several hours before serving.

Makes about 9-12 servings.

Lynette Lo Tom has written three cookbooks and loves hearing about home cooks. Visit lynettecooks.com for more information.