The buttery crumble topping, flaky vanilla pie crust, and juicy blueberry pie filling with a hint of lemon in these mini blueberry pies will have everyone reaching for their second pie before they’re even done with their first! These individual pies are made in a muffin pan for easy serving—and even easier eating!
Hand pies, individual pies, and single-serving pies are becoming more and more popular, and for good reason. Mini pies are easy to eat, transport, and give as gifts, especially when you need a recipe to use up summer berries and fruits.
If you’ve never made a pie before, you’re in good company! I have plenty of instructions for beginner pie bakers in this blog post and the recipe card to set you up for success. I recommend using my all-butter vanilla pie crust or my all-butter flaky pie crust recipes for perfectly flaky crusts every time, though you are always welcome to use your favorite pie crust recipe (or even store bought)!
Watch how to make these mini blueberry pies on my YouTube channel, too!
Ingredients for Mini Blueberry Crumble Pies
These individual blueberry pies are made with less than a dozen simple ingredients! The blueberry filling and crumble toppings both come together in one bowl.
- Blueberries. I used about two cups of fresh blueberries for this recipe, equivalent to about two of the 6-oz containers sold at the grocery store. You can also use frozen blueberries that are fully thawed.
- Granulated sugar. This will combine with the blueberry juices for a sweet filling.
- Cornstarch. The key ingredient to thickening up the blueberry pie filling. A little goes a long way!
- Lemon juice. A little bit of acidity balances out the sweetness and adds a hint of lemon.
- Lemon zest. The zest from one lemon brightens up the natural flavor of blueberries. I highly recommend adding lemon zest or ¼ teaspoon of lemon extract.
- Salt. Just a pinch helps to enhance all the flavors.
- Pie crust. I always use my all-butter vanilla pie crust recipe for sweet pie crusts, as it’s flaky and delicious, but you can use your favorite pie crust recipe or store-bought, too.
- Rolled oats. Use rolled oats for the best and heartiest texture, but you can also substitute quick oats.
- All-purpose flour. The base of the crumble topping.
- Brown sugar. This gives the crumble a hint of molasses that pairs beautifully with the blueberries.
- Salted butter. The salt is balanced, but you may use unsalted butter if you prefer.
This is not an ingredient but an important note on supplies: This recipe works best with dark-colored pans! Light-colored pans, like aluminum, will still work, but plan to increase the bake time by about five minutes for the same rich color and flaky crust.
Quick Tips for Making Blueberry Pie Filling
Homemade blueberry pie filling is easy to make, requires only a few ingredients, and doesn’t need to be cooked down before you bake it!
Mix together blueberries in a medium bowl with sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest (or lemon extract). Use a fork to poke through the blueberry skins so that the sugar can saturate the blueberries. Breaking the skins now helps the berries to better macerate, and it will prevent the blueberries from popping open in the oven.
For the jammiest filling in your mini blueberry pies, you’ll want to let the blueberries rest for at least 10 minutes at room temperature while you make the crumble and roll out the pie crust. This gives the sugar in the mixture time to draw water out of the blueberries, called maceration. You actually can see this happen as the liquid turns pink over the course of 10 minutes (see photos below)!
Quick Tips for Making Mini Pie Crusts
The key to having good mini pie crusts is rolling out the pie dough well, which I cover in the blog post for my all-butter flaky pie crust. The short version is to roll from the center of the dough out, in one direction, while making sure your workspace is lightly dusted with flour to prevent sticking.
Once the dough is rolled out, use a 4″ (10 cm) round cutter to cut circles into the dough. I’ve tried using smaller cutters to fit more circles in the dough, but 4″ is the best size for this purpose. The dough fully covers the inside of the muffin pan opening and prevents much blueberry juice from spilling out.
Once the circles have been cut, pick them up and gently place them over a hole in a muffin pan. If the dough starts to get warm and stick to the counter, a bench scraper can be helpful, followed by chilling the remaining dough.
Use the pads of your fingers to gently press the dough into the muffin pan. Please note: If you have longer fingernails, they may poke holes in the dough!
The dough will stretch a little bit, then fit perfectly inside of the hole in the muffin pan. Clean up the edges if they look uneven, then get ready to add blueberry pie filling and crumble topping.
Quick Tips for Filling Mini Blueberry Pies
Use a tablespoon (one from your silverware drawer works just fine!) to add the blueberry filling to each pie cup. There should be enough berries for each mini pie to get one rounded tablespoon, about a dozen blueberries each.
I fill each of my pie cups with one layer of blueberries that just covers the bottom of the pie crust. If I have extras after I fill all the pie cups, I add only one or two more blueberries to each. It won’t look like enough, but the filling bubbles up a lot in the oven. Having just a tablespoon of blueberry filling in these mini blueberry pies will prevent them from boiling over while baking.
Then, add a tablespoon of the crumble topping to each mini pie, making sure it’s evenly spread over the pie.
Once the pies are filled, place the pan in the fridge, uncovered, for about 10-20 minutes. This chilling time rehardens the butter in the pie dough and crumble and helps the pies bake perfectly.
Do I Have to Chill the Mini Blueberry Pies before Baking?
I really recommend it. You’ll get a much better texture and more even bake if the butter has rehardened before you bake the pies.
If you are pressed for time and can’t spare the 20 minutes (or don’t have room in your fridge or freezer), you can bake these right away, but the crust may not turn out as golden brown, and the crumble may bake faster than the crust.
Quick Tips for Baking Mini Blueberry Pies
As stated before, I recommend using a dark-colored pan, even with the thinner crust for these handheld blueberry pies. The pie crust will take on a beautiful golden color much faster, closer to 15 minutes than 20. (If you’re curious, you can read more about dark vs light pans here.)
The crumble topping will brown at a similar rate to the pie crust when chilled beforehand, so when both are a beautiful golden brown, the mini blueberry pies are done!
Depending on your oven and your pan, the bake time for these mini pies can vary from 15 minutes all the way up to almost 25 minutes.
For the best results and a crispy (not soggy!) bottom, let the pies cool for five minutes in the pan before carefully removing them. I use a fork around the edges to pry the mini pie up, then transfer it to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
FAQ’s about Mini Blueberry Pies
The crumble helps prevent the mixture from splattering too much in the oven. If you don’t want to use the crumble, you could use another pie crust to make a lattice over the top, like I did for my mini cherry pies.
You sure can! If you are running short on time or just don’t want to make homemade pie crust, you’re more than welcome to use a store bought dough. If you think you can’t make good pie crust, however, I promise you can! Just follow this recipe!
You can, just be sure to thaw them completely before starting on the recipe.
I do! You can watch me put these mini blueberry pies together on my YouTube channel.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
My mini cherry pies are another great way to use up summer fruits. If the seasons are starting to change to autumn, see my mini caramel apple pies for inspiration!
If you’re looking for more ways to use up blueberries, try my lightly sweetened blueberry syrup over pancakes, French toast, and waffles!
Looking for a blueberry cake recipe instead of a pie? Here’s my lemon blueberry loaf cake.
Dish Cleanup: Gonna Take a While
I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.
My mini blueberry pies have a cleanup rating of a 4. There isn’t quite as big of a cleanup as with some of my other mini pies, since you don’t have to cut the fruit. And while the muffin pan isn’t the easiest item to clean, there are only a handful of other bowls and utensils you’ll need to wash up in addition to it.
Mini Blueberry Pies Recipe
Mini Blueberry Pies
Bite-sized blueberry pies are baked in a muffin pan and topped with a buttery crumble topping. Filled with fresh blueberries and a hint of lemon, these mini blueberry pies are certain to be a new favorite summer dessert!
Ingredients
For the Mini Blueberry Pies
- 2 cups blueberries (300 g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (10 g)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (10 ml)
- Zest from one lemon, or ¼ teaspoon lemon extract (optional)*
- ¼ teaspoon salt (2 g)
- 1 pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
For the Crumble Topping
- ½ cup rolled oats (50 g)
- ½ cup all purpose flour (70 g)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (50 g)
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter, melted (56 g)
Instructions
Making the Blueberry Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Use a dark-colored muffin pan for the best, crispiest results. Light-colored or aluminum pans work, but note that there may be a longer bake time for the pie crust to turn a deep golden brown.
- Place blueberries in a medium bowl with the granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest or extract (if using), and salt. Using a fork, stir everything together. Poke the blueberries with the fork to allow the sugar to saturate the blueberries. This will prevent the blueberries from splattering too much when they bake later.
- Set the blueberry filling aside for at least 10 minutes, until the liquid in the bowl turns pink, while you prepare the crumble.
Making the Crumble Topping
- Add rolled oats, flour, and brown sugar to a medium bowl, and stir together with a fork until combined.
- Pour in the melted butter, then stir together with the same fork until combined but crumbly.
Preparing the Mini Blueberry Pie Crusts
- While the blueberries are macerating, roll out a chilled pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Rotate the dough one quarter turn after every roll to ensure it doesn't stick to your work surface. Roll only in one direction, from the center of the dough out, to help prevent sticking.
- This recipe works best with a slightly thinner pie crust rolled to about ⅒" (3 mm) thick. Any thicker of a crust has a hard time baking fully and crisping properly with such a wet filling.
- Roll out the pie crust to ⅒" (3 mm) thick (usually about 12" to 13" [30 to 32 cm] in diameter). Then, use a 4" (10 cm) circle cutter to cut 8 or 9 circles out of the dough. Immediately place each one into a hole in your muffin pan. To prevent holes, press down evenly in the center of the dough round with the fingertips of one hand while guiding the edges of the dough circle down the side of the cutout with your other. It might take a few tries to get the hang of it, but if a circle rips, just patch it up with excess dough—no one will ever know!
- For the last 3-4 circles, gather the leftover dough into a disc. If the dough is sticky and a little warm, wrap in plastic wrap or bee's wrap and chill for 10 minutes before rerolling. If the dough is still relatively cool, quickly reroll the dough. Dust lightly with flour as needed, and cut out the remaining 3 or 4 circles to fill the rest of the muffin pan holes.
Filling and Topping the Mini Blueberry Crumble Pies
- Divide the blueberry pie filling between the mini pie crusts with about one Tablespoon of the berries to just cover the bottom of the crust. (This is only about a dozen blueberries, and it won't look like enough, but this prevents the pies from bubbling over too much in the oven and making a huge mess.)
- Spoon about one Tablespoon of the crumble topping over the blueberry filling onto each mini pie, then chill, uncovered, for 10-20 minutes to harden the butter in the pie crust and crumble.**
Baking the Pies
- Bake the pies for 17-22 minutes in the center rack of your oven until the filling is bubbly and the pie crust and crumble are both golden brown. If using a dark-colored pan, your mini blueberry pies will be fully baked around 15-17 minutes. If using a light-colored pan, like aluminum, they may take closer to 20 minutes to turn golden brown on the edges.
- Allow the pies to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan with a fork. Place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling and prevent soggy bottoms. Enjoy!
Notes
*If you don't have a lemon on hand to zest, you may substitute ¼ teaspoon lemon extract.
**If you're pressed for time or fridge/freezer space, you don't have to chill the pies before baking them, but it will significantly improve crust and crumble textures.
Store these pies in a loosely sealed container at room temperature for up to three days or in the fridge for up to five days.
These mini blueberry crumble pies can be frozen (yes, even with the cornstarch!) for up to three months. Thaw overnight at room temperature in a loosely covered container to allow moisture to escape, or thaw directly from the freezer on a sheet pan in the oven at 375°F/190°C for about 10 minutes until warm.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 mini pieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 136mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 2g
The nutrition facts are estimated and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
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