This huckleberry pie is a double crust pie filled with 5 cups of fresh or frozen huckleberries, 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, lemon, a little cinnamon and vanilla. It bakes at 400°F for 20 minutes, then at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, and gives you 8 slices.
Plan on about 2½ hours of work, dough chilling and baking, then 3 to 4 hours of cooling. That cooling time is not optional. It is what turns hot purple juice into a filling that holds a clean edge.
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Huckleberries look like small, dark blueberries, but they taste wilder: more tart, a little winey, with tiny seeds that give a faint crunch. Most of them are picked wild in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, which is why you usually find them frozen.
Baked into a pie, they turn a deep wine color and keep more of their shape than blueberries do. The flavor is sharper and less sugary than a blueberry pie, so the cinnamon and vanilla here stay in the background. Red huckleberries work too. Their pie comes out brighter red and even more tart.
How Many Huckleberries for One Pie
You need 5 cups, which is about 1½ pounds of berries, for a 9 inch pie plate with a top crust. Less than that and the top crust sinks into a gap as the berries cook down.
Everything else is pantry stuff. Flour, butter and salt for the crust, an egg yolk for the top.
Fresh or Frozen Huckleberries
Both work. Pick over fresh berries for stems and leaves, rinse them and let them dry on a towel, since water on the berries thins the filling.
Use frozen huckleberries straight from the freezer. Do not thaw them. Thawed berries leave a puddle of juice in the bowl, and that juice ends up in the bottom crust. Frozen fillings take longer to come to a boil, so expect the 350°F stage to run the full 40 minutes, sometimes a few minutes more. Go by the bubbles, not the clock. Foil the edges if they brown first.
Mixing the Filling and Letting It Rest
Stir the berries gently with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla until every berry is coated. Then walk away for 15 minutes. The sugar pulls juice out of the berries, and the cornstarch dissolves into it instead of sitting in dry pockets.
Cornstarch gives a clear, glossy filling with a clean berry flavor, and this recipe needs no tapioca. If you like a cooked, spoonable filling for other bakes, the stovetop method in my apple pie filling works on the same principle.
An All Butter Crust That Stays Crisp Underneath
Whisk the flour and salt, then cut in the cold butter until it looks like coarse crumbs with some pieces the size of peas still showing. Those pieces steam in the oven and make the flaky layers. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time and stop as soon as the dough holds together when squeezed. Shape two discs. Chill them for at least 1 hour.
Roll one disc into a 12 inch circle, fit it into a 9 inch pie plate and trim it to a ½ inch overhang. My pie crust recipe walks through rolling and crimping in more detail.
Lattice or Full Top Crust
Pour in the filling and dot it with the butter cubes. For a lattice, cut the second disc into even strips and weave them over the top; for a full crust, lay it over whole and cut a few vents in the center so the steam has somewhere to go.
Either one works. A lattice lets more steam escape, so the filling thickens a little faster, and you can see the bubbling, which makes the doneness check easier. Trim, crimp, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar for a crunchy top.
Two Oven Temperatures and the Bubble Test
Set the pie on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake it in the lower third of the oven at 400°F for 20 minutes. That hot start sets the bottom crust before the juice can soak in. Lower the heat to 350°F and bake 35 to 40 minutes more.
The pie is done when the crust is deep golden and the juice bubbles thick and slow in the center, not just at the edges. Cornstarch only thickens once the juice boils. Take the pie out at the first thin bubbles around the rim and the filling will run when you cut it. If the edges darken early, cover them with a ring of foil.
Cool it on a wire rack for 3 to 4 hours. For an evening dessert, bake it in the morning.
Apple, Strawberry and Blueberry Swaps
- Apple huckleberry pie: use 3 cups huckleberries and 2 cups peeled tart apple sliced about ⅛ inch thick. Thin slices soften in the same bake time as the berries.
- Strawberry huckleberry pie: use 3 cups huckleberries and 2 cups quartered strawberries. Strawberries are juicier, so add 1 extra tablespoon of cornstarch. For an all strawberry pie, my homemade strawberry pie is a better fit.
- Huckleberry and blueberry: any mix works. More blueberries make a sweeter, milder pie. Rhubarb fans can borrow the idea from my strawberry rhubarb pie.
Serving, Storing and Freezing
Serve it at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or a spoon of whipped cream. Leftovers keep loosely covered on the counter for 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Use foil, not plastic. Plastic softens the crust. Warm slices in a low oven. A microwave makes the crust chewy.
To freeze, cool the baked pie completely, wrap it tightly in foil and put it in a freezer bag. Reheat it straight from frozen at 325°F until warm in the middle. If you have berries left over, a raspberry pie or a cherry pie uses the same crust and the same lattice.
Huckleberry Pie Questions From Readers
Can I make huckleberry pie with frozen berries?
Yes. Use the same 5 cups straight from the freezer without thawing, and bake until the center bubbles thickly, which can take a few minutes longer than with fresh berries.
Why is my huckleberry pie runny?
It was either pulled from the oven before the juice in the center boiled, or it was cut while still warm. Bake until thick bubbles show through the lattice and cool it for 3 to 4 hours.
Huckleberry Pie Recipe
This huckleberry pie recipe is an old fashioned double crust fruit pie made with fresh or frozen huckleberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla in an all butter crust. It makes one 9 inch pie, 8 slices, from 5 cups of berries, with a deep purple, jammy filling and a flaky lattice or full top crust. The pie starts at 400°F to set the bottom crust, then finishes at 350°F until the juice bubbles thickly in the center, which is the sign the cornstarch has thickened the huckleberry pie filling. Serve it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or mix in apples or strawberries. Use frozen berries without thawing, cool it 3 to 4 hours before slicing, and wrap and freeze the baked pie for later.
Ingredients
- FOR THE PIE CRUST (DOUBLE CRUST):
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 6–8 tbsp ice water
- FOR THE HUCKLEBERRY FILLING:
- 5 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
- FOR ASSEMBLY:
- 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk (for egg wash)
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- MAKE THE PIE DOUGH: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water gradually, one tablespoon at a time, stirring just until the dough comes together without being sticky. Divide the dough in half, shape into discs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- PREPARE THE FILLING: In a large bowl, gently combine the huckleberries with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Stir until evenly coated and let the mixture sit for 15 minutes to allow the juices to release and the cornstarch to hydrate.
- ROLL OUT AND ASSEMBLE: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of chilled dough into a 12-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges to a ½-inch overhang. Pour the prepared huckleberry filling into the crust and dot with the butter cubes. Roll out the second disc of dough and cut into strips for a lattice top or use it whole, venting the center. Lay the lattice strips or full crust over the filling, trim and crimp the edges, then brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar if using.
- BAKE: Place the assembled pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and continue baking for 35–40 minutes more, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling visibly. If the edges brown too quickly, cover them with foil. Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack—at least 3 to 4 hours—before slicing to allow the filling to fully set.
Notes
If using frozen huckleberries, do not thaw them before mixing, and expect the 350°F stage to run the full 40 minutes or a little longer. The pie is done when thick, slow bubbles show in the center, not only at the edges. Bake on the parchment lined sheet in the lower third of the oven so the bottom crust browns. Cool at least 3 to 4 hours before slicing so the filling sets. Keep leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4 days. To freeze, wrap the cooled baked pie tightly and reheat from frozen at 325°F. The cinnamon is optional.
I love the tip allowing the filling it to sit for 15 minutes… huckleberry notoriously runny… this really made a difference. Thank you!
I’m glad that tip helped, Deborah. Huckleberries can be a little tricky with how much juice they release, and letting the filling sit really does give the cornstarch time to do its job. I’ve had pies turn soupy before skipping that step, so I started making it a habit. Happy to hear it worked well for you 💜