How to Make Blackberry Pie: Blackberry Pie Filling Recipe

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How to Make Blackberry Pie: Blackberry Pie Filling Recipe

No matter the occasion or time of year, a fresh blackberry pie makes the perfect dessert. This recipe only requires 3 ingredients for the filling, and includes a link to the best flaky crust recipe to go with it. Here are a few tips for making the pie, followed by step-by-step instructions on how to make blackberry pie!

Pie’s History

One of the joys of summertime here is heading out into the sap bush to gather juicy blackberries, then mixing up a fresh batch of this easy blackberry pie recipe! 

Of course, we don’t always have to go as far as the sap bush. There are plenty of wild blackberry briars taking over around the house and other buildings on the farm!

While they can be a real pain when they show up uninvited on the lawn or garden, they aren’t so bad when they keep to the unused hillsides around the property. Thorns and all, they’re worth the scratches for all the free berries – often multiple gallons worth a year! That number goes up when we take a few precautions to keep birds out of them.

With so many fresh blackberries, we love to make this wild blackberry pie filling recipe. It uses up four cups of blackberries, along with only two other ingredients! We like to freeze the remaining fresh berries in four-cup increments so that we can easily pull a bag out and make a pie later in the year, too. They keep for years in the freezer, and even if they get slightly freezer-burned it tends not to affect the pie flavor too much.

This recipe has been in our family for generations. It’s just the right amount of sweet to balance the slightly tart flavor of the blackberries, and it’s just plain wonderful with our flaky homemade pie crust.

My grandmother loved this pie – so much so that we made it every year for her birthday. Now that she’s gone, we always think of her when we make it. 

Tips and Tricks

You can use wild, domesticated, or grocery store berries to make this pie. Fresh or frozen blackberries are both fine for making it, just make sure the berries are thawed enough to mix if you use frozen. 

While you might be tempted, don’t skimp on the sugar. If you think you may have more than four cups of blackberries, add a little more sugar! Alternatively, if you prefer a tarter blackberry pie, use less sugar.

While blackberries and sugar are a necessity, it’s your choice whether you use regular all-purpose flour or cornstarch. It will taste delicious either way, so use whichever one you want! One or the other is necessary to thicken the juice, or you’ll have a runny pie.

You can use any crust of your choice, but the homemade Crisco pie crust recipe really sends it above and beyond. A store-bought crust just won’t be quite the same. While we always make a standard flat top crust, you could also get creative and make a lattice top. This pie requires a double crust.

How to Make Blackberry Pie

Start with 4 cups of fresh or frozen berries. If you’re using frozen berries, you can let them thaw a bit, but don’t worry if the berries themselves are still partially frozen. As long as there aren’t large clumps of berries stuck together, the sugar and flour will still be able to coat them. 

Add the 3/4 cup of sugar and flour or cornstarch to the berries in a large bowl. You can use more or less sugar if you prefer your pies extra or less sweet, but we find that a 3/4 cup is generally about right. If the mix seems to have excess liquid (this is especially common if you’re using blackberries that have been frozen for a while) you can add a little more flour or cornstarch, but it usually isn’t necessary. 

Next, make the homemade crust recipe, then take approximately half the pie dough (it can be a slightly larger portion of dough) and roll it out between wax paper with a rolling pin. Lay it into the pie plate to make the bottom crust, then dump the blackberry filling in. Roll out the top crust and lay it over the berry mixture, then crimp up the edges. Poke a design into the top of the pie with a fork to release steam.

Bake the pie at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown. Take it out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack.

Enjoy the pie warm or at room temperature. The flavors will meld and the filling will thicken if it’s left alone to cool until the next day. That said, it’s always fun to have a scoop of ice cream on top if you serve it fresh from the oven! Keep it covered with plastic wrap when you’re not eating it.

Enjoy this Delicious Pie!

You should now have all you need to successfully make this homemade blackberry pie recipe. Try it during summer with fresh blackberries, or use frozen berries to make it for holidays, birthdays, and more at other points for a sweet and juicy taste of summer.