This simple blueberry crumb pie is made with a refrigerated crust. It will move pie from an occasional treat to an everyday family favorite dessert. Top with an easy crispy crumble topping to finish your simplified masterpiece. I love cheating.
Introduction and My Rating
It is the blueberry season here in Michigan and that calls for a blueberry recipe. Many states produce blueberries, and I suspect theirs are fine, I will just say "shop local". OK, no snarky comments on this, please.
We all want great desserts, and a pie should obviously be out of this world. Now let's get back to reality. Really good and tasty is the goal for us everyday cooks. We want really good results with not too much work. A good reward to effort ratio, so to speak.
How many of us will routinely make a pie crust? Yes, I have, but the effort takes it out of the "everyday" range. So it is either no pie or cheating a little. You know what I chose.
My Rating:
A nice solid 4. A very nice slice of pie.
🥧The Crust
To me, the hardest part of pie making is making the crust. You know, mixing, cutting in the butter/shortening then cooling and finally rolling it out. It takes a chunk out of my day. I'm sweating just thinking about it.
I choose to cheat. Well, I buy a crust which works of me and will move pie from a very special treat to everyday cooking. I love modern conveniences.
I generally prefer the refrigerated crusts, but the frozen ones can work. Just follow the instructions. Do not bake the crust first, just make up the pie with the raw crust.
Or you can make your crust, but I'm not covering that discussion.
The Blueberries
I prefer fresh berries if you have them. Just clean and dry. Be sure to pick through for stems or bad berries.
Frozen berries are fine here. If you are using them, a tablespoon more of flour for thickening may be a good idea since they release more liquid. Also, cooking about 10 minutes longer.
📖Pie Recipes
🖼️Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack for any pie spillage.
Following the package instructions, spread a refrigerator pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan and crimp edge.
Prepare the topping. Microwave 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter for a few seconds until a little soft. Add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well until crumbly.
Combine 4 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh) with 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir to coat berries well. If your berries are frozen, add an extra tablespoon of flour to compensate for the extra fluid release.
Add the blueberries to the prepared crust. If there is some of the sugar mixture that did not stick to the blueberries, then spread that over the top of the berries.
Add the crumb topping. Place on middle rack in the preheated oven. About 20 minutes into the baking, you should protect the edge of the crust with foil or one of those fancy pie rings. Bake for 40-50 minutes until nicely brown. About 10 minutes longer if berries are frozen.
Cool completely before serving. At least 2 hours.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Blueberry Crumb Pie
Ingredients
- 1 refrigerator pie crust
Filling
- 4 cups blueberries - Frozen or fresh
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour - Add 1 tablespoon more if frozen berries
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Topping
- 1/2 cups salted butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack for any pie spillage.
- Following the package instructions, spread a refrigerator pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan and crimp edge.
- Prepare the topping. Microwave 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter for a few seconds until a little soft. Add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well until crumbly.
- Combine 4 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh) with 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir to coat berries well. If your berries are frozen, add an extra tablespoon of flour to compensate for the extra fluid release.
- Add the blueberries to the prepared crust. If there is some of the sugar mixture that did not stick to the blueberries, then spread that over the top of the berries.
- Add the crumb topping. Place on middle rack in the preheated oven.
- About 20 minutes into the baking, you should protect the edge of the crust with foil or one of those fancy pie rings. Bake for 40-50 minutes until nicely brown. About 10 minutes longer if berries are frozen.
- Cool completely before serving. At least 2 hours.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This is written for a 9-inch pie pan.
- I don’t thaw frozen berries before using but remember to add the extra flour and to bake longer.
- I cheat and use softer butter for the topping. Officially, you should cut in cold butter but the soft works fine for me, just be sure to break it up when covering the pie. I continue my lazy ways.
- Do not skip protecting to edge of the pie with foil or you will have poor results.
- Do the full 2-hour cooling before cutting. Restrain yourself.
- Good sealed and refrigerated for 2-3 days and can be frozen for 3-4 months.
Nutrition
Publisher's Note: Originally Published July 12, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Kathy Franklin
I love your site. Love they way you give the instructions and all the pictures...even the ingredients...and the dogs!❤️
Kathy Franklin
Easy Blueberry Crumb Pie was EASY and so delicious! Made it just as directed. Wondering if I did something wrong? The topping was kind of hard, not crumbly. Still tasted good. We don’t usually “do” dessert, but this was a winner! Made it for company and it’s a KEEPER.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Kathy,
Welcome to the blog.
Probably too soft on the butter in the topping. So it is a bit on me. I changed the wording to help. I just want the butter a little soft to help you mix the topping. Melted and it will be as you described. And my wording didn't help.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan