This quick and easy recipe for homemade, Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pie features the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors with a filling of fresh or frozen, juicy, sweet blackberries or dewberries wrapped in a flakey, buttery pie crust. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it’s the stuff dessert legends are made of.
An American classic, Blackberry Pie is simple comfort food that will bring out the kid in anyone and put a smile on their face! Like your Grandma’s blackberry pies, it’s also the perfect make-ahead dessert for casual backyard barbecues, Sunday dinners, picnics, and potlucks.
This homemade blackberry pie recipe is the recipe that my mom used and her mother before her, and I hope you will love it as much as we do! The only thing that has changed is that my mom would make her crust from scratch.
But, life is too short, and the refrigerated crusts you can buy today can be a huge time saver and are a terrific shortcut. Of course, if you have a favorite pie dough recipe, by all means, use that.
Ingredients – here’s what you will need
The ingredients are simple:
- Blackberries – are the star of this dish. These succulent berries, sometimes confused with dewberries, are berry nirvana with a sweet woodsy flavor. You can use either fresh or frozen.
- Sugar – adds a sweetness to the pie and brings out the blackberry’s natural sweetness.
- Cornstarch – helps to thicken the blackberry filling.
- Lemon juice and zest – as in most dishes, lemon enhances and compliments the blackberries’ deliciousness.
- Refrigerated pie crusts – have to be one of the best convenience foods out there. Not only do they save time, but they also taste almost as good as the real thing, and my guess is if you don’t tell your family, they will never know.
- Butter – adds a bit of richness and flavor to the filling.
- Egg – is used to make an egg wash, which adds a nice sheen to your finished pie crust.
Directions – here’s how to make it
- First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a large bowl to make the blackberry filling.
- Use a fork or potato masher and coarsely mash the blackberry mixture. Let the berry mixture macerate for 20 minutes.
- To make the pie crust, fit one of the dough rounds into a nine-inch pie plate.
- Sprinkle a little flour on your countertop and roll out the remaining crust until about twelve inches wide. Next, use a pastry wheel or pizza wheel and cut the dough into strips approximately three-quarters of an inch wide. (You should end up with ten or eleven strips.)
- Pour the blackberry filling into the crust and dot the top with the pieces of butter.
- Arrange half of the dough strips evenly over the filling with about a half-inch space between the strips.
- Fold back every other strip and begin weaving the remaining strips diagonally across them in a lattice pattern. Continue until all of the strips have been woven in.
- Fold the excess bottom pie crust over the lattice strips. Then, to crimp the edges, use the index finger of one hand to push the inner edge out while pinching the outer edge in with the thumb and index finger of the other hand.
- Lightly beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash on the top and edge of the dough. (This is the secret to a shiny golden-brown crust.)
- Put the dish on a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment paper and place the sheet on the middle rack in your oven.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is dark golden brown.
- Let it cool completely before serving. Don’t worry if the blackberry mixture looks a little runny; it will thicken as it cools.
- Serve topped with vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
While similar in appearance and taste, dewberries grow on vines, and blackberries grow on bushes.
If you thought you picked blackberries as a kid, along the side of the road, at least in the South, most likely it was dewberries you were picking.
Dewberries are also a bit smaller and ripen earlier in April and May, while blackberries generally ripen later in the summer. You can use either in this recipe.
I use cornstarch in this recipe to thicken the filling. Tapioca and flour are also popular thickeners.
This delicious old-fashioned berry pie can be served as a delightfully sweet ending to any meal, but I especially like to serve it with grilled or smoked main dishes such as my smoked beef short ribs, smoked burgers, or smoked spatchcocked chicken.
I also always serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
While homemade blackberry pie can be frozen for up to three months, I generally don’t recommend it for the best results. One of the best things about this pie, besides the filling, is the crust, and it will soften if frozen.
You can, however, freeze the prepared filling if you like and add it to the crust after defrosting and before baking it.
You can safely store this pie covered on your counter at room temperature for up to two days. After that, you should keep it covered in the refrigerator.
Sharon’s tips
- If your blackberries don’t taste as sweet as you would like, feel free to add a few more tablespoons of sugar to the filling mixture.
- If your finished pie looks messy, no worries; it will still be delicious.
- Different brands of pie crusts often are of different sizes. Your crust should be at least three inches wider than your pie plate for the best results. If it isn’t, roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin and then fit it into your pie plate.
- Keep your crust in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. It’s much easier to work with a cold crust.
- This is a juicy pie, and, more than likely, it will overflow a bit while baking. Place the pie on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper to keep it from overflowing in your oven.
- If you purchase a frozen crust, let it thaw before working with it.
More dessert recipes
If you like easy summer desserts as we do, I think you might also like these popular recipes on my blog:
- Cranberry Pie with Orange Marmalade
- Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pie
- Homemade Pear Pie
- Fresh Peach Pie Recipe
- Kumquat Pie
- Banana Pudding Pie
- Key Lime Mousse
- Southern Peach Cobbler
If you need additional dessert ideas, check out all of my dessert recipes here.
★ If you make this dish, please leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
Thank you so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones; I hope you come back soon!
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Old-Fashioned Blackberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh blackberries or dewberries about 1.75 pounds
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 disks refrigerated pie dough
- 2 tablespoons butter cut into small cubes
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a large bowl to make the blackberry filling.
- Use a fork or potato masher and coarsely mash the blackberries. Let the berry mixture macerate for 20 minutes.
- To make the pie crust, fit one of the rounds of dough into a nine-inch pie plate.
- Sprinkle a little flour on your countertop and roll out the remaining crust until about twelve inches wide. Next, use a pastry wheel or pizza wheel and cut the dough into strips approximately three-quarters of an inch wide. (You should end up with ten or eleven strips.)
- Pour the blackberry mixture into the pie shell. Dot the top with the pieces of butter.
- Arrange half of the dough strips evenly over the filling with about a half-inch space between the strips.
- Fold back every other strip and begin weaving the remaining strips diagonally across them in a lattice pattern. Continue until all of the strips have been woven in.
- Fold the excess bottom pie crust over the lattice strips. Then, to crimp the edges, use the index finger of one hand to push the inner edge out while pinching the outer edge in with the thumb and index finger of the other hand.
- Lightly beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and brush the egg wash on the top and edges of the dough. (This is the secret to a shiny golden-brown crust.)
- Put the dish on a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment paper and place the sheet on the middle rack in your oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is dark golden brown.
- Let the pie cool completely before serving. Don't worry if the blackberry mixture looks a little runny, it will thicken as it cools. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream if desired.
Snafu Guru
I used a Walmart Brand crust and didn’t like it. Seemed too thick which made the pie taste too much like crust. Might roll it a bit thinner next time. I also did not like the seeds on the blueberries because of the crunch and getting in my teeth. I hoped they would soften when cooking. None of the dislikes were due to the recipe. I found the egg wash made the pie brown faster and it looked pretty. I also chose to use the whole top crust and cut slices and holes instead of doing it lattice type. Sorry for changing to suit me. The filling was good like you wrote. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Sharon Rigsby
I have found there is a good bit of difference in different brands of pie crusts. I’m sorry you didn’t like the Walmart brand, I haven’t ever tried that one. Please never apologize for changing up a recipe, they are, after all, just guides and it’s fine to change it to suit yours and your family’s taste.
Unfortunately, blackberries do have seeds, and there is no way to strain them out when making a blackberry pie.
All the best,
Sharon
Snafu Guru
I meant to say blackberries I’m sorry I wrote blueberries maybe that will help other people understand why didn’t like the seeds. Thanks for clarifying for me
Suzan
I’ve used this recipes several times. We grow our own blackberries. Everyone loves this one!
I have it in the ove right now.. My husband even Has to have seeds in the blackberry jam I make.