Deep Dish Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie is, quite literally, my jam. I freakin’ love it. And this Blueberry Pie Recipe is my absolute favorite. In fact, I dare say it is the best Blueberry Pie recipe!

I am not going to go into How to Make a Pie Dough or How to Make a Lattice Top in this post. Click on the hyperlink to those words to be brought to those specific posts. Let’s use this space to discuss the filling for this Blueberry Pie.

Admittedly, I have made zillions of blueberry pie recipes out there in search for, what is, in my opinion, the perfect Blueberry Pie recipe. The recipe that came closest to my concept was in 2017 when Bon Appetit published BA’s Best Blueberry Pie. Many recipes, like Bon Appetit’s, incorporate lemon (juice and/or zest) into their recipes. I do love a blueberry/lemon combination. In fact, one of my most popular recipes so far is my Blueberry Lemon Crumb Babka, and I’ve recently published recipes for Blemon Halfsies (black and white cookies but lemon and blueberry instead), Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Bread, and Lemon Blueberry Ice Cream. But, there’s a time and a place. I believe that blueberry pie should not include lemon. There. I said it. And I am saying that knowing that lemon adds more than just flavor to a fruit pie — lemon has pectin, which helps thicken the baked fruit mixture. The same thickening can be accomplished though by adding a touch more cornstarch.

Obviously, I will eat a blueberry pie with lemon and usually enjoy it. For me, I love my blueberry pie filling with a hint of cloves and touch of cinnamon. Listen, it’s just how I feel.

So, I adapted the filling from Bon Appetit’s recipe to satisfy my ideal for blueberry pie filling. It’s also quite easy to make.

How to Make Deep Dish Blueberry Pie

Make the Pie Dough

My Pie Dough post goes into great detail on how to make a delicious, flaky Pie Dough. I even include a video there. If you want to add any flavor into the dough, I recommend some vanilla seeds, which I show in my Pie Dough post. Once you have lined your pie dish with the Pie Dough, pop it in the refrigerator while you make the blueberry filling.

Make the Blueberry Filling

Rinse the blueberries and allow them to drain well. You can even pat them dry a bit with a paper towel. (I use paper because blueberries can easily stain reusable kitchen towels.) You want them to drain well to avoid adding extra water into the filling. Pour the blueberries into a large bowl.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour them over the blueberries, and mix to fully combine. Boom. You have your blueberry filling!

Two notes here:

1. If your blueberries are super sweet, you many want to slightly decrease the sugar. If your blueberries are not very sweet, you may want to add a drop more sugar. Taste your blueberries before you mix them with the dry ingredients!
2. Yes, you can use frozen blueberries. Do not defrost them. Mix them with the dry ingredients as best you can while they are frozen. You may want to add an additional Tablespoon of cornstarch to offset the additional moisture from the frozen berries.

Top the Pie

You can top the pie however you wish. Roll the dough out and place it over the pie. Trim the edges so there is an overhang of approximately 1/2 an inch over the side. Then tuck that overhang behind the bottom crust against the pie plate. Then you can crimp. If the dough gets warm and difficult to work with, just pop the pie in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so the dough firms up a bit. Just make sure to use a paring knife to make some slits in the top dough. You want steam to be able to pass through the top crust so that the crust does not puff up and the pie does not retain moisture. For more information on using the entire top dough to cover a pie, check out my Cherry Pie post.

You can also make a Lattice Top. To do that, check out my post How to Make a Lattice Top, where I also include a video.

If you are more artistic, you can also use pieces of rolled out dough to make cut outs to place on top of the pie. Be as creative as you want!

Bake the Blueberry Pie

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place it in the oven, and preheat the oven to 400° F. While the oven is preheating, place the entire pie in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. It is best to bake the pie when it is as cold as possible.

Once the oven is heated and the pie is very cold, egg wash the top of the pie. The egg wash is simply an egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Adding the water helps slow down the browning time of the egg as it bakes. You can use milk or cream in place of water, but I find that doing so actually increases the browning on top because the sugars in the milk and cream add to browning. After you egg wash the top, sprinkle some coarse or granulated sugar on top, and then place it on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake it for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat  to 375° F.

Because this is a Deep Dish Blueberry Pie, it will likely need to bake for an additional hour and a half or so. Start checking it at the one hour mark, rotating it in the oven. If the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover the browned part with foil.

The blueberry pie is done when the top is nicely browned and the blueberries are bubbling up throughout the pie.

When to Cut the Blueberry Pie

Do NOT cut the Blueberry Pie until it has fully cooled. The filling will continue to thicken as it cools. If you cut the pie while it is still warm, the filling will slide out and be messy.

To cut as clean a slice as possible, use a serrated (bread) knife to press into the pie where you intend to cut. Do not saw like you would a loaf of bread. Then use a paring knife to cut along the impression you left from the serated knife. Make sure to cut all the way through the bottom crust. Slide a pie server under the bottom crust and lift.

Deep Dish Blueberry Pie pairs beautifully with Vanilla Ice Cream.and/or Cinnamon Stick Ice Cream…  Just sayin’. 

Print Pin

Deep Dish Blueberry Pie

5 from 6 votes

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

refrigeration time 1 hour hour

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 16 slices

Calories 117

The best Deep Dish Blueberry Pie is made with an all butter crust and a blueberry filling enhanced with a pinch of cloves and a touch of cinnamon.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• 9-inch deep dish pie plate

Ingredients

• Pie Dough
• 4 pints fresh blueberries (8 cups)
• 38 grams cornstarch (¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon)
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅕ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
• 150 grams sugar (¾ cup)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions 

• Dough. Prepare the Pie Dough as directed.
• Roll the larger half of the dough out so that it is a circle (or circle-ish), approximately 12 inches in diameter. The dough should be rolled out enough to go up the sides of the pie plate with at least an inch overhanging. (If the dough cracks when you first start rolling, let it sit on the counter for a couple minutes. It just means the dough is too cold.)
• To transport the pie dough into the pie plate, gently fold the dough in half, and again into quarters, being careful not to press down. Lift the dough up and place the pointed corner into the center of the pie plate. Unfold the dough. (Alternatively, roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie plate.) Press the dough into the pie plate to make sure there are no air pockets between the dough and the pie plate. If the dough overhangs by more than a couple of inches, use scissors to trim it. Use the trimmings to fill in any shorter spots. Place the pie plate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Blueberry Filling. Rinse the blueberries and allow them to drain well, patting them dry with a paper towel. Pour them into a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and sugar. Pour the dry ingredients over the blueberries and toss.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place in oven. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
• Remove the remaining pie dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a 12 inch diameter circle. Remove the pie dish from the refrigerator and fill it with the blueberry filling. Place the rolled out top dough over the pie, tucking the overhang between the bottom pie dough and the pie dish. There should be approximately ½ an inch of dough above the pie plate. Use a fork to press down a decorative pattern or crimp the dough using the index finger of your non-dominant hand to push into the dough between the index finger and thumb of your dominant hand. (Alternatively, you can make a Lattice Top once the dough is rolled out to a 12 inch diameter circle.) Place the pie in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Prepare egg wash by mixing together an egg with 1 tsp. of water. Once the dough is cold, you can "clean up" any crimping. Use a paring knife to make decorative cuts into the top pie dough (unless you made a Lattice Top). Using a pastry brush, apply a thin layer of egg wash. Sprinkle coarse or granulated sugar on top. Remove baking sheet from oven and place pie plate on it. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, reduce heat to 375° F and continue to bake for 75-90 minutes, checking the pie after 60 minutes. Rotate the pie in the oven. If the top is browning too much on top, cover that part loosely with foil. The pie is done when the top is nicely browned and the fruit is bubbling up throughout the pie. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Notes

• For best results, make sure the dough is always cold prior to putting the pie into the oven. If the dough gets too warm at any point, stop and put it back into the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. 
• It is best to put the pie in the oven when it is cold. Once fully shaped and before applying the egg wash, place it in the freezer for 15 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 
• Do not cut the pie until it has completely cooled to at least room temperature. 
• Store the pie in an airtight container or with plastic wrap. It should keep for several days at room temperature, but we enjoy this pie cold, so I keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator where it is good for up to one week. 

Author: Rob Finkelstein

Calories: 117kcal

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: deep dish, pie

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 42mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg