Perfect Blueberry Pie made with Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
The perfect blueberry pie is just the right amount of sweet and tart, bursting with fresh blueberry flavor, covered in a flaky, tender, sugary crust, and easy to slice and serve.
When I first started really learning how to bake in my early 20’s, I thought I didn’t really like to bake pie. I was obsessed with learning everything there is to know about baking cakes, cookies, muffins, bread, even laminated pastries like croissants and danishes. But, something about pie crust turned me off.
To be clear, I was not opposed to eating pie. Just baking it. In retrospect, I don’t know why this odd distain for baking pies got lodged in my brain, and I can’t really pinpoint when it began to change for me. But, at some point over the past 15 years or so, I began to understand the true pleasure of baking a pie.
The Pleasure of Baking a Pie
“When you bake a pie, you are in the kitchen in the company of ghosts.” – In the South, Cake or Pie for Dessert? (NY Times)
I feel this way about a lot of recipes. I’ve never baked a loaf of banana bread without thinking of my mom. And, baking a batch of giant oatmeal cookies or jam thumbprint cookies is the only thing to do when I’m missing my grandparents.
Baking is a uniquely personal way of connecting us to our past in a tangible way. Memories are precious, valuable, and also difficult to hang onto without tangible reminders.
Memories fade much too quickly without being given something to hold on to. And so, we attach them to people, places and things. We treasure objects that remind us of a person, place, or snapshot in time and love to reminisce with those who share our past. And, for many of us, it’s one of the reasons we love to bake.
I think pie is one of those things that most people have a story about.
They tell me about the pie crust recipe that’s connected generation after generation of family bakers, or about how they used to pick berries with their mother every summer then go home and bake a pie, or about how Thanksgiving would simply not be the same without Aunt so-and-so’s Pumpkin or Apple Pie.
When we carve out a few precious hours to stand in the kitchen and bake these pies, we are indeed in the company of ghosts. It’s comforting and real, and connects our past to our present with precious solidity.
At least, this is what baking a pie is for me now. Baking a pie, and sharing the recipe, links my past, present, and future. It offers me time to remember the pies my mother and grandmother baked when I was a child. And, it gives me something to pass on to my own children so they can do the same.
How to Bake a Perfect Blueberry Pie
In my opinion, a perfect blueberry pie has a concentrated, bright fruit flavor that holds its shape when sliced. To achieve a deliciously sliceable consistency without interfering with the flavor or texture, I like to use a combination of tapioca and cornstarch. The combination allows me to take advantage of the thickening power of each kind of starch without any of the drawbacks.
Too much cornstarch can make fruit pie filling cloudy and give it a slightly chalky taste. Tapioca creates a berry filling that is bright and clear, but can sometimes result in a gluey consistency. Combining smaller amounts of both cornstarch and tapioca is a great solution, creating a glossy, luxuriously silky filling that holds its shape when sliced.
But, before adding the tapioca or cornstarch, the first thing you need to do is get those blueberries to release some of their juice so you have something to thicken! There are several ways to do this.
In my favorite Mixed Berry and Plum Pie, I like to let the juice drain from the berries, then thicken it separately before adding the fruit back in. This method helps to keep super delicate berries like raspberries somewhat intact through the baking process.
With blueberry pie, I prefer to cook half the berries first, breaking some of them up to create a super flavorful, concentrated blueberry syrup. This allows the tapioca and cornstarch to thicken all that yummy syrup, suspending the remaining whole blueberries in sliceable pieces of pie that aren’t runny.
The end result is a mixture of rich, thick blueberry filling peppered throughout with whole blueberries as opposed to a fruit filling that runs all over the place the second you slice it.
A few thoughts about the pie crust…
This recipe calls for my tried-and-true favorite pie crust, appropriately named Fool Proof Pie Crust. It’s the crust I’ve been making for over 2 decades and it is, truly, fool proof thanks to two “secret” ingredients: vinegar and an egg.
Vinegar interferes with the formation of gluten in flour, which tenderizes the dough. In most pie crust recipes, you must take extreme care to not overwork the dough so that you don’t activate the gluten in the flour and create a tough dough. In Fool Proof Pie Crust, the vinegar does a great job of guarding against gluten development so that you get a super tender and flaky crust every single time.
The egg in Fool Proof Pie Crust makes the dough more pliable and easy to roll out. The dough is quite elastic and rarely breaks, and when it does, it’s super easy to stretch and press the dough as needed to cover the inside of a pie plate or the top of a pie.
That said, if you have a favorite pie crust recipe, please use that. Pie crust is often one of those things we were talking about earlier – a tangible connection to the past.
Regardless of what pie crust you use, giving the top a sprinkle of sugar is a must. That gorgeous sugary top not only looks pretty, it adds a lovely sweet crunch to every single bite.
More favorite Pie Recipes:
- Sweet Cherry Crumb Pie
- Chocolate Cream Pie
- Mixed Berry and Plum Pie
- Caramel Apple Pie
- Strawberries and Cream Pie
- Triple Cherry Pie
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
Happy baking!
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How to Make a Perfect Blueberry Pie
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Fool Proof Pie Crust, chilled for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator
- 1/4 cup minute tapioca pearls – OR tapioca flour/ starch (*see note)
- 8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulate sugar, plus 2 tbsp more for sprinkling over the top crust
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- If using tapioca pearls, add them to the bowl of a food processor (a small one works best) or spice of coffee grinder. Process until the tapioca is powdery and set aside. (*See note)
- Add 4 cups of the blueberries to a medium size, heavy bottom sauce pan along with the lemon juice and granulated sugar. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, while stirring frequently. When the mixture begins to simmer, turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, for 8 minutes, until the juice from the mashed blueberries has thickened slightly. As you stir, mash some of the berries on the side of the pan to break some of them up.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in all of the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 4 cups of blueberries, except the vanilla and egg. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes to soften the tapioca.
- Return the saucepan to medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. Let simmer for 3-5 minuets, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tbsp of cold water and set aside.
- Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to a 12-inch circle that’s about ⅛-inch thick. Using a large spatula, gently loosen the dough from the work top, fold it in half and then fold it in half again. It will form a triangle shape. Lift the crust and place it in a pie plate with the point of the triangle in the center of the plate. Gently unfold the dough in the pan and press into the corners gently. Leave any dough that overlaps the edges of the plate in place.
- Pour the blueberry pie filling into the pie crust.
- Roll another portion of the pie dough into another 12 inch circle, about ⅛ inch thick. Just as you did with the bottom crust, using a large spatula, gently loosen the dough from the work top, fold it in half and then fold it in half again. Lift the crust and place it on the top of the pie with the point of the triangle in the center. Gently unfold the dough to cover the blueberry filling completely.
- Trim the edges of the crust so that you have about a half of an inch hanging over the pie plate. Fold the edges under, forming a rim around the pie that is higher than the pie plate. With one hand on the inside of the edge and one hand on the outside, use the index finger of your inside hand to push the dough between the thumb and index finger of your other hand to form a U or a V shape. Continue this crimping motion around the entire edge.
- Gently brush the egg wash over the top crust with a pastry brush and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. With a sharp knife, cut 5 slits, evenly spaced to form a circle, in the top pie crust.
- Put the pie on a baking sheet (to catch any drips) and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375, rotate the pie in the oven and bake for an additional 30-45 minutes. The pie is done when the crust is golden brown and the filling in the center of the pie is bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack, about 4-6 hours, before slicing.
Notes
- Tapioca flour/ starch is essentially the same thing as ground quick-cooking tapioca pearls. So, use which ever you prefer.
Keywords: pie, blueberry, blueberry pie, fruit pie, summer recipe
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This pie so delicious! I made it using maple syrup and loved the flavor the syrup added. If you can stand to wait for it to cool, it really does slice up as nicely as it looks in the pictures. Great recipe!
★★★★★
Blueberry pie is one of my top 3 favourite desserts!! This looks delicious. Love the look of that crust..and all those juicy berries.
★★★★★
Food is for eating! But this Blueberry pie is to be enjoyed! This is really mouth watering. The crust, the blueberry filling..everything is perfect! Can’t wait to have a bite!
★★★★★
I have a bag of frozen blueberries that we picked this summer that need to be cook and this pie looks perfect. I mean that golden crust says it all.
★★★★★
This is one of the most beautiful pies I’ve come across. I saw this on Pinterest and had to click through…you’ve really made me crave a slice of blueberry pie now and lucky for me, I just picked up two pints at the store.
★★★★★
Thank yo so much Tammy! Please let me know how the pie comes out for you. I wish I could join you for a slice! xo
Oh my goodness. I can’t take my eyes of those gorgeous blueberry filling! This is simply the best pie I have seen recently. Delicious!
★★★★★
Wow, this looks so delicious! I love the flaky crust and zesty, flavorful filling. Plus, with the option to use fresh or frozen berries, it’ll be delicious all year round!
★★★★★
I’ve never had Blueberry Pie but your photos look amazing. This pie looks like everything!
I 100% agree with you that there is typically a story around pie!! I remember my mom and grandmother sitting around the table eating pie with their friends and just talking for hours! Love this recipe!
★★★★★
You just made me drool over this pie. I can’t believe how good it looks. I wish for a slice right now. I’m not a much of pie maker but I love this recipe. It’s sounds super easy. I will definitely make this. I bet my family will love it too.
★★★★★
I made this pie, including your Fool Proof Pie Crust, yesterday. I had given up making homemade pie crust many years ago! Although my rolling pin skills are poor, this pie turned out fantastic. The blueberry filling is not overly sweet, so you can still taste the fruit, and the crust was delicious and flaky. 62 years old and I finally made a good pie crust- better late than never! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Karen! I can’t tell you how happy your comment makes me! I am so happy that this pie – and the crust – turned out well for you! That pie crust recipe has never failed me in 2 decades of baking and I’m just thrilled that it worked out well for you too. I appreciate your taking the time to leave a comment for me more than you know! xo
Your pie look amazing I will try your recipe
I can’t wait to hear what you think about it Brenda! Please let me know if you have any questions! xo
Let me start with the fact that I LOVE blueberries! Especially when they are in blueberry pie. I am not a skilled baker, but I never stop trying. I have made this recipe twice now and absolutely love it. It is a bit more detailed than the recipe I have used for years and worth every extra step. The texture of the filling holds together perfectly when you slice it. It presents well on the plate, so you don’t have the filling leaking out all over the plate. The added egg wash and sugar on the top not only add a wonderful flavor and texture, but make it look picture perfect! Served it at a dinner party and everyone raved about it. I tweaked the recipe ever so slightly to suit my taste by adding 1 more tablespoon of sugar to the mixture and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. For the Fool Proof pie crust recipe I reduced the vinegar to 2 teaspoons. Both the pie filling recipe and the pie dough recipe make a lot of product so this recipe is best suited for a 10″ pie plate. Please treat yourself and make this recipe!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment for me Janice! I am so happy that you like this recipe and even happier that you’re tweaking it to suit your personal tastes. One of the best things about baking is knowing how to adjust recipes to be exactly the kind of thing you want to eat. Thank you for leaving these tips for other readers! xo
Why can’t I pin this recipe? I saw the Apple Cobbler recipe on Pinterest and then saw this one, but I can’t pin either one. Only one photo has the Pinterest button on it and this disappears when I try to click on it and brings up the general Pinterest feed. If you’re going to post on Pinterest, at least let people pin, please!
Hi Elizabeth! First of all, I’m sorry you’re having trouble pinning this recipe. It’s a delicious pie and I genuinely want you to be able to save the recipe for when you need it. I’m not sure what the issue is, but promise you, I’m not doing anything to prevent you from pinning it. In addition to installing a plug-in that allows a Pinterest button to appear over the top of most images, I’ve added a social media share tool bar (that includes a Pinterest option) on the left side of the screen, a Pinterest button at the top of the page, a large “Pin Recipe” button inside the recipe card, and another pin button at the bottom of the page. I’m honestly not sure what else I could do? Since you’re having trouble pinning recipes inside Pinterest as well, my guess is that there’s an issue with the internet browser you’re using. Perhaps it needs to be updated?
Regardless – here’s a direct link to a pin for this recipe on Pinterest. Hopefully you can save it that way. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/167759154857527497/
Also – here’s a direct link to a pin for Apple Cobbler: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/167759154858516497/
xo
Hi Rebecca, I made the blueberry pie and it was fantastic! One question? I struggled with the crust a little, was wondering if it was the flour, I used White Lilly this was all I had on hand, the dough was hard to remove from the surface I used. Could this be the wrong flour ? Thank you .
Hi Linda! So happy you liked this recipe! And, great question. White Lilly flour is actually a great flour to use in pie crust because it’s lower in gluten and protein than other all-purpose flours. High levels of gluten and protein are great for things bread, where you want a lot of structure and chew, but not so great in pastry, where you want it to be flaky and tender. It sounds like your dough was just slightly too wet. The next time you make pie crust, don’t be afraid to add more flour if the dough is sticking to the countertop or rolling pin. Avoid kneading more flour into the dough, as this will make it tough. But, dusting the surface of the countertop and dough with a substantial amount of flour in order to keep it from sticking is perfectly fine.
Does that answer your question? xo
Thank you !! Will try this next time ! Simple fix .Best blueberry pie we have ever eaten 😋
Hooray! So happy to hear that! xo
Hi my teenage son baked his first pie and it was mine too. We used your pie filling as the recipe since he had already prebaked from scratch an almond flour pie crust as well as an almond meal crust with almonds as his crumble
The filling was delicious! I didn’t have cornstarch so omitted that and zest and reduced the sugar but had everything else. We used frozen blueberries.
My question is since the filling is cooked on the stove and we baked crust already do we need to bake the filling furthermore into the already baked crust ? If so what’s the temperature and for how long ?We just cooked the pie filling as pee your recipe and placed it in the pie crust we baked and sprinkled the crumbles on top.
Hi Mala! Good question. Since you left this comment yesterday, what did you decide to do? Had I seen this sooner, I would have suggested going ahead and baking the pie, even though the crust was already baked. The filling really benefits from being baked for a while. Baking it at 375 for 20-30 minutes would probably be enough – you want to bake it until the filling is bubbly around the sides of the pie. Is that basically what you decided to do as well?
We did not bake it after the filling was cooked. We were afraid the crust might burn or change colors
We poured the filling in the prebaked crust and topped it with a fresh toasted crumble my son made with walnuts and almond meal let the pie cool and then placed it in the fridge for several hours. The pie set well. Very easy to cut and super exceeded our expectations ! My husband who is a health nut really enjoyed the pie and said the pie had just the right amount of sweetness and that the crumble furthermore enhanced the flavor of the pie. The pie retained its shape . We were afraid it would be soupy/ runny ,
Next time should we increase the tapioca flour since I did not have corn starch on hand ? We plan on baking another today as a birthday pie for someone.
I’m so happy to hear that this turned out well even without baking it! Hooray!!! Since it turned out so well the first time, I wouldn’t change a thing for the one you’re making today. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me an update about how this turned out! xo
Can the filling be made ahead of time, and refrigerate for a day or so, and then make the blueberry pie?
Thanks,
Dawn
Hi Dawn! Yes! You can make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake your pie. Adding cold filling to the pie might increase the bake time a bit so just keep an eye on the pie as it bakes and cover the top with a piece of aluminum foil if the pie needs more time to bake but the crust is getting too brown. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I’d love to know what you think of this cake after you make it! xo
Hello! Can I sub cornstarch for the tapioca? If so would I use the same amount? Thanks!
Hi Leigh! Yes, you can – but use half as much. Just leave out the tapioca entirely and increase the amount of cornstarch to 5 tablespoons, adding it in step #4. Let me know if you have any other questions! And, I’d love to know what you think of this pie after you make it! xo
Soooo I ended up finding tapioca starch and made the pie as the recipe says (although I did my own all butter and buttermilk crust and then a crumb topping with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon).
It was INCREDIBLE. The filling was absolutely insanely delicious and the tapioca really made it come together better than any fruit pie I’ve ever made. Also, I used freshly picked blueberries from a local farm and I’m pretty sure I could have won a contest with this pie!
So thank you!
I am SO happy to hear this Leigh! Using a crumb topping sounds delicious because it would add a whole other layer of texture to the pie! I am so glad the filling came out so well for you. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! I truly appreciate it! xo
Yummers!! This is one delicious pie! And perfect for the season. I, too, added some cinnamon because I think blueberries and cinnamon are so good together! I may have also added a smidge of dried orange peel. I used a deep dish pie plate and glad I did. There is soo much delicious filling. My husband actually picked off most of the crust of the last piece, so I’m going to get some vanilla ice cream and put the filling on top!!! Thanks for another bake club and delicious recipe! You have been a baking inspiration for me!
★★★★★
I am so happy to hear that you and your husband liked this pie! I’ll bet the orange peel and cinnamon were delicious in there. And I think leftover filling is the perfect excuse for a bowl of ice cream. Can’t let it go to waste. 🙂 Thank you for participating in the Bake Club! xo
I will admit: I am not typically a fan of pies. Making or eating them, but THIS pie I will make an exception for!! Making it was a breeze and it is probably the TASTIEST pie I’ve ever eaten!!
★★★★★
Hi Missie! I am SO happy to hear that you liked this pie even though you’re not typically a pie person. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! And, thank you for participating in the Bake Club! xo
Hi. Can I prepare this and freeze then bake it??
Hi there! Great question! My main concern with freezing this pie is that fillings thickened with cornstarch don’t usually freeze well. As the filling thaws, it turns into a gluey, gloppy mess. The one exception is when you add gelatin to the mix. My all-time favorite pastry cream recipe includes both cornstarch and gelatin and freezes beautifully.
So, if you wanted to try and freeze this pie, I would suggest taking a cue from that pastry cream recipe and adding about 1 1/2 tsp of powdered gelatin. Use it in place of the tapioca. Put the gelatin in a small bowl and stir in 3 tsp water to moisten. After making the filling, while it’s still hot, break the gelatin into pieces and sprinkle them over the top of the filling. Stir to dissolve the gelatin in the filling.
Let the filling cool completely before pouring it into a pastry lined pie plate. Top the pie with a top crust but do not cut slits in the top of the crust. Wrap the pie tightly before putting it in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake, unwrap and carefully cut slits in the still-frozen top crust.
A quick disclaimer – I haven’t tried this myself. But, I do think it would work. 🙂
Please let me know if you have any other questions! And, if you try this, I would love to hear how it works out for you! xo
Hello,
Should I let the blueberries thaw first if using frozen?
Hi Amanda! You can use them frozen, straight from the freezer. They will thaw as the filling cooks. Please let me know if you have any other questions! And, I’d love to know what you think of this pie after you make it! xo