Filled with huge, sweet blackberries bursting with juice and baked in the most perfect, flaky, buttery pie crust, Homemade Blackberry Pie is as good to eat as it is to look at.
Pie is my favorite dessert. Some of our other favorites are Homemade Razzleberry Pie, Southern Peach Pie, and my Award-Winning Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie!
Homemade Blackberry Pie
Your friends and family are going to love you if you show up with a fresh, Homemade Blackberry Pie to share!
Can I just admit that for YEARS blackberry pie has been my white whale? Every recipe post I could find made it sound so easy to make, but mine always turned out runny! Or I would overshoot the mark and add too much of a thickening agent to compensate for previous attempts and end up with a filling that was gummy. It was so frustrating!
But I kept trying for blackberry pie success because it is my hands down absolute favorite pie. And it was totally worth it because this homemade blackberry pie is incredible and so, so simple! And when it comes to Thanksgiving and pies, this is the one I always go for first before any other.
When blackberries are in season, like they are right now, they are unbelievably good. We have been to our local farmer's market the past two Saturdays in a row just to buy multiple flats of them and have a hard time setting aside enough fresh berries to do anything with them because we keep popping the giant, juicy berries right into our mouths. If you can keep some set aside in reserve, they will make an incredible pie. Or you could always used them in a crumble like this Blackberry Nectarine Crumble. But the good news is that frozen blackberries work just as well as fresh in this pie, so long as you use a couple little tricks to account for the freezing and then defrosting process.
Best Blackberry Pie Recipe Ingredients
Pie crust - This is the BEST pie crust recipe!
Blackberries - Fresh or frozen*
White granulated sugar
Cornstarch - Helps thicken the filling.
Lemon juice
Egg
Additional sugar - For sprinkling on top of crust.
Recipe for Blackberry Pie Variations & Substitutions
If you need a fun variation, just mix in some different berries or fruit! Peaches go great with blackberries or raspberries or blueberries or any berry really. If you are using just blackberries,I have used both fresh and frozen blackberries in this recipe. Keep in mind when using frozen blackberries, you will need to let them thaw first. That amazing juice from the thawed blackberries, keep it! Don’t throw it out! Make a delicious sauce to help thicken the pie filling. Drain that beautiful, dark purple juice into a microwave-safe bowl and whisk in ½ tablespoon of the cornstarch along with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Microwave it for 45-60 seconds until it thickens up. Then toss your thawed blackberries with the remaining cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice and gently stir in the thickened blackberry juice mixture.
How to make Old Fashioned Blackberry Pie
See, the reason I have had problems with homemade blackberry pie in the past is that most recipes just say to use fresh or frozen blackberries like they are totally interchangeable. But in my experience, if you take your blackberries straight from the freezer, toss them with the rest of the filling ingredients and dump them into your pie crust, you will end up with a soggy, juicy mess of a pie that, while still delicious, won't set up properly the way it's supposed to.
*Making Blackberry Pie Filling: Fresh vs. Frozen Blackberries
The method I am going to share today solves that problem. If you are using fresh blackberries, then it's no big deal, just toss the filling ingredients together and put them in the pie crust, easy-peasy. If you are using frozen blackberries, however, you are going to want to pull them out of the freezer ahead of time and let them thaw. But instead of just tossing that beautiful, dark purple juice, drain it into a microwave safe bowl and whisk in ½ tablespoon of the cornstarch called for in the recipe along with 1 tablespoon of sugar and microwave it for 45-60 seconds until it thickens up. Then toss your thawed blackberries with the remaining cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice and gently stir in the thickened blackberry juice mixture.
Before pouring all of that into your uncooked pie crust, brush part of your egg wash on the bottom crust, which will create just enough of a seal to let the crust cook through on the bottom all the way without getting soggy from the juicy berries. Then once the pie is cooked, let it cool completely so that the berry filling has time to set before slicing into the pie. You can always reheat it just a bit if you like eating your pie warm. These steps are simple but they will save you the heartache of cutting into a beautiful looking pie only to have it fall completely apart because the filling is soupy.
The best crust for this Blackberry Pie Recipe
You are going to need a top and bottom pie crust for this pie. I recommend this pie crust recipe that I use in all my pies. It turns out amazing every time thanks to both butter for flavor and shortening for a tender, flaky crust. I even have a video tutorial for how I make it on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out.
I love doing lattice crusts on pie, but when it comes to homemade blackberry pie, there is just something about a solid top crust with only one hole cut out from the center with a small biscuit cutter and a sprinkle of granulated sugar over the egg wash that really speaks to me. It sets it apart from other pies and distinguishes it without being fussy or pretentious. And it gives a peek at the luscious, dark purple inside of the pie while it's baking.
It makes me think of country farms and hoe-downs and pies cooling on windowsills. Which makes me think of that scene from the musical "Oklahoma" where Laurey and Gertie (the one with the ridiculous laugh) are boasting about their pie crusts being so light and flaky.
Do you know the scene I'm talking about? Laurey (the heroine) brags to rival Gertie (who is going to the dance with the cowboy hero, Curly) that her pie crust is so flaky that "she just touched it and it broke into a million pieces!" I don't know why but that line has always stuck with me and it cracks me up. I love old musicals. You really ought to make this pie and then put on Oklahoma. Sounds like a perfect idea to me.
I'm not going to make any ridiculous claims about the flakiness of the crust, but I will say that this blackberry pie definitely won't disappoint.
Blackberry Pie Make Ahead and Storage
If you want to make your pie in advance, it will keep well on the counter for 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap.
If you just want to assemble and bake on the day you plan to serve it, I recommend freezing the pie before baking. Freeze it before you bake it and wrap in plastic wrap and put it in a ziploc baggie and freeze for up to 1 month. Then you can bake it direct from frozen by just increasing the bake time by 15 to 20 minutes.
You can also make the crust 2-3 days in advance and store in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap or even freeze the pie crust dough for 2-3 months for use at a later time. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then roll out and fill with your blackberry pie filling.
Old Fashioned Blackberry Pie FAQs
Technically you can use fresh or frozen blackberries. Frozen just requires a little more effort by making sure they are thawed at room temperature before you begin making the filling.
There are a couple tips to prevent a runny filling. First use a thickener like cornstarch, instant tapioca, flour, or clearjel. My recipe uses cornstarch because it’s readily available and what I always have on hand. Clearjel is my next favorite although you usually have to find it at a specialty kitchen supply shop or order online. If you have some, just replace the same amount of cornstarch with clearjel.
Also, make sure you bake until the filling is thick and bubbly! Bake for at least 45-60 minutes. The cornstarch will react with the berry juices and create a nice thick filling that you should see bubbling up through the vents in the crust.
And last, always let your berry pie cool for 2-3 hours before serving to let the filling continue to set up. I know, I know it is really hard waiting that long to cut into a delicious pie but It will be worth the wait. If you want a warm piece of pie, just reheat the pie or single slice in the microwave or oven.
When you make a berry pie, the berries will release a lot of juices in the baking process so you want to make sure you have a good thickening agent or else your pie will be a “berry” juicy mess. Flour or cornstarch are the most commonly used but clearjel, tapioca, arrowroot, and potato starch can also help thicken your pie filling.
More Fabulous Fruit Pie Recipes
- Easy Cranberry Apple Pie
- Southern Peach Pie Perfection
- Best Homemade Cherry Pie Recipe
- Dutch Pear & Nutmeg Pie with Streusel Topping
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie
- Easy Blueberry Custard Pie
- Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
Double-Crust Pie Crust
- 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus extra for the work surface
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup vegetable shortening chilled
- 12 tablespoons butter cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled
- 6-8 tablespoons ice water
Blackberry Pie Filling
- 6 cups blackberries fresh or frozen*
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- Sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or a food processor (if I had one I would use it!), cut the shortening and butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. It is only about 10 pulses with a food processor but a bit more work by hand. One trick to make the process a little easier is to freeze your butter beforehand, then grate it into the flour mixture before cutting it in with the pastry cutter if not using a food processor.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Using a fork, gently stir the water into the flour mixture, then repeat with the remaining water, adding only 2 tablespoons at a time, just until the dough starts to come together.
- Divide the dough into two even pieces. Turn each piece of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten each into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then allow the chilled dough to sit on the counter to soften slightly for 10 minutes before rolling out.
Filling & Assembly
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Roll out the bottom crust on a lightly floured surface. Gently line a pie plate with the bottom crust and brush with part of the egg wash before adding blackberry filling.
- In a large bowl, add blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice and gently toss to combine. Pour filling into the prepared pie crust.
- Roll out the top pie crust and cut a circular hole in the center with a small biscuit or cookie cutter. Gently lay the crust on top of the blackberry filling. Trim the edges of the pie dough with a knife and crimp it in a decorative pattern using a fork. If desired, you could do a lattice crust or other decorative top. Brush the top crust with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the filling is thick and bubbly and the crust is golden brown. If the edges of the crust begin to get too dark too soon, cover them with tin foil or use a pie guard so that they don't burn while the rest of the pie continues to bake.
- When the pie is done, remove it from the oven and allow the pie to cool for at least 2-3 hours before serving so the filling can continue to set up.
- Once cooled, you can slice and serve your pie. To serve hot, simply reheat either the whole pie or individual slices in the oven or microwave.
Notes
- *Using fresh blackberries: Toss the filling ingredients together in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- *Using frozen blackberries: Let the blackberries thaw at room temperature before you begin. Drain that beautiful, dark purple juice into a microwave-safe bowl and whisk in ½ tablespoon of the cornstarch along with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Microwave it for 45-60 seconds until it thickens up. Then toss your thawed blackberries with the remaining cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice and gently stir in the thickened blackberry juice mixture.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Enjoy hot or cold!
- Freeze: You can freeze blackberry pie but it's best to freeze it before you bake it. To do this, wrap the pie in plastic wrap and put it in a Ziploc bag and in the freezer for up to 1 month.
This pie sounds heavenly! And the photos are gorgeous, too!
Thank you, Mira!
What a gorgeous pie! I love blackberries and when they are in season I buy as many from the farmers as I can and freeze them so I can make great pies like this one!
Such a great idea, Jennifer! We love to pick them ourselves, too, when we get the chance!
That is a gorgeous pie! I love a good blackberry pie and yours look and sound spectacular.
Thank you, Nicoletta! It's one of my favorites too!
What a gorgeous pie! Your tip for making frozen berries work in pies make me excited because I generally only make pie during the summer when all of the fruit is in season. I miss it during the winter and almost always have frozen fruit on hand for smoothies.
Oh you should definitely give it a try then, Jenna! I don't feel like it works quite as well for blueberries, but for blackberries or raspberries this method is great!
Beautiful, Amy! Oh, this tugs at my heartstrings. We always had an abundance of berries on the farm I grew up on and my mother used to make the most AMAZING berry pies. Thanks for sharing and your photography is gorgeous!
Thank you, Carol! That sounds like heaven to have loads of fresh berries!
Fantastic trick for frozen berries, Even if I have berries in my garden, I like to keep a bag of frozen berries in the freezer during the winter, You will never know what you fancy in a rainy day.
I do the same thing!
Thanks for posting this. We are plagued with runny pies from frozen berries, so hope this advice will help. We recently learned about ClearGel, but even using that did not set up our pie made from frozen triple berry mix and elderberries. I have a suggestion though. I see after saying that many recipes call for "berries, fresh or frozen" , your recipe is worded exactly the same way. Maybe it would be better to say "fresh or thawed". Not everyone who encounters a recipe will read, or may have access to read, an article like this. Recipes get copied and handed down without these kinds of tips. If people would stop regurgitating "berries, fresh or frozen" without telling HOW to use frosen berries, this problem might one day be a rare occurrence. 🙂
Also, you could add an asterisk after the word "frozen" in the recipe, to lead down to your asterisked footnote at the bottom. 🙂 I sure hope this helps. I love elderberry pie (we grow them), elderberry soup-in-a-crust, not so much. 😉
Thank you for your thoughtful comment LG! Runny pies from frozen berries really are a problem that I was trying to address with this recipe so I appreciate you taking the time to share your advice! I'm going to edit the recipe with an asterisk after "frozen" to lead down to the footnote in hopes to help others avoid tossing completely frozen berries right into their crusts!
I love blackberry pie! I have to make one with the first big harvest off our berry patch each year. Sooooo good!
The pie looks both beautiful and delicious! I was wanting to ask your permission to use this recipe in a school project. We have to "build a city" and have a main attraction, ours is a pie shop, and we love this recipe and would like to use it for the "best selling pie". Thanks. Also cant wait to try my hand at baking this!
Of course! Please do! 🙂
I see none of these people actually tried the recipe.I did. I had to tell my guests that they were eating desert out of a glass, because it s a par-fey slurrpy.
I'm sorry this didn't work out for you! Did you let it cool completely? Because like many berry pies, this doesn't set all the way until the pie is fully cooled. One of the reasons I wanted to share this recipe is because I had problems with runny berries pies in the past myself and finally figured out how to make it without it turning out all soupy, so I'm sorry that yours didn't set up all the way! I've made this dozens of times now and it comes out great each time!
I just made the best pie crust ever (and I've been making pie for decades) using your the Double-Crust Pie Crust recipe for blackberry pie! I used the egg wash and sugar on the top crust, and it is flaky and beautiful! I used frozen Pacific Northwest little wild mountain blackberries (Rubus ursinus that my husband and I picked by our cabin on the Hoh River - they have an amazing flavor! The pie hasn't cooled yet, but I hope that following your recipe will make the pie less runny than it usually is. However, I couldn't wait to tell you how excited I am about the crust recipe! Thank you!
I'm so thrilled that the crust worked out well for you! That makes me so happy to hear!
Ugh! I made this pie tonight and while it’s absolutely delicious.. it was SO runny! I poured about 1/2 cup of juice out of the pie after cutting the first piece. I followed the directions and allowed it to cool for 3.5 hours. I wonder why it turned out this way??
Oh no! I have no idea why that would have happened as I wrote this recipe specifically to avoid that and it has worked for me every time since I figured out I needed to fully defrost the berries and microwave the juices with cornstarch to thicken before filling the pie.
Have you tried it using fresh berries? I used fresh so I skipped the frozen berry note. Maybe I'll try it again with frozen sometime. Hubby said that was the best pie crust he's ever eaten and I had to agree! SO GOOD!
I have made this pie a few times now, each time using our garden blackberries, frozen. Our blackberries are quite large, averaging a bit larger than a quarter coin. As such, they do not nicely fill a cup measure, so I end up using seven overfilled cups to get enough for a good pie. I also increase the sugar by 2-3 tablespoons to add sweetness. This seems to work for me, and I appreciate that you have given direction for using frozen blackberries. When they are in season, it is not unusual for me to pick two quarts from our bush each day, so freezing them is a must!
I made this pie the other night and followed the instructions to the T, using 1 bag of frozen berries and 2 pints of fresh. I boiled the juice of the thawed berries with the sugar and cornstarch as directed and added this at the end. This pie, although delicious, was still runny. I will make it again but will boil all the berries with the sugar and cornstarch FIRST. Then add to the pie. I do this with frozen blueberries and never have a runny pie.
My husband loved it, it was easy to make and we are now searching for local places that sell fresh berries! We never have enough on our property for a pie as our dogs eat them off the bushes as soon as they start to ripen!
We have a HUGE back berry bush with so many berries,we froze gal bags last year. Now I have more on the bush, and need to use up last year's crop. I have made the fresh pie, but was not sure what to do with the juice from frozen berries once they thawed. Thanks so much for the tip. Can't wait to try.
I realize this is late to the party but I just made this pie. Followed directions to the letter. Pie turned out great! I used very ripe, fresh picked berries. I would say I could have used less cornstarch and might have know to reduce that if I had ever made a pie in my life before this. Seriously. I am 60 and I just now made my most favorite pie. SO funny.
I did make sure that my fruit was bubbling for 10 minutes. Also cooked in a convection oven.
Thanks for the recipe!
I will be trying this recipe today. I have used tapioca in the past as the thickener but would like to try corn starch this time instead. We froze fresh berries a couple weeks ago so we'll use those too. Thank you for your work and those images in the blog are SO GOOD!
Thank you! I hope you like it!
Best pie ever. Just made it for my husband's birthday. He requested a blackberry pie. He is from the south so he grew up picking fresh blackberries. I bought mine at the local grocery store, and they made a delicious pie.
This worked for me. I used my own crust and took some of the sugar out and it still holds together just fine. The stuff out of the microwave was like glue, in case that helps anyone.
Just a quick comment before I begin. Your information it's much appreciated... especially the part about thawing frozen blackberries... makes perfect sense. Thanks again for the great article.
You're welcome! Have a wonderful holiday!
I followed your recipe using frozen berries. This is it! Finally found out the secret to not having pie soup! And it was so tasty too. So many compliments. Thank you!!!
I'm so glad this worked out so well for you! That's how I felt when I figured out this method!
Very good recipe, made it for thanksgiving this year and everyone loved it. It set up just fine even using frozen berries.
Made this pie twice in 2 weeks. My husband and daughter both said it was the best pie crust they ever had and to always make it this way. I used fresh berries and it was the perfect filling. Thank-you for the recipe
You are so very welcome! I'm so glad you loved it!
Wonderful pie! Made it with fresh picked blackberries from our garden. My husband doesn't care for blackberry pie, he ate two slices the first night. No better recommendation then that.
I have picked some blackberries and want to make a pie. I am in a remote area and do not have a way to get corn starch. Would flour work? If so, would the measurement of four Tbsp. remain the same, as with the cornstarch?
I haven't tried this one with flour, but yes, typically you can use twice as much flour as you would use cornstarch to thicken pies.
This is an amazing recipe. Everyone loved it.
Will be my go to every blackberry season!