Fresh Blueberry Pie Recipe

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.

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!)

I can’t get enough of this native fruit, not just for its sweet-tart taste but also because of blueberries’ amazing health benefits.

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?