Ideas/recipes needed for fresh blueberries

[popmom]

My grandmother has “kadoolins” (word she uses to mean a whole lot) of blueberries, so the fam and I drove up and picked today. I have close to 20 lbs. I will give some of it away to my parents/siblings/neighbors, but they won’t want as much as I need to get rid of. 
 

I will freeze a lot of them. Also, I have a new Nesco dehydrator, so I was going to look into preserving some that way.

Any other ideas? Please share your favorite blueberry recipes! But not jam/preserves  because my grandmother sent me home with 4 jars she just put up. I haven’t even used up what she gave me last year! 
 

I’ve never been much of a pie or cobbler baker, but I will definitely be making some pies soon. My last attempt to make homemade pie crust was a total fail, so if you have a good recipe or tips… The last time I tried to do it in my food processor, and it didn’t work. I normally just buy frozen pie crusts, but I may want to be fancy and do homemade. 🙂

 

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by popmom

[Selkie]

I put blueberries in the blender with frozen bananas to make a healthy version of ice cream. Also have them in smoothies all the time.

[popmom]

6 minutes ago, Selkie said:

I put blueberries in the blender with frozen bananas to make a healthy version of ice cream. Also have them in smoothies all the time.

I’m burned out on smoothies, but I’m diggin’ the ice cream idea. Thanks.

One of my dds likes to top her plain yogurt with them. I don’t like yogurt. Honestly, I’m just not much of a fruit person, so I’m seriously thinking…could I work some of these berries into a sauce for pork loin? 😂 I’ve made fig sauces and sauce with cherries, oranges, apricots…but never blueberries. Hmmmm.

Edited July 18, 2021 by popmom

[Carol in Cal.]

There is a fantastic recipe for blueberry pie in “One 4 Ounce Serving”, incidentally one of my favorite cookbooks, by Deborah Costella.

[popmom]

2 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

There is a fantastic recipe for blueberry pie in “One 4 Ounce Serving”, incidentally one of my favorite cookbooks, by Deborah Costella.

Thanks. I’ll look it up.

[regentrude]

Eat raw. By the handful. 

[Selkie]

27 minutes ago, popmom said:

I’m burned out on smoothies, but I’m diggin’ the ice cream idea. Thanks.

One of my dds likes to top her plain yogurt with them. I don’t like yogurt. Honestly, I’m just not much of a fruit person, so I’m seriously thinking…could I work some of these berries into a sauce for pork loin? 😂 I’ve made fig sauces and sauce with cherries, oranges, apricots…but never blueberries. Hmmmm.

Also very good in oatmeal. We eat so many berries that 20 lbs. probably wouldn’t last a week here. Our dogs love them, too!

[popmom]

10 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Also very good in oatmeal. We eat so many berries that 20 lbs. probably wouldn’t last a week here. Our dogs love them, too!

Ha! Our dogs went with us today and ate a bunch while we were picking! We had to guard our buckets. Then they learned to pick their own! 😂

[popmom]

35 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Eat raw. By the handful. 

I have one dd who would be happy to do this. Tonight she said she’s going to age backward from all the antioxidants. 😂 

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, popmom said:

One of my dds likes to top her plain yogurt with them. I don’t like yogurt. Honestly, I’m just not much of a fruit person, so I’m seriously thinking…could I work some of these berries into a sauce for pork loin? 😂 I’ve made fig sauces and sauce with cherries, oranges, apricots…but never blueberries. Hmmmm.

Ooh, I like this idea. I don't like yogurt, smoothies, or loads of fruit either. I like savory stuff. Some of these recipes look good when I search. I definitely like my fruit with cheese. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=savory+recipes+with+blueberries&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS944US944&sxsrf=ALeKk017VkF1x8XM8FsyFn22vvkwlouP6g%3A1626580168721&ei=yKTzYJCsK8zNtQah6YHACg&oq=savory+with+blueberries&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB46BwgAEEcQsANKBAhBGABQrtwBWL7lAWD68gFoAnACeACAAZMBiAGPBpIBAzIuNZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrIAQjAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz 

31 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Also very good in oatmeal. 

Yes, and I like oatmeal crisp with blueberries. We tend to use far less sugar than the recipe calls for in both the filling and the crust. I think we use about 1/3 of the sugar called for in the crust and barely sprinkle any in the fruit. 

[Ali in OR]

My dh and I can easily eat 10 lbs in a week just the two of us, and they'll keep that long especially if you put smaller quantities in multiple containers. But we'll freeze 30+ quarts for year-long use. The two big uses here are that I put 2 cups of blueberries in my 8x8 pan of baked oatmeal I make once a week (my breakfast 6 days/week), and also at least once a week I have a yogurt parfait--plain Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries, and granola. Dh will put berries in his regular (not baked) oatmeal too. 

[Tanaqui]

Cornmeal blueberry waffles/pancakes. Make your batter in your usual way, but substitute up to half the flour with cornmeal, then add blueberries. The cornmeal really makes the difference.

[cjzimmer1]

Clearly we have different definition of a lot of blueberries because if I had 20 pounds of blueberries, I MIGHT get to make one pie and the rest would be consumed fresh before I got to do anything else with them.  I sure wouldn't be sharing them with anyone not living in my house. I LOVE blueberries and have been known to eat several pounds in one sitting and my kids will easily eat a pint or more each at once.  So yeah. 20 pounds doesn't seem like much to us.  That said here's some ideas:

Blueberry syrup is very popular here.  I just use blueberries and sugar (add a dash of lemon juice with fresh blueberries but frozen don't need anything else) and cook in microwave until boiling.  Use on pancakes, yogurt or cool and top ice cream.

Freeze them is a always a great way to save for later and then you can decide what to do with them.  In summertime my kids two favorite snacks are frozen grapes and frozen blueberries.  They will take either of those over popcicles on a hot day. 

BLueberry muffins/pancakes/quickbread

blueberry bars (oodles of recipes out there but we prefer ones that have a struesel type topping)

blueberry crisp (I don't like cobbler because I feel like the cobbler biscuit/topping is too heavy but I really like crisps)

 

[popmom]

11 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Clearly we have different definition of a lot of blueberries because if I had 20 pounds of blueberries, I MIGHT get to make one pie and the rest would be consumed fresh before I got to do anything else with them.  I sure wouldn't be sharing them with anyone not living in my house. I LOVE blueberries and have been known to eat several pounds in one sitting and my kids will easily eat a pint or more each at once.  So yeah. 20 pounds doesn't seem like much to us.  

 

Wow! I’m just not a fruit person. My tummy would be so upset if I ate much of them. But she (my grandmother) has so, so many more yet to ripen I could easily pick another 15 lbs in a couple of weeks. Thank you for the ideas. I do love blueberry waffles and pancakes. This is why I’m interested in dehydrating a bunch. I think they would be good in pancakes, waffles, muffins.

Edited July 18, 2021 by popmom

[popmom]

15 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Cornmeal blueberry waffles/pancakes. Make your batter in your usual way, but substitute up to half the flour with cornmeal, then add blueberries. The cornmeal really makes the difference.

Ok—this is interesting. I’ve got cornmeal. Definitely trying this.

[Frances]

I eat blueberries almost every day in plain Greek yogurt. I often take cut up cantaloupe with blueberries for summer potlucks. We also make a very light cobbler that mainly uses OJ for sweetening.

[history-fan]

I usually have a jar of blueberry compote in the refrigerator. I add lemon zest and a cinnamon stick when cooking it. It goes on so many different foods. 

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, Frances said:

I eat blueberries almost every day in plain Greek yogurt. I often take cut up cantaloupe with blueberries for summer potlucks. We also make a very light cobbler that mainly uses OJ for sweetening.

 

Which reminds me of the way I was taught to eat blueberries as a child, and sometimes still do today - topped with sour cream and a bit of brown sugar. Also good with other berries. (By which I mean strawberries, raspberries, and myriad fruits that are not botanical berries. I do not mean with tomatoes, oranges, or watermelons.)

[kbutton]

If you like mead, this is an idea: https://learningandyearning.com/homemade-blueberry-mead/?fbclid=IwAR0YKaOpy3MRVYsFrDE7J64rEELPcgx2h1p_w0R2K3_4a0zYLWprjr-Jigg

 

[Eos]

Blueberry chutney for cheese and pork is yummy.  I also prefer savory to sweet.  Blueberry BBQ sauce for chicken is delish.  I'm sorry to not link recipes, I've made both just by making them, but there are probably great recipes to be had for both.

[Halftime Hope]

This is really good, but not one of our "everyday" items, since it contains more sugar than we like to eat. It's marvelous for a treat, though! 

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a27920478/blueberry-buckle-recipe/

I'm with the poster above who said to make blueberry sauce. It's really yummy over healthy muffins (whole grain oats with superfood add-ins). 

[Tina]

Freeze them!  Blueberry muffins, banana or zucchini bread with blueberries, yellow cake with blueberries.  Fresh berry pie with  a graham cracker or a regular crust.  Use with any mix of berries.  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/223496/fresh-no-bake-fruit-pie/

I love the homemade syrup, too.

 

[ScoutTN]

Lemon blueberry pound cake!

[popmom]

20 hours ago, Harpymom said:

Blueberry chutney for cheese and pork is yummy.  I also prefer savory to sweet.  Blueberry BBQ sauce for chicken is delish.  I'm sorry to not link recipes, I've made both just by making them, but there are probably great recipes to be had for both.

Thanks for the ideas. Blueberry chutney sounds wonderful!