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This open-faced blueberry pie is an outstanding summer pie that lets the true flavor of fresh blueberries shine! It comes together in minutes—and the fresh taste is divine.
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When the blueberries are ripe for picking, this is my go-to pie. The trick is to barely heat some of the berries so that you retain the fresh flavor. Therefore, the success depends on using fresh berries, not frozen nor out-of-season berries. (If you don’t grow or pick your own berries, buy the berries that are in season from your farmer’s market or local store.)
I used 100% blueberries, but you can mix in other berries, too (such as raspberries). It’s so easy—and less messy than a two-cruster, too.
My son had been asking to go berry picking ever since he read the classic children’s book, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.
We visited a local berry farm with 12 acres dripping in berries. When we returned home, we had what turned out to be 8 cups of blueberries (and a cup in each of our tummies!).
Tip: If you bring a bucket and a belt, you can loop the bucket through the belt to leave both hands free to pick! When blueberries are at their peak, the bushes are loaded and there’s no easier fruit to pick.
Since berries don’t last long, we started making our pie right away.
The Freshest Blueberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
1 9-inch single crust
4 cups blueberries
2/3 to 1-1/2 cups sugar to taste
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Instructions:
Bake pie crust.
Pour 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and water in a saucepan. Mix until smooth.
Add 1-1/2 cups blueberries and cook over medium heat, about 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until mixture is thick and semitransparent.
Stir in lemon juice, then butter.
Turn off the stove. Let the mix in the saucepan cool off.
Stir in the remaining fresh blueberries.
Taste, and add more sugar to taste, if necessary.
Pour into baked pie shell and chill until firm.
Serve with sweetened, vanilla-flavored whipped cream.
Tip: Don’t forget to let the saucepan cool a little, or the fresh berries will cook and get all syrupy like grocery-store pies. Update: If you have two pie crusts, one reader suggested crumbling the second pre-baked crust into a bowl, tossed with sugar/cinnamon, and sprinkle over the cooled blueberry-filled pie.
Credit: Tatiana Volgutova/Shutterstock
The pie was so juicy and flavorful! I rarely make fruit pies, but this is the only berry pie I’ll make from now on.
We didn’t have the whipped cream, so we paired the pie with vanilla bean ice cream. The berries literally explode with juiciness. (My son realized why we chew with our mouth closed … to avoid blueberry stains!)
We still have a lot of berries left and will freeze them. In the book Blueberries for Sal, the parents canned all of the blueberries to last through winter. Perhaps we’ll make some jam! What do you make with blueberries?
I freeze fresh picked blueberries on a cookie sheet. After they freeze solid, I dump them into gallon sized freezer bags to take berries from throughout the rest of the season to add to my morning cereal regime. I keep a little pint size container in the frig with about a week's worth of berries.
The second thing I do with the frozen blueberries - mainly for winter is an easy 'creeping crust cobbler' topped with ice cream or Cool Whip. So easy, so good!
My husband's favorite pie is blueberry and I found this recipe to make for his birthday. He says it was the best he's ever had@ Lots of blueberry pie recipes end up with runny filling. This was so good! I made it with 2 crusts, just didnt prebake it, and put the filling in as normal, baked at 350 for around 30 min.
An old old favorite recipe is the Blueberry Buckle in the original Betty Crocker Cookbook.
It is a streusel topped coffee cake still unsurpassed! Eat it warm.....amazing, simple and never disappointing.
I add 2 cups gooseberries to 2 cups blueberries and make a blue goose pie. Delicious! (Mine uses two crusts. I have a great recipe for crust that makes 5-6 crusts at a time. You can store the unused ones in the refrigerator for up to a month. The recipe is in my cookbook, "Family Favorites from the Heartland."
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