How Do I Thicken Blueberries to Make Pie Filling?

By: Dan Ketchum

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Few dishes evoke as much nostalgia and as many warm feelings as fresh-baked pies. A perennial comfort food, the blueberry pie is undoubtedly a classic, but it also gives you perfect opportunity to experiment with your own signature fillings and crusts. Of course, blueberries alone don't fill a pie -- to achieve a delectably thick consistency, you have to accent your berries with additional ingredients. Feel free to tweak the filling until you find a taste and texture you're proud to call your own.

Step 1

Mix sugar, all-purpose flour and cinnamon in a bowl. In addition to sweetening and flavoring the tart berries, these ingredients -- especially the flour and sugar -- are essential for thickening up your pie's filling. For an average-sized pie, you'll need about 3/4 cups of sugar, a half cup flour and cinnamon to taste. Try brown or raw sugar for a richer taste and thicker consistency. Stir these ingredients together with a spoon before adding the berries.

Step 2

Fold the fresh blueberries into the sugar, flour and cinnamon mix and whisk the ingredients together until they take on a firm, jam-like consistency. Whisk in a few tablespoons of lemon juice or lemon zest and butter or margarine for additional flavor.

Step 3

substitute cornstarch for flour in your mix to add a thicker, more jelly-like consistency to the filling. You can replace 1/2 cup of flour with a few tablespoons of cornstarch. Cornstarch also offsets sweet berries, so taste your filling as you mix the berries in. The more cornstarch you use, the firmer your filling.

Step 4

Allow your pie to cool completely before serving. This gives the filling a chance to set and firm up. If you want a firm filling with a warm pie, save some blueberry syrup from your filling mix and heat it on the stove top, then drizzle it over the top of the pie.