What to Make with Blueberries – Preserving Tips and Baking Recipes

I love berry season.  All berries.  We just enjoyed a fresh batch of strawberries from the local berry farm and soon enough it will be blueberry season.  Want to know what to make with blueberries?  Today I’m going to talk about how to preserve blueberries along with what to make with blueberries.

what to make with blueberries

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I remember wild blueberry picking as a child.  I hated it!  Wild blueberries are so small, it would take forever to fill my basket.  Plus, I knew bears liked blueberries so I was always scared I would run into a bear.

Of course, I always enjoyed eating them. 🙂

Gotta do the work to get the reward I guess.

Honestly, if I had the chance to wild blueberry pick now I would force my kids to go as well.  But, they’ve lucked out because we live in an area where wild blueberries are few and far between.  Frankly, I haven’t found any yet.  So we go to the local berry farm who has these BIG, beautiful berries that grow on tall bushes.

Did I mention BIG?  As in, they-fill-your-basket-ten-times-faster-than-wild-blueberries big?

The first time I went I couldn’t believe how fast we filled up our baskets.  Suddenly I didn’t hate blueberry picking anymore.

Of course, the bonus of wild blueberries is the price tag.  FREE, FREE, FREE.

But some things are worth paying for, don’t ya think?

There’s so many things to make with blueberries.  My favorite is blueberry pie.  Every year I make one and this year will be no exception.  There’s something so amazing about warm blueberry pie.

However, I do tend to say that about peach pie too.  And apple.  Okay, I have a thing for pies.

Before I get into some recipes for how to use all your blueberries you have, let’s talk about preserving them.

HOW TO PRESERVE BLUEBERRIES

There are a few ways you can preserve blueberries.  You can preserve them by making them into a jam and then canning them, or you can freeze them.

If you are going to freeze them you will want use the flash freeze method.  To do that you will lay them all out on a cookie sheet (after you washed them and allowed them to dry) and then freeze them for a minimum of 4 hours.  You will want to make sure they are really dry before you freeze them or they will stick to the cookie sheet.  I like to use these big freezer bags that I can get on Amazon.

Once they are frozen you can transfer them into a freezer bag.  This method will prevent them from freezing into one big, large clump.

I love to use frozen blueberries in smoothies, or use them to bake treats at a later time.

WHAT TO MAKE WITH BLUEBERRIES

Impossible Peach Blueberry Pie – A friend of mine sent this recipe to me a few years ago and I make it every year because it is SO SO good.  The combination of blueberries, peach, and a custard-y filling is to die for!

Blueberry Pie – Of course, maybe you would rather the good ole’ fashioned classic blueberry pie.

Blueberry Cheesecake – Okay, now I want cheesecake.  I think I’m going to have to pick A LOT of blueberries this year because I already want to make everything on this list.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls – I mean, cinnamon rolls in general are amazing, I can only imagine what adding some blueberry to them would do.

Blueberry Pudding Cake – Is it a pudding or a cake?  I don’t really know.  What I do know is that there’s no way this dessert can be bad.

Blueberry Lemon Scones – I had my first scone a few years ago and it was AMAZING!  Blueberry and lemon are a match made in heaven, am I right?

Cream Cheese -Filled Blueberry Lemon Bread – If blueberry and lemon are a match-made in heaven, cream cheese just takes it to another level.  Not that there IS a higher level than heaven, but you know what I mean. 🙂

Blueberry Upside Down Cake – This cake is made with caramelized blueberries.  I’m down with anything that’s caramelized.

Easy Blueberry Cobbler – When all the fruit comes in season it’s the perfect time to make cobblers.  Peach, Apple, Blueberry – pretty much any fruit cobbler is delicious but if you adore blueberries this is the one you want to make.

Blueberry Lemon Whoopie Pies – I’ve never made whoopie pies before but I’ve definitely eaten some. I think this is the year I need to try my hand at making my own.  This recipe sounds like a perfect place to start!

No-Bake Blueberry Yum Yum – Sometimes I want a dessert but I don’t want to turn on the oven.  Especially in the summer when it’s really hot out.  This no-bake dessert does the trick!

Easy Blueberry Sauce – Fruit sauces are so amazingly delicious when used on ice cream.  Or what about on pancakes?  Waffles? Or just eat it by the spoonful.

Blueberry Clafoutis – Clafoutis is a french dish that is usually made with cherries.  You know, the kind of food Julia Childs would whip up.  However, it’s quite amazing with blueberries as well.  Personally I think clafoutis made with made with many different kinds of fruits is delicious.

Blueberry Muffins – Everyone needs one good blueberry muffin recipe on hand.  Make these for breakfast or for a snack.

Blueberry Crisp – This is another dessert that can be made by changing out the type of fruit.  I’ve had many an apple, strawberry-rhubarb, and blueberry crisp in my lifetime.

HARVEST SEASON IS WHEN TO PREPARE FOR WINTER

When harvest season hits us not only can we enjoy all kinds of desserts like the ones listed above, but it’s a great time to put food away for winter.  You can preserve the blueberries like I mentioned above, or you can bake some of these delicious desserts and freeze them for a later time.

It can be a life saver to go to the freezer and pull out a blueberry casserole of some sort for snacks or for breakfast when you are in the middle of busy family routines in the fall or winter.

Not only that, but it can save you money.  If you have food already stored in your freezer or canned on your shelf you will spend less at the grocery store, or maybe if you have enough put away you can avoid a trip all together to the grocery store.

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