Blackberry Pie Recipe
When it comes to seasonal summer desserts, nothing is quite like homemade blackberry pie. With its flaky crust and juicy berry filling, this classic treat is perfect for highlighting sweet and juicy blackberries. Whether you’re using fresh-picked wild blackberries or store-bought ingredients, this recipe will be your new summer classic.
I first made this recipe while visiting family in Seattle. We braved the thorny bushes to pick buckets full of blackberries from a little road down the street from my sister-in-law. Our hands were stained but we had tons of berries to bake with and a classic pie was just the thing. Sometimes when making pies with fresh berries the filling ends up runny, and avoiding that was my main goal with this recipe. We used instant tapioca to absorb the jucies and leave us with a perfectly set slice of pie. I hope this recipe becomes your new favorite too!
Homemade Blackberry Pie Recipe:
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- Crust:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Cold unsalted butter, cubed
- Ice water
- Blackberry Filling:
- Fresh blackberries
- Granulated sugar
- Instant tapioca
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- Water
Supplies needed:
- Pie plate
- Rolling Pin
- Mixing Bowl
- Food processor for crust (optional)
Instructions:
-
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Gradually add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix until the dough begins to come together. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You can also do this whole process in a food processor. I break it down in this post.)
- In a large bowl, combine the blackberries, sugar, instant tapioca, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Let the mixture sit for 15-20 minutes to allow the tapioca to absorb excess juices
- Preheat your oven. Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack to catch any drips during baking.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough into a 13-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan, pressing it gently into the bottom and up the sides. Brush with egg wash.
- Pour the blackberry filling into the prepared pie crust, spreading it evenly.
- Roll out the second crust and place it on top of the filling. You can do a classic double crust, or cut the dough into strips for a lattice top. Trim any excess dough and crimp the edges to seal. If doing a double crust, cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
- Optionally, brush the top crust with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water) for a golden brown finish
- Place the pie into the preheated oven and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack before serving. Serve slices of blackberry pie warm, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.
Tips for Success:
- Choosing Berries: Use fresh, juicy blackberries for the best flavor and texture.
- Handling Dough: Keep the pie dough and assembled pie cold to ensure a flaky crust.
- Thickening Agent: Instant tapioca helps absorb excess liquid from the berries, preventing a runny pie. I don’t suggest subbing cornstarch or flour.
- Storage: Store leftover blackberry pie in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Pie Crust: I always use my standard homemade pie crust recipe, but if you prefer to use store-bought crusts that’s fine too.
With a golden brown crust and a juicy blackberry filling I feel confidant this recipe is about to become your new favorite. Enjoy it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and check out my other favorite fruit pies and berry desserts: Blueberry Pie, Blackberry Cobbler, and Strawberry Balsamic Pie.
Perfect Blackberry Pie
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Pie Crust
- 6 cups blackberries
- 6 tablespoons instant tapioca
- 1/2-1 cup of sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Roll out one of the pie crust rounds so that about 2 inches will hang over the edge of your pie dish. Transfer it to the pie dish and then set it in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the top and filling.
- In a large bowl- combine the berries, tapioca, sugar, juice, zest and extract. Gently toss to combine.
- Brush the bottom of the crust with the beaten egg and pour the filling into the prepared crust and roll out the top layer, either doing a double crust or a lattice if you like. Brush the top of the crust with the remaining egg and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 425 F and then reduce the oven to 375 F and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden. If at any point your crust seems to be getting golden too quickly- cover it with foil while the filling continues to bake.
- Cool for at least an hour or two before cutting and serving with vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
I’m happy lo learn that instant tapioca helps avoiding the watery mess which is always present in my pies – and which I hate! Plus, blackberry pie has to be my favorite of all! Yours look like perfection in pie form ;)
xo, Elisa
This definitely looks like the perfect pie. I need more blackberries in my life!
It looks so perfect! And delicious! :)
I’ll have to get some instant tapioca. Your pie looks delicious. Who could resist putting blackberries in a pie?
That is seriously seriously sooo stunning. I have no words right now wow!
This was the best blackberry pie I’ve had yet! Been making blackberry pies every summer since moving to the North West but the instant tapioca made all the difference. It was also way more fun picking berries with you Audra!
Julie I LOVED baking with you :) Thanks for taking me blackberry picking- the fresh berries made all the difference!
Such a gorgeous pie!! You’ve got me wanting to make a lattice pie now.
Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits! This pie looks wonderful and like a perfect celebration of summer.
What a beautiful pie!! I love blackberries but I don’t think I’ve had a blackberry pie before.
Woah! This really does look so juicy! I bet several mouths were stained purple after eating this :P Great looking pie!
What a gorgeous pie, Audra! I’m not big into blackberries as is, but I love them baked into other things. I’ve never made a blackberry pie though, I need to change that :)
Oh blackberries! I don’t like pie too much but blackberries will get me every time. This looks so amazing! Perfect way to end the fruit season.
Talk about perfect!! Honestly, that’s the most perfect looking pie I’ve ever seen. Lovely! And it sounds so fresh and tasty too. Yum!
This pie is exactly what summer is all about!!! And I cannot believe it is you last fruit recipe of the summer! SO sad.
What a gorgeous pie! Perfect use for all the blackberries that are in season!
Audra, this pie is so summery, beautiful and perfect! Love how it’s just bursting with berries. Great photos, too!
This recipe showed up on page 2 or 3 on google search, so I’m glad I sifted through the search results to find it. The best and most practical of all the recipes I went through. It was delicious.
Hubby and I just picked a whole lotta blackberries today, and this looks fantastic — I’m keen to use the tapioca to sop up the juiciness that blackberries are particularly prone to giving off during baking. Thanks so much!
Just made this tonight…fantastic! Thanks for the recipe :)
Is Instant tapioca the pearls or the ground tapioca flour? I’m making this today! Yay!
Hi Karen! You want instant tapioca which is the pearls ground up. If you can’t find it you can actually grind up the whole pearls a bit in a food processor!
I had no idea what minute tapioca was! Thank you. It made more sense when I opened the box:) and how that would work. I just moved and haven’t cooked a hot meal for my family all week. We took a break from unpacking yesterday and picked blackberries. So this pie christened my new home and the kitchen. It’s cooling right now! Breakfast will be so special tomorrow. Thank you!
Can you use frozen berries? Should you thaw and drain them first or leave them from. Will I use the same amount of ingredients and baking time?
Yes you can- no changes and you don’t need to thaw them!
I thought for sure I’d somehow mess it up and it would be runny filling, but nope!! Absolutely perfect! I’m so happy to have stumbled upon your recipe, thank you! I’m a huge fan of lavender and added a tsp of fresh lavender buds to the recipe. Everyone raves how good it was?