What is your favorite kind of summer pie?
Mine used to be blackberry. I love how the tiny drupelets each contribute their juice and pectin, making the pie set up thickly, almost like jam.
Before I created this healthy blueberry pie recipe, I had that set texture happen only once with blueberry pie (without added thickeners).
We were in South Carolina. The growing conditions must have been perfect for pectin in the blueberry skins that year.
The morning after we picked the juicy blueberries and made the pie, we ate the pie for breakfast — which is my favorite time of day to appreciate pie!
The filling was completely set and so incredibly satisfying. We picked up our slices, no forks, and ate them out of hand.
I devised the following recipe with that goal in mind: not too many blueberries rolling out of their setting, with a fresh jam taste and texture!
This recipe uses a small amount of instant tapioca, which is actually how I make my blackberry pie too.
I learned how to make pie from my husband’s aunt, Auntie Jan. All the credit goes to her!
She kindly taught me how to make her perfect pie crust and blackberry filling shortly before I was married. I still use her guidelines and ratios 23 years later.
And I think you’ll adopt them too, because they’re classic perfection — what we all want from a great berry pie.
And yes, you can certainly use this pie recipe as a framework and use other berries.
Blueberries
Fresh blueberries epitomize our family summers.
We go picking every July, eating cups and cups of berries. We freeze a bunch for later.
And when we run out, we still eat blueberries year round, organic, from the freezer section of Trader Joe’s.
This pie works beautifully with fresh or frozen blueberries.
What about you? Do you love blueberry picking and eating too?
Do you make jam or pie with your blueberries?
I’ve started a new tradition of making blueberry pie each year! We love it so much, I expect the tradition to continue.
Options For A Gluten-Free Or Paleo Blueberry Pie Crust
The pie crust recipe below uses all-purpose einkorn flour and only 3 other ingredients! A great, flaky crust results.
You can also use all-purpose white flour.
And certainly, you can tweak this healthy blueberry pie to be gluten-free or grain-free:
Whether you’re making a crust with all-purpose flour, einkorn, gluten-free or grain-free flours, you might be wondering: How to make a lattice crust? Here’s a great tutorial!
If you’re considering an egg wash for your blueberry pie crust, this article shows the different effects of egg whites, egg yolks and whole eggs on pastry dough. The article also provides an egg wash recipe.
Blueberry Pie
The perfect homemade berry pie... The filling must hold together almost like jam, and the crust must be flaky! This deep dish, healthy blueberry pie ticks those boxes and more, because there are gluten-free and Paleo pie crust options as well. Super easy, with an einkorn crust that calls for only 4 ingredients, use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe so you can enjoy the best of summer desserts... all year round!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour preferably sprouted, or organic all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups grass-fed butter cut into 1 tablespoon pieces
- 3/4 cup pure water chilled until ice-cold
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Filling
- 36 ounces blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1/3 cup pure water
- 1/3-1/2 cup coconut sugar or cane sugar, according to preference
- 3 tablespoons instant tapioca preferably organic
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter chilled until cold and cut into smaller pieces
- 1 teaspoon sustainably-sourced gelatin (certified glyphosate-free)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract omit for Low Vitamin A
- 2 pinches sea salt
- sprinkle powdered stevia extract optional, if you want your pie a bit sweeter; omit for Low Vitamin A
Instructions
Pie Crust Instructions
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Place flour in large bowl or bowl of food processor.
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Add sea salt and mix.
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Add butter.
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Cut butter into flour until largest pieces are pea-size.
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Add ice-cold water and stir until all or most of the dry flour is incorporated and the mixture is beginning to hold together.
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Proceed with Assembly Instructions. Unless you have a hot kitchen, if you're going to roll out your dough immediately, you do NOT need to chill your dough.
Assembly Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Place blueberries in large bowl.
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Add remaining filling ingredients (except butter) and stir well. Set aside.
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Separate pastry dough into two equally sized flat disks. Each disk should be about 6" in diameter.
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Roll out one (use a little extra flour as needed) and line pie plate.
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Fill pastry with blueberry mixture.
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Top with cold butter pieces.
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Roll out remaining pastry and top pie.
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Fold top crust edges over and under bottom crust edges. Squeeze together and crimp edges. Cut a few steam vents with the tip of a knife.
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Place cookie sheet on lower oven rack in hot oven to catch pie drips.
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Place pie dish on middle oven rack above cookie sheet.
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Bake 1 hour.
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Pie is best served fully cooled so blueberries thicken and set up for slicing.
Recipe Notes
If you'd like, serve pie with vanilla ice cream, or this Lavender Ice Cream (with or without the swirl) for an herbal, gourmet, extra-special summer dessert.
Once vanilla extract and stevia are omitted, this pie is compliant with the Low Vitamin A diet if enjoyed in moderation. Neither grains, sugar, nor butter should be consumed in large quantities when following this special diet.
How long does pie stay fresh?
Leftover pie can be stored at room temperature for two to three days. If refrigerated, pie lasts well for about five days.
Cover pie loosely with reusable beeswax wrap or DIY Reusable Beeswax Wraps.
What is your favorite pie recipe? Have you attempted Gluten-Free or Paleo Blueberry Pie? Let us know how you like this one in the comments below!
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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I would love to try this. Blueberry pie is my husband’s favourite. I don’t have instant tapioca but I do have tapioca flour. Will that work?
Hi Christine, I haven’t tried tapioca flour, so I can’t say. Instant tapioca is available at every market, so I’d make a quick trip for it! 😉 This is a classic pie ingredient, so I don’t think anything will be as good. 🙂
Could I sub tapioca starch for the tapioca? If so, same amount? Thanks
Hi Wendi, I’d stick with the original instant tapioca pearls and not make the sub. You can find this ingredient at any market. Thanks for the question! 🙂
This sounds great and it’s my husband’s favourite dessert. Do you think regular tapioca flour would work? I don’t have the instant tapioca.
Hi Christine, I recommend the instant tapioca pearls, not flour. If you try flour, let us know. But the original recipe is so good, and it’s an easy ingredient to find.
Thanks Megan. I will put it on my grocery list.
Great Christine!! I’m so glad! 🙂
Hello Megan,
Really seriously like your recipes alot, but wondering what size of pie plate do I need? Started making this now and wonder if all the blueberries will fit into a nine inch pie plate and without making a huge mess? thank you much in advance, Selma
Hi Selma, thanks! Yes, they’ll fit, but they will be heaping. There is plenty of pie crust to cover them, and they cook down. Just be sure to place that cookie sheet under the pie to catch any drips. I do use a 9″ pie plate.
Thank you Megan! Have a beautiful day!
Selma
You too, Selma! Thank you! 🙂
What size pie pan did you use?
Thanks
I tried this today. The crust was so buttery it melted all over the oven. Is 1 1/2 cups butter correct? Or should it be 1 1/2 sticks?
Hi Leslie, I’m sorry for your mess! This is why the recipe says to put a cookie sheet under the pie on the rack under the pie rack, to catch any drips. Each stick of butter is 1/2 a cup. So 1-1/2 cups of butter is the same as 3 sticks. Yes, the butter ratio is correct. I hope you still loved the pie!
Thanks for the reply! We loved the taste and flakiness of the crust! And I did remember the baking sheet, so no mess! I’m still worried I used the wrong amount of butter though. I used 3 sticks because 1 stick is 1/2 cup so 3 sticks would be 1 1/2 cups, right? Well, whatever it is the pie was DeeLish!!! And I would probably do it the same next time. ???
Yes, Leslie, you did it right! 1-1/2 cups of butter = 3 sticks of butter. I know it seems like a lot, but that’s correct! 🙂 So happy you used the baking sheet and loved the taste and flakiness of crust and would do the same next time!! 🙂