Easy Blackberry Pie
Nothin’ says southern like a blackberry pie in your oven. There’s no need to worry either–you can use a refrigerated crust and frozen berries if you don’t have fresh ones on hand and you may need some boxing gloves–just to fight everyone off so you can have a slice. Or okay maybe two.
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A true celebration of baking skills, this easy blackberry pie will become a staple that replaces birthday cakes and shines on your holiday table. With some good vanilla ice cream on top it’s just the perfect blend of sweet and tart.
How do you keep a blackberry pie from being runny?
Popping a bunch of berries and some sugar into a pie crust and baking it isn’t quite enough here, folks. It is essential to add something to your blueberry filling to thicken it up unless you want a super runny pie.
I like using cornstarch but tapioca will work as well. Additionally, it’s important to cook the pie for long enough to allow the pectin (a naturally occurring thickener) in the blackberries to release.
Another nifty trick for reducing runniness is making the pie a day in advance. Chilling it in the refrigerator overnight or leaving it out on the counter will give the filling a chance to set.
Just be sure to allow the pie to cool completely before placing it in the refrigerator.
Frozen or fresh blackberries?
Either one! If you have access to fresh blackberries, use them but frozen berries work just as well. Thaw the blackberries most of the way first. A few slushy berries won’t hurt anything.
If you have lots of liquid after they thaw, drain most of that off.
It’s ok to leave behind a 1/2 cup or so, but anything more could end you with a runny pie.
Can I use wild blackberries?
100% yes! It can be so fun to go berry picking and turn the literal fruits of your labor into a delicious pie.
Wild blackberries tend to be a tad less juicy and quite a bit more tart, though. So give them a taste and feel free to add more sugar if needed.
Pie crust options
If you have the time, go for homemade. This all-butter pie crust is the best in my opinion. It uses real butter, which makes the flavor a million times better (and better for you) than recipes that use Crisco.
Not a butter person? Feel free to use a different solid fat such as high-quality lard, solid palm oil, or coconut oil.
If you are pinched for time, you can use a store-bought crust. Grab a double pie crust; one for the bottom and one to cut into strips for the latticed top. I suggest rolling it out with a rolling pin to make it thinner and slightly larger.
Avoid a soggy bottomed pie
Soggy pie crust isn’t terribly appealing. To avoid this common pitfall, be sure that your oven is preheated to the proper temperature (it can be helpful to use an oven thermometer). Also, be sure to cook the pie for long enough (see the recipe below for more details).
Choosing the right pie pan is also important. Metal pie plates are the best at conducting heat, making sure that the bottom of your pie gets a chance to crisp up. A glass pie pan is a close second.
Can I use pie filling?
It can be tempting to buy a can of pre-made pie filling. Please don’t do it. This is a pie that is made for fresh or frozen berries.
This pie filling only takes about 2 minutes to throw together. I’ve had cans take me that long to open when I am having a bad day with my can opener. Do yourself a favor and avoid the preservatives and awful flavor of pre-made pie filling and make your own.
Could other berries be substituted?
Yes indeed! I bet a blend of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries would be delicious! No need to adjust the recipe.
Just carry on as you normally would. I do not suggest using strawberries as they leak more liquid, potentially ending you with a soggy pie.
How to store blackberry pie
Allow the pie to cool completely before wrapping the pan in a double layer of plastic wrap and storing it in the refrigerator. You can keep it there for up to 3 days.
Can I freeze leftover blackberry pie?
I would avoid freezing this pie. It just won’t thaw well. If you must do it, allow the pie to cool completely before wrapping it in a double layer of plastic wrap and storing it in the freezer for up to 3 months. A
llow the pie to thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
What to serve with blackberry pie
Blackberry pie is delicious on its own but serving it with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream really takes it over the edge. Here are some ideas for you.
- Ice cream. Top a slice of blackberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can buy a pint at the store or try your hand at making your own. Feeling adventurous? Try my Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream or this Banana Pudding Ice Cream.
- Whipped cream. Whip up some homemade whipped cream. You can grab a store-bought version but I think they’re icky. They don’t even have real dairy in them!
- Creme Anglaise. Pour a subtly sweet creme anglaise over a slice of pie. Making your own only takes about 10 minutes but a store-bought version would work as well.
Watch me make this pie in its full version on my YouTube Channel!
Easy Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
- 2 rolled pie crusts this is one box of refrigerated pie crusts if you buy them at the store (if making from scratch use a "double crust" recipe) See note 1
- 6 cups fresh or frozen blackberries thawed most of the way if frozen
- 1 cup granulated sugar See note 2
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- juice of 1/2 of a fresh lemon no bottles
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 tablespoon beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon sugar in the raw optional for sprinkling on the crust
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place a pie crust in the bottom of a standard pie pan. In a bowl, mix the berries, sugar, cornstarch, salt and lemon juice and place in crust. Roll out the second crust and cut strips to make a lattice top, weaving the strips together.
- With a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, brush a light coating of the egg wash over your crust. Cut away any long strips of pie crust and crimp the edges or press around the edge with a fork to seal the crusts together.
- Dot with butter and sprinkle with one tablespoon of raw sugar before baking. Place the pie on a rimmed cookie sheet to catch any spill overs.
- Bake 50-55 minutes until golden and bubbly. If your crust starts to get too brown, cover it with aluminum foil while it bakes
Notes
Nutrition
It sure what I did wrong but this didn’t set up at all. SL bakes goods usually do well for me. Tastes good though.
Did you make any changes Maggie? I know cornstarch can, if baked too long, go backwards and the sauce can re-loosen. Did you use frozen berries or fresh? Wild or tame? It sets up just fine for me, but I have to let it cool totally first…and I don’t mind a little sauce here and there anyway. 😉 I’m glad Southern Living works for you because I don’t tend to like anything I’ve ever really made from their baked goods. Personal preference I suppose! –Rachel
I haven’t made the pie yet, I was wondering if you think I could use tapioca instead of cornstarch.
I haven’t worked with tapioca Tina so I’m not sure on that. –Rachel
@Rachel Ballard,
Your recipe is great! But your story was the best. It made for much laughter in this household. My husband said the exact same thing….and it is his birthday cake!
@Tina, I always use tapioca (minute or flour) with berry pies. If you use the minute tapioca, make sure the pie bubbles real well. That gives the time for the little pearls to cook and absorb the berry flavor.
I have no idea how old this post may be, I came across it searching for something else this evening but I just had to stop and say this crust is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The heck with the pie, the crust alone is worth having this pie. My family built and runs a retirement community. One of our residents last autumn asked if I could bake him a blackberry pie. I said I would be happy to do so. For some of our residents, especially the men who are widowed, they may not have had favorite desserts since their spouse passed away or some even, since their mother has died. Some men end have wives that just never did bake (some don’t even cook) and if the gentleman himself can’t bake something, they go without. Not everyone has a daughter who is a hobby baker to make all the family recipes. It was fine for each family member, they only had one or two things to make…..but as each one passed away the number of items I need to bake at the holidays keeps growing. We still try to have all the family favorites at the holidays. I’m hoping the things both my dad and I grew up with become important to the next generation. His grandparents were my babysitters so I grew up eating all the same things he did, at least through the day. My dad is also an only child so its up to his children to keep his family traditions going. My mom still tries to make at Christmas her mother’s Filled Cookies, which my dad likes quite a lot and she’s still making homemade noodles, which I’ve actually never made. Last word is she’s been teaching my nephew to make them. However her heath is not good at all so I’m not sure when she’s not going to be able to make those things. We’re one of those families that never get rid of anything which means not only possessions but also recipes and traditions. Anyway, at Christmas when I wanted to make this resident a blackberry pie he said, oh please no. He said he is so overloaded in sweets at the moment he couldn’t eat it. I think that now that the holidays are well past I may make him several small individual pies, about 3 or 4-inches in diameter and tell him how to freeze them, this way he can enjoy them any time he wants. Do you think the pies should be frozen baked or unbaked? I would think this gentleman would be fine heating an oven and placing the pie on a small baking sheet of some sort or even in a cake pan and baking it if I attach the instructions on the pie. These look so good I might try this recipe.
Hi Pamela–goodness thank you for your compliment on the pie. It’s not that old of a recipe but it’s certainly one that we just love. It’s replaced birthday cake in our house in fact. And how nice of you to make things that the residents enjoy. As for freezing…this pie is extremely juicy. Extremely. If you wanted to have the best success with it, I don’t know if freezing it would be best. I’d recommend baking it, then allowing it to cool to room temperature then put it in the fridge overnight. That helps a TON with the watery nature of the berries (there’s very little thickener in this recipe and we like it that way). You might be able to get away with freezing them after that but my fear is in the reheating–that the crust will be super soggy–but you’re welcome to try it if you want to. If you froze them unbaked, they’d probably turn out better but need a crazy amount of time in the oven to cook. An hour and a half or so depending on the size and thickness of the pie. You may just have to experiment and have a good attitude about whatever comes out of the oven. 🙂 –Rachel
We used wild blackberries we picked ourselves. They may have been small but they were amazingly sweet. I added only 1/4 cup sugar and probably didn’t need that!! Thanks for the recipe, with wild blackberries, it was an amazing pie!!
Oh wild blackberries are THE BEST! I think it’s an amazing pie no matter what you use to make it but those wild ones are probably cream of the crop. I have some here on my farm but my husband keeps mowing them down with the bush hog! No good. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. –Rachel
What’s the secret to a good pie crust mine tend to be very crumbly they don’t roll like they should they don’t look anything like the store-bought ones so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong and they don’t have very good flavor it’s not bad flavor but it’s not a great flavor either
Hey Penny, pie crusts stump a lot of people. I think a lot depends on whether you use butter or shortening to make it. I tend to really like all butter ones a lot more these days but here’s a post I wrote on how to make them a few years ago: https://feastandfarm.com/how-to-make-pie-crust/ See if there’s anything in there that helps. Sometimes you just need to practice a lot! –Rachel
My pie was very tart….not sweet at all. The blackberries were Frozen with no sugar added.
Hey Norma, thanks for your thoughts. Here’s what I always do when I have a fruit dessert to make: first, taste your fruit. See how tart or sweet it is and adjust any sugar you add from there. My recipe is certainly a starting point but by no means a hard and fast line you have to follow. We grow our own berries and they are often very, very sour. If you were expecting the sweetness of what you might find in a canned pie filling or something like that, then no this pie isn’t sweet–it’s not meant to be like that. My best recommendation is to taste those berries out of the bag and then taste them after you have added sugar and see if the sweetness suits you. Trial and error! –Rachel
This is a great receipe! It turned out delicious. I made it in a square corningware glass pan. I lightly sprinkled top with a little sugar and cinnamon on top of the egg wash. I will keep this receipe for the future. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Debbie. It’s our most favorite pie and we’ve even swapped it for birthday cake now. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! –Rachel
I love the use of fresh blackberries! I don’t make pies often, but I feel like there was a lot of sugar involved! I may try 1/2 cup of sugar in my next attempt. Otherwise, it was a great recipe!
Hey Ginger, the amount of sugar you use totally depends on how sweet your berries are. And my blackberries tend to be very tart. Plus I don’t put any sugar in my crust so it’s not sweet. Every cook should taste their berries and feel free to dial back the sugar as much as they choose. It’s never been too sweet for me (and I’m sensitive to that) but please feel free to adjust yours any way that suits you. 🙂 –Rachel
In the ingredient list, it has 1 tbsp beaten egg mixed with 1 water. Is that 1 tbsp of water? Thank for the clarification. It sounds delicious. In the process of putting it together now.
Yes Toni it is…sorry about that. My recipe conversion software has glitches sometimes! Let me know how you like it!–Rachel
That pie is absolutely gorgeous. I love the way you made the top crust! One of my goals for 2017 is to become better at making pie crust. Fingers crossed!
Making pie crusts from scratch sure seems to terrify people but I know you can do it! I made my first one when I was 7 or 8 so I’ve been at it a long time–longer than I care to admit! Thanks Mary, let me know how you do.–Rachel
Love!
Hello from NZ. I want to thank you for your delightful recipe which inspired me to fuss and do the lovely lattice top …it’s in the oven as -I-write…the oven is begining to exhale some sweet Summer scent… wild blackberries; Oh Joy ! x
That’s wonderful Janine! I hope you really enjoy it. –Rachel