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Blackberry Pie is one of the easiest pie recipes and perfect for summer berry season! You can make this pie with fresh or frozen berries and choose your topping: lattice, double crust or crumble topping.
Why You’ll Love This Pie
When I was young, my Aunt and Uncle lived in Washington. They’d come down every August to visit and my aunt would make a two crust blackberry pie. My dad was practically salivating two full weeks beforehand in anticipation. Blackberry is his favorite. This recipe came from my aunt and I’ve been making it for so many years!
This pie can be made with fresh or frozen blackberries and you can use a double crust, lattice crust, or make a crumble topping. The juicy blackberry filling pops in your mouth – this is the perfect summer pie recipe!
Ingredients in Blackberry Pie Filling
- Blackberries: Use fresh or frozen, see below for how
- Sugar: Granulated sugar works best. The ratio of sugar to filling is also very important: I use 5 cups of fruit to 2/3 cup of sugar. Any more sugar than that and you’re going to get a pie that doesn’t set properly.
- Lemon Juice: For a fresh flavor to brighten the pie, you could also add some lemon zest.
- Cinnamon: I add ground cinnamon to all my fruit pies – even peach pie.
- Cornstarch: I make all my fruit/berry pies with the same basic recipe and it works. I find that a blackberry pie with cornstarch really is the way to go; flour doesn’t thicken the filling enough.
- Homemade Pie Crust: I love my all butter pie crust recipe, but you can also use a store bought crust (Pillsbury is the best one I’ve found).
Fresh vs Frozen Blackberries
This is one of the things I love about making fruit pies with my recipe: you can use fresh or frozen fruit.
How to use fresh blackberries: If blackberries are in season, by all means, make this a fresh blackberry pie. To prepare your berries just wash and drain them and remove any stems.
How to use frozen blackberries: If you want to make a pie when fruit isn’t in season you can definitely use frozen blackberries to make this recipe. Simply thaw and drain frozen berries. Be sure to drain them very well so there is no extra liquid in your filling.
How to make Blackberry Pie
It’s important to get the pie crust and topping ready before you make the pie filling so that once you toss the berries with the sugar you immediately place it in the pie, top, and bake it. Decide how you’re going to top your pie: Lattice Pie, Double Crust Pie, or Crumble Topped Pie.
1. If you’re making my pie dough recipe, decide if you need 2 crusts or just one. Roll out one disk of dough and place it in a 9-inch pie dish. Chill until ready to fill.
2. If using my crumble topping, make that recipe by placing butter, sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl and using a pastry blender or two forks to work the mixture into crumbles.
3. If making a lattice top, roll out the second dough and cut 1-inch slices, or if using a double crust just roll it out and set aside.
4. Make the filling by tossing blackberries with cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Immediately place pie filling in prepared pie pan.
5. Top with the second crust and cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape, or design your lattice on top of the filling. Or just top with crumble.
6. Place pie on a baking sheet and cover with a pie crust shield or strips of aluminum foil. This ensures your edges don’t get over done.
How to Serve Blackberry Pie
While it’s important to completely cool your pie before slicing so it has time to set, I like the pie warmed or at least room temperature. If you want to warm it, just heat in the microwave a few seconds.
My preferred way to serve fruit pie is with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
Expert Tips
- I brush my lattice topped pie with egg wash to get it nice and golden.
- Don’t mix your berries with the sugar and cornstarch until the crust and crumble are ready, or it will be too liquidy after baking.
- This pie is a bit more liquidy than my other berry pies, but it firms up more as it sets.
- Always bake your fruit pies on a cookie sheet in case they spill over.
- Use a pie shield so your pie crust doesn’t get too brown.
FAQ
When the crust is golden on top and the filling is bubbly, then the pie is done.
This pie recipe should produce a mostly set pie. If it’s too liquidy, then the following things may have happened: You cut it too soon. You should let it cool completely – and even chill it – before slicing. Is the pie a day or two old? The berries will weep the longer they sit. Did you drain your berries – especially frozen ones – completely? Letting the pie sit before baking will also make the pie wetter.
Recipes call for either cornstarch or flour, but I find cornstarch does a better job thickening fruit pies.
Blackberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients
For Lattice or Double Crust Pie
- 2 recipes all butter pie crust from a package or from scratch
- 1 egg for eggwash
For Crumble Topping Pie
- 1 recipe all butter pie crust from a package or from scratch
- 12 tablespoons (170g) cold unsalted butter , diced or grated
- ⅔ cup (133g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all-purpose flour
- Pinch salt
For Blackberry Pie Filling
- 5 cups blackberries (about 24 ounces or 650g)
- ⅔ cup (133g) granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (30g) cornstarch
Instructions
Lattice Pie Instructions
- Roll out your two pie crusts into circles with approximately 9-10” diameter. Place one pie crust in your 9” pie plate (standard size, not deep dish). Chill both the pie plate and the rolled out pie crust for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the rolled out pie crust from the refrigerator. Slice it into strips, about 1/2-3/4” per strip. Chill for 10 more minutes.
- Make filling (see below). Add to chilled pie crust.
- Remove the sliced crust from the refrigerator. Starting at one edge of the pie, use every other strip from the cut slices and place them equally distant from each other on your pie (space them about the same distance as the width of each strip).
- Starting at one end of the pie, fold back every other strip and place the shortest remaining strip perpendicular to the strips already on the pie. Lay the folded strips flat.
- Now, working at the opposite end of the pie, fold back the strips you didn’t fold back the first time. Take the next smallest strip of crust and place it parallel to the strip you just put down. Re-lay the folded strips flat.
- Continue this process until all the crust has been used. Crimp the edges of the pie as desired.
- Brush the crust with eggwash and sprinkle sugar on top. Cover the edges with a pie shield. Bake on a cookie sheet (in case of spillover) for 10 minutes at 425°F then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F for an additional 35-45 minutes until the crust starts to turn golden brown. It won’t get fully golden but some parts will start to turn.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
Crumble Topped Pie Instructions
- Roll out your pie crust into a circle with approximately 9-10” diameter. Place pie crust in a 9” pie plate (standard size, not deep dish). Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Add sugar, flour and salt for crumble into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the cold diced or grated butter and use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until it forms small crumbs.
- Remove chilled pie crust from the refrigerator. Add filling (see below). Top with crumble and cover the edges with a pie shield. Bake on an cookie sheet (in case of spillover) for 10 minutes at 425°F then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F for an additional 35-45 minutes until the crust starts to turn golden brown.
How to make Blackberry Pie Filling
- Mix the berries, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Toss with your hands. Make sure your berries are thawed and drained before using them so your pie isn’t too liquidy.
- Immediately place the filling into chilled pie crust, top and bake as directed above.
- Cool completely before slicing. To help the pie not run, it’s best to chill the cooled pie for a few hours before cutting.
- Serve with ice cream and/or whipped cream, for garnish.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Frozen Berries: Thaw completely and drain of all excess moisture before using in pie.
- Be sure to add the berries at the last minute before baking.
- Always bake on a cookie sheet in case of spillover.
- I like using a pie crust shield so the outer crust doesn’t get too brown.
- See my entire post about making crumble topping for more details.
Recipe Nutrition
Other favorite fruit pies:
Tools for success:
- Roul’Pat pie making silicone mat
- Pie crust cutter
- Pie Plate
Can pies be made the day before? Should it be refrigerated can it set on the counter overnight? Thank you!
Yes for sure you can make them the day before. I always refrigerate them.
I also strongly recommend using a silpat or parchment paper between the pie pan (or dish) AND the cookie sheet. When filling overflows it is a big mess to clean up. It can stick badly and burn as well. Then it takes a lot of scrubbing (and precious water) to clean. So, if your cookie sheet is not ultra “non stick” I highly recommend this extra step.
Greetings from Germany!
This is my first blackberry pie AND my first lattice pie and it turned out amazing – thanks to this fantastic recipe! Super easy to
follow and make. I did have to bake it about ten minutes longer than the recipe called for but then it came out perfect.
OH MY! Thank you, Dorothy Kern, I am pie queen TODAY! I have tried several times to make pie crust and each was utter failure. But not today. Followed your recipe and I have a beautiful Double Crust Lattice Blackberry Pie cooling for my husband! (He loves blackberries!) Thanks for your detailed instructions which helped me FINALLY make a great pie crust! Don’t see a way to post a pic but I am that proud ☺️ !
I am SO glad you liked it Mollie! This is my favorite crust and one of my favorite pies ever!
Just kind’ve stumbled on this post and I’m glad I did Dorothy. The step-by-step tutorial complete with fantastic images is one of the best. Coupled with this delicious looking lattice Blackberry pie (blackberries being my favorite) and the all-butter crust makes this a recipe I can’t wait to try (and of course…devour!)
I did have a quick question tho’. So the blackberries are fresh from he market that you froze correct? And when you place them in the pie dish, do you add an additionals like sugar or cinnamon, vanilla, etc?
You can use berries that are fresh from the market, or you can use frozen (that you’ve frozen or just purchased frozen). You just have to make sure and defrost and drain the frozen ones so your pie isn’t too liquidy. In the recipe at the bottom of the post there are ingredients and directions for the filling – sugar and flour and a few other things!
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