Gluten-Free Blueberry Pie That is Not Runny

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Have you ever heard the expression easy as pie? Is it because rolling a pie crust is simple...? How about a gluten-free pie crust? Well don't worry, I figured out how to make gluten-free crust truly easy as pie! In this recipe for gluten-free blueberry pie, I'll walk you through how to choose the right ingredients that will make the dough easily shapeable. We'll even add some freeze-dried blueberries and cinnamon to make the crust itself tasty and delicious!

And then there's the filling. A huge pet peeve of mine is a runny pie filling. I can't stand it! I want my pie to cut beautifully like in a commercial, with a filling that is thick and doesn't make a huge mess in my plate before I've even added my scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You'll see.. you're about to create a show stopper! The perfect gluten-free pie crust with a thick, flavorful blueberry filling.

a slice of gluten-free blueberry pie on a white plate, with ice cream on top. The filling is thick, and there's a scoop of ice cream and a dough butterfly on top.

In my neck of the woods, blueberry season is late Spring. Yes, I love some fresh blueberries of course (especially picking them in the fields with the kiddos!) but frozen will do. The only berries that I don't think taste great frozen are strawberries.

This recipe is very similar to my gluten-free mixed berry pie, except for the berries of choice, the citrus and the added cinnamon.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
FAQ
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Gluten-Free Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

In this recipe, you'll use my gluten-free pie crust with added freeze-dried blueberries, which you can make ahead of time. The most important ingredient for a successful pie crust that you can shape and roll without breaking is the gluten-free flour you choose. It's important to use gluten-free pastry flour; please click through for my DIY blend, recommended commercial blends, and a dairy-free option. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be able to roll dough that's not brittle, I promise you won't regret taking the time to try my pastry flour!

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Let's split the instructions into three categories: making the pie crust, making the filling, and assembling/baking the pie.

Making the pie crust

Follow the instructions for my homemade gluten-free pie crust recipe. When you mix the dry ingredients, you'll also add freeze-dried blueberry powder, and cinnamon, which gives a nice flavor to the crust itself.

I find freeze-dried blueberries at Trader Joe's or Walmart, and make a powder out of them in my food processor. You can also buy freeze-dried blueberry powder on Amazon, it's used for making smoothies.

You'll see here that the final pie crust has a subtle purple-ish color from the blueberry powder. Isn't it cute?

a mix of gluten-free pastry flour in a bowl, with purple and brown added from the blueberry powder and cinnamon.

a closeup of the assembled unbaked pie, with the crust a light purple.

Hint: you can make the gluten-free pie dough up to two days ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic in an airtight container. It really helps with time management when you can prep ahead!

Making the filling

The trick to a thick gooey filling that isn't runny is to precook the filling. You see, fruits are FILLED with water! By precooking the blueberries, we can evaporate some of that water, which will leave us with a delightful thick filling. It also prevents the blueberries from bubbling through the crust and making a huge mess on the bottom of the oven.

Add blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and orange zest/juice to a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until the blueberries release their water, anywhere from 3-7 minutes depending on if you're using fresh or frozen berries.
Using a colander, drain (but keep!) the juices and separate the berries from the juices.
Add corn starch to thicken the juices.
Put blueberry juices-corn starch mixture on low heat in a saucepan, constantly mixing with a heat-proof whisk. Cook until thickened, about two minutes.

process pictures for cooking the blueberries: the berries and juices are separated from each other using a colander.

Store the cooked blueberries, and the thickened blueberry juices separately. They can be refrigerated if you don't plan on baking immediately, or they can cool on the counter while you roll the pie dough.

Assembling the pie

I've made a video of the pie assembly. The important points to stress out are:

Laminate the gluten-free pie dough! When you roll the dough, fold it like a letter, rotate it ninety degrees, and roll it again. Laminating at least twice gives the dough some extra malleability and flakiness.
You can decorate the pie any way you'd like, my gluten-free dough is very sturdy. In this video, I made random holes using upside down piping tips, and also used a butterfly dough stamper (non-affiliate). You can make a lattice like in my gluten-free mixed berry pie recipe, or use a mold like in my gluten-free cherry pie recipe. You can also just keep it simple and leave the top crust whole. My gluten-free pie crust can handle it all!
I strongly advise to place the pie pan on top of a baking tray covered with aluminum. That's so the aluminum catches any dripping butter or bubbling blueberries to avoid making a mess at the bottom of the oven. It also lets you quickly fold the aluminum onto the baking pie crust's edges to prevent them from browning too quickly.

golden gluten-free blueberry pie crust, with its edges wrapped in aluminum, on a baking tray.

Okay, here we go, let's assemble the pie together!

Substitutions

The allergens in this gluten-free blueberry pie are: eggs, milk.

Egg-free - super easy! The only egg is the egg wash on the crust, so for an egg-free pie, omit that step. Instead, you can brush melted butter on the crust and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Dairy-free - there are two places where milk is in this recipe: the butter, and the milk powder used in the gluten-free pastry flour. Click through the link for true and tested DIY blend that does not contain milk powder; you can use coconut milk powder or oat milk powder instead, which I do all the time at the bakery to accommodate dairy allergies. Next, replate the butter with vegan butter, my suggestion being a high in saturated fats coconut-based butter. Note that you can also use lard, or a mix of both. The point is higher saturated fats will yield a dough that's easier to shape.

Variations

There's so many ways to customize pie, I'll list what I've tried:

Sugar levels - you can adjust how much sugar goes in the pie... I have a sweet tooth but you can certainly cut out the sugar by half!
Other berries - do you have other berries or fruits at home? I love blueberry-raspberry together!
Other citrus - not a fan of oranges? Try lemon zest and juice instead, for a more traditional blueberry filling.

I haven't tried adding herbs to this recipe, but you can check out my gluten-free cherry pie for inspiration, I use fresh thyme in it!

a slice of gluten-free blueberry pie on a plate, with oranges in the background and the rest of the pie on a cooling rack.

Equipment

I know I say this all the time guys... but I am a cottage food baker, which means I sell (all gluten-free) baked goods from my home kitchen. And because I sell my pies, I use disposable 9-inch pie pans, which is how this recipe was designed. However, in each of my recipe cards, you have the option to change the recipe to a 10-inch pan, which is the size of many glass pie pans. Either way, for this recipe, you'll need:

pie pan
saucepan
colander
baking tray lined with aluminum
rolling mat and pin
pizza wheel cutter

Storage

Pies with baked fruits are shelf-stable, so this can be stored on the counter, loosely covered with plastic or a tea towel. It will be good for up to three days.

If you have leftovers after that, wrap them tightly in plastic and store in the freezer in an airtight container. When ready to eat, thaw at room temperature. Enjoy freshly thawed, or microwave a few seconds for a warmer pie!

Top tip

The best way to find out how much fruits you need to bake a pie without weighing or using measuring cups, is to fill your pie pan TWICE with fruits. After the water evaporates when we precook the fruits, it will fit exactly perfectly into your pie pan!

a whole gluten-free blueberry pie on a cooling rack, with a cut orange, cinnamon and blueberries sprinkled around. There's dough butterflies decorating the pie.

FAQ

Does blueberry pie filling contain gluten?

Mine certainly does not! If you're buying it a store, please double check the ingredients to make sure it wasn't thickened with wheat flour.

Why is my gluten-free pie crust hard?

There could be a number of reasons for this to happen. If you used a store bought crust, or a different recipe than my gluten-free pie crust, you may get different results. To ensure the perfect crust, make sure you laminate the dough, as the layers will make the pie softer and flakier.

Looking for other pie recipes? Try these!