This homemade Blackberry Pie with a Lattice Crust is made with simple, fresh ingredients. The best blackberry pie is loaded with fresh blackberries, fresh lemon, and sugar, and it’s all baked in a perfect flaky lattice pie crust. My current favorite summer pie!
When I worked at a summer camp in college, blackberry bushes lined a portion of the river near the camp. I’m not 100% sure who these blackberry bushes belonged to—whether it was the camp or a resident who lived on the outskirts of the camp, but on our breaks we’d often pick the berries and throw them in some vanilla ice cream.
Technically, we used to turn them into milkshakes but after semi-killing two milkshake machines with our over abundance of berries, we settled for spoons and ice cream (and thanked our lucky stars they didn’t pull anything from our paychecks 😅).
I’ve always loved the flavor of sweet blackberries (because they can be very, very tart as well), and those homegrown ones were some of the best I have ever had. If I didn’t kill everything I tried to grow, I’d have myself a nice blackberry bush on every corner. Every corner. The love runs deep.
This fresh blackberry pie is full of sweet berries, a little lemon, and a bit of sugar. It’s perfect when served plain, but it’s pretty out-of-this-world with a scoop of ice cream on top. (It might just be the memories talking, but I’m pretty sure I’m right. 😉)
Why This Is The Best Blackberry Pie Recipe:
- Perfect Pie Crust: A lot of people tend to think the crust of a pie is an afterthought (but you’d be wrong), and that it’s all about the filling. Of course, you have to have good pie filling, BUT, you can’t skimp on the crust portion. A pie crust can make or break a pie, and I am a huge pie crust snob. This is the perfect pie dough—it’s so flavorful, it’s flaky, and it’s ridiculously easy to make.
- Fresh Blackberries: This pie is all about the fresh blackberries. You can certainly use frozen if you don’t have access to fresh blackberries, but I highly suggest using fresh blackberries. We’ll talk about later how to pick perfect, sweet blackberries.
- Simple Ingredients: Blackberries don’t need a whole lot to stand out. This pie recipe uses only a handful of ingredients that enhance the blackberries without overpowering or taking away from their flavor.
Other Fruit Pie Recipes To Try Next:
- Blackberry Crumble
- Blueberry Pie
- Strawberry Rhubarb
- Peach Slab Pie
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars
- Apple Cheddar Pie
Blackberry Pie From Scratch Ingredient List
Butter Pie Crust Ingredients:
- All Purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter: The butter needs to be cold and cubed to create a perfect dough.
- Salt
- Ice Water
Blackberry Pie Filling
- Fresh Blackberries: Down below I give tips on how to pick sweet blackberries!
- Granulated Sugar: Depending upon how sweet your blackberries are, you can use more or less sugar. This recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar. If you’re berries are extra sweet, you can use 3/4 cup instead. Alternatively, if your berries are on the tart side, you can add an additional 1/4-1/3 cup of sugar.
- Cornstarch: This helps thicken the filling, because blackberries are very juicy.
- All Purpose Flour: This is used in addition to cornstarch to thicken the filling.
- Unsalted Butter
- Lemon Juice + Zest: Brightens the overall flavor of the pie. This might seem obvious, but zest your lemons first, then squeeze them to get the juice.
- Egg + Water: This makes the egg wash that gets brushed on the pie before baking, which gives it a golden hue.
How To Make Blackberry Pie From Scratch:
- Crust: Mix flour, salt, and cold butter cubes together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until the pie dough begins to come together (you don’t want it too wet). Split the dough in half and form into two flat discs. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Filling: Mix blackberries and sugar together. Using a fork, mash some of the blackberries just a little bit so they break open a pinch (I mashed about half of the blackberries and left the rest whole). Add in the cornstarch, flour, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Assembly: Roll out one of the pie crusts until it’s about 1/4” thick. Gently place it in your 9” or 10” deep dish pie plate. Cut off any excess overhang (leaving about 1/2” of crust over the sides). Pour the filling inside. Stud the filling with cold and cubed butter. Roll out the remaining crust and cut into long strips. Weave the strips to form a lattice crust. Tuck the ends underneath the bottom crust and crimp the edges of the pie. Brush with egg wash.
- Bake: Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Then reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, or until the juices of the pie are bubbling.
- Cool: Allow the pie to cool at least 3-4 hours before slicing. The filling needs time to cool to thicken. If you slice too soon, your filling will be liquid.
How To Store Your Baked Blackberry Pie:
- A fruit pie can sit at room temperature for up to 2 days, but I prefer to keep my pies in the fridge.
- Whether you plan to store at room temperature or in the fridge, make sure your pie is properly covered and sealed to maximize freshness.
- Additionally, before refrigerating, let the pie cool to room temperature first. This helps the filling to thicken properly.
- I have never tried to freeze this pie so I’m not 100% certain how this specific pie will work. However, if you do try to freeze it, I suggest freezing before you bake the pie. When ready to bake, I suggest thawing it first, then brushing it with the egg wash and baking as directed.
How Do I Know If Blackberries Are Sweet?
- From my experience with blackberries, I have found that the sweetest blackberries are those that are black or a deep purple color and are very plump looking. The berries should look nice and full, be tender to the touch (not hard but not gooey either), and not wrinkled. Of course, it’s not always a guarantee sweet blackberries, but usually these indicators help me pick sweet, juicy blackberries.
To Summarize:
Ripe Blackberries:
- Black or a very dark purple (light purple or red blackberries aren’t ripe yet)
- Plump and full (not wrinkled and not thin)
- Slightly tender to the touch but still firm (if they’re hard, they’re under ripe and if they’re gooey, they’re most likely over ripe)
How Much Sugar Do I Really Need?
This is up to you and your personal preference. My blackberries were very sweet, and I found that 1 cup of sugar was the perfect amount for my taste preference.
However, you can reduce the sugar to 3/4 cups if you are looking for something a bit more tart. Additionally, you can 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup extra sugar if your blackberries are on the tart side (or if you just like a really sweet pie—no judgement from this sweet tooth over here 😅).
How Do I Know When My Blackberry Pie Is Done?
I love baking fruit pies because it’s generally pretty easy to tell when they’re done—when the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling up.
If the crust of your pie is browning before the filling bubbles, you can tent a piece of foil over the top of the pie or use a pie shield to protect the crust.
Once the pie is bubbling, bring the pie out to cool. If you let the pie bake too long, the filling with become gelatinous. While it doesn’t change the flavor of the pie, the texture will feel more like jelly rather than fruit pie.
Do I Have To Make A Lattice Crust?
Nope! I love the rustic look of a lattice crust, but you can cover with a whole crust. Just make sure you slit the top of the crust in a couple of areas to allow the steam to escape while baking (otherwise your pie might explode in the oven and that would be a real bummer).
You can also make a crumb topping for your pie too. I use one for these Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie Bars and one for this Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie.
For specific tips on how to make a lattice crust, I give step-by-step instructions on my Blueberry Pie Recipe.
Final Expert Baking Tips and Tricks For This Best Blackberry Pie
- Mash Blackberries: Mash abour 1/2 of your blackberries just a tiny bit. You don’t want to mash them into a pulp, but you want to mash them just until they break open a bit. Leave the rest whole. This makes for a juicy and textured blackberry pie.
- Cold Pie Dough: Cold pie dough is not only easier to work with, it makes for ultra flaky pie crust. The cold butter creates flaky layers as it bakes; warm butter will just melt in the oven.
- Bubbling: Your pie is done when the filling is bubbling up and the crust is golden brown. If the filling isn’t bubbling, the inside of the pie hasn’t fully cooked yet and the filling won’t be right.
- Pie Shield: If the crust is browning too quickly, use a pie shield to protect the edges of the pie as you wait for the pie to cook. Additionally, you can tent a piece of foil over the top of the pie.
- Frozen Blackberries: You can substitute frozen blackberries for fresh (but I highly recommend fresh), but make sure to thaw and drain before using. Frozen berries have a lot of extra liquid.
- Pie Dish: This pie is for a 9” or 10” deep dish pie plate.
My favorite pie of the season! ❤️
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 8-10 Tbsp ice water
- 7 cups fresh blackberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar*
- 2 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed into 4 squares
- 1 egg + 1 Tbsp water (egg wash)
- In a large bowl, mix all purpose flour and salt together. Using a pastry cutter or a standing mixer (on low), cut the unsalted cubed butter into flour, mixing until it resembles coarse crumbs (the butter pieces should be about pea sized at this stage).
- Add in the ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until the dough just comes together. (I used approx. 9 Tbsp).
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape the dough into 2 balls. Flatten each into the shape of a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and set out your 9” or 10” deep dish pie plate.
- Mix blackberries and granulated sugar together. Using a fork, mash about 1/2 of the berries just until the begin to break apart. Mashing some and leaving others whole gives the filling a nice texture.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, cornstarch, and flour. Gently mix until combined.
- Set aside.
- On a floured surface, roll out 1 pie dough disc into a large circle, about 1/4” thick.
- Loosely wrap the dough around the rolling pin and gently transfer to your pie plate. Gently unwrap the dough from the rolling pin and set the crust in the pie plate.
- Cut off any excess dough, making sure to leave about 1/2” of overhang (this will help you to have enough dough to crimp the edges of your pie).
- Pour half of the blackberry filling into the pie crust. Stud the butter cubes around the pie. Then, pour the rest of the filling on top. Set aside.
- Roll out the remaining pie disc into a large circle, about 1/4” thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, slice the dough into long strips. You will need 10 strips (if you can’t get 10 strips then you’ll need to take the scraps of the dough and re-roll and cut).
- Weave the pie dough strips to make a woven pattern across the pie. I place 5 strips on the pie first, then I weave the remaining 5 pie strips until I have a woven lattice crust.
- Tuck the edges of the pie dough (including the lattice edges) underneath the bottom of the crust. Crimp the edges with a fork or with your knuckle and thumb.
- Beat the egg and water together, then brush the egg wash on top of the pie. This will give the pie a nice golden color.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the blackberry filling is bubbling and the crust is golden. If the crust is browning too quickly, use a pie shield to cover the edges or tent a piece of foil on top.
- Allow the pie to cool about 4 hours before slicing (if you cut into it too soon, the filling will not be thicken and will run everywhere).
*You can use anywhere from 3/4 cup - 1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar depending upon how sweet your berries are, or even just on your personal taste preference.
**Fruit pie can be stored at room temperature for 1-2 days, or stored in the fridge for longer. I prefer to let my pie cool to room temperature and then refrigetate it until I’m ready to serve.
Here are some other recipes to try next:
Shweta says
Omygoodness!! I made this blackberry pie, and it was a hit!! It’s like 1 of my favorites now.
Michelle says
I am so happy you loved it! ❤️