Summer Dessert: Easy Open Face Blueberry Pie
A one-crust blueberry pie, a backyard picnic, and one of those summer evenings worth remembering.
There is something about blueberry pie that makes summer feel official.
Not a complicated pie. Not a fussy one. Just a simple, open-face blueberry pie made with one crust, fresh berries, and a glossy filling that tastes like July.
It’s rustic and beautiful in that effortless summer way — the kind of dessert that belongs on a picnic table, under a tree, or at the end of a long, golden evening.
What makes this pie different than traditional blueberry pie?
There’s no top crust to roll, no lattice to weave, and no long bake time in the oven. The crust is baked first, then filled with a simple blueberry filling made partly from cooked berries and partly from fresh ones.
The result is bright, juicy, deeply blueberry, and wonderfully easy.
A few key ingredients make all the difference:
A baked pie shell keeps the recipe simple. Homemade is always lovely, but a good store-bought crust works beautifully here too — especially in summer, when easy is often best.
Fresh blueberries are the heart of the pie. Some are briefly cooked to make the filling, while the rest are folded in fresh for texture, color, and that just-picked summer flavor.
Cornstarch helps thicken the blueberry filling so the pie can set and slice more neatly once it has cooled.
Lemon juice brightens the berries and balances their sweetness without making the pie taste overly lemony.
A little butter stirred in at the end gives the warm blueberry filling a silky finish.
A few pie-making tips I always keep in mind:
Use a fully baked pie crust. Since the filled pie doesn’t go back into the oven, the crust should be completely baked and cooled before adding the blueberry filling.
Use fresh blueberries if you can. Frozen berries can release more liquid, which may make the filling softer.
Let the pie set before slicing. Two hours at room temperature works well, but chilling it will give you cleaner slices.
Serve it simply. A dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream is lovely, but this pie doesn’t need much. The blueberries really do the work.
A summer picnic story
A few years ago, after a particularly long string of workdays, I decided to surprise my husband.
It was well past the dinner hour, but the sun had not yet set. That lovely kind of summer evening when the light seems to linger just a little longer.
So I gathered a few things, found a shady spot under the old oak tree, and set up a picnic.
In our backyard.
A picnic had been on my summer bucket list for ages, and that evening I decided a backyard picnic was better than no picnic at all.
And as these things go, it was just as fun. Maybe more.
No travel time. No rush. Just plates, glasses, a simple dinner, and this blueberry pie.
Every summer deserves at least one night like that!
How to serve this pie
This open face blueberry pie is delicious at room temperature, but I especially love it chilled on a warm day.
Serve it with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or simply as it is. It’s glossy, juicy, and beautiful enough without much fuss.
The full Open Face Blueberry Pie recipe is on 31Daily.
I hope this pie finds its way to one of your summer tables — maybe outside, maybe under a tree, maybe on a night when you decide that a small, simple thing is worth making special.
Here’s to blueberry pie, backyard picnics, and the kind of summer evenings we remember.
Stephanie
Love this! That's how a recipe becomes a memory. From now on this won't only be a blueberry pie — it'll be the one from that perfect summer evening, the picnic under the oak, when the light stayed a while longer for the two of you.