I’m hiding from the weather today & wanted to share some recipes I made with all the blueberries I posted about picking on Friday (and also the ones from the previous week).
Blueberry Jelly
I canned blueberry jelly using the regular Ball powdered pectin and the recipe contained in there. I used two half pint size jars and six quarter pint size jars. I like the smaller jars to give as gifts or for when I just want to open a smaller amount. Unfortunately, the smaller jars can be hard to find and I have only found them in the quilted style which is more expensive.
Blueberry Coffee Cake
I have made Blueberry Coffee Cake many times after picking blueberries. I use a recipe from All Recipes
Blueberry Waffles & Blueberry Sauce
Welcome to the biggest argument in my family. Can you eat breakfast for dinner? My daughter and I say yes, my husband says no. We usually save breakfast for dinner for nights he is not home for dinner. But, I have made him eat breakfast for dinner a few times after blueberry picking.
I’m usually lazy and make my waffle or pancake batter using a mix and toss in fresh blueberries. But, this blueberry sauce (from a recipe on AllRecipes) is what makes these outstanding.
I use my mother-in-law’s recipe that she makes with wild blueberries. I cheated by starting with a frozen 9″ pie crusts. I placed 2 T of butter cut into small pieces on the pie crust. Combine about 4 c of blueberries with 1/3 c sugar, 3T dry tapioca, 1/4 c water, pinch of salt, and 1 tsp of cinnamon and poured the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 15 min at 425F while you mixed up a crumb topping. 2/3 c flour, 2/3 c sugar, and 5T butter. After the initial baking, remove the pie & cover with the crumb topping. Decrease the temperature to 350F & bake for 35 min or until the crumbs are golden and the blueberries are bubbling. We love this pie and make it often.
Freeze Blueberries
Blueberries freeze wonderfully! From what I have read, you should freeze them unwashed and store in an air-tight container. I usually freeze them first on a cookie sheet then transfer the frozen berries to a bag. Freezing on a cookie sheet helps the berries from clumping. I usually note on the bag that they are unwashed so everyone knows to wash them first.
Frozen blueberries can be used in the recipes above. They are also great for smoothies or in cereal. For cereal, I usually just rinse them in warm water and soak as I’m preparing the rest of the cereal. Then I drain and add them. They are mostly thawed by that point.
Eat Fresh
Of course, you should plan to save some blueberries to eat fresh!
Where to Find Fresh Blueberries
Of course in order to make recipes with fresh blueberries, you need to get fresh blueberries.
Pick Your Own
My favorite source for fresh blueberries is to pick them ourselves. There are quite a few Pick Your Own Blueberry fields near Ann Arbor.
Farmers Markets
Farmers Markets are also a great source for fresh produce including blueberries. We have an abundance of farmers markets in the Ann Arbor area – one almost every day of the week and some farm stands to fill in the gaps.
