Homemade Huckleberry Pie

Homemade Huckleberry Pie is a rare but favorite treat for us.  This delicious pie is made with cream cheese and a homemade gram cracker pie crust.

Homemade Huckleberry Pie

My family is originally from South Eastern Idaho.  Huckleberry picking was always part of our family’s summer routine.  My sister lives in Idaho now and has been after us for years to come up and pick berries with her.  It wasn’t until about 18 months ago while we were visiting that she finally convinced us.  Her method of convincing us was a delicious batch of pancakes filled with huckleberries and covered in huckleberry syrup.  That was followed later in the evening with a huckleberry cheesecake pie.  After that, we were sold on the merits of huckleberries.

My understanding is that the word Huckleberry means different plants to different people.  I’m not sure of the botanical name of the plants we were harvesting from but I know they are vastly different than the kind you can buy in the nursery.

This year we planned our annual visit to Idaho to coincide with the Huckleberry harvest.  We set out for the mountains early in the morning in mid-August.  We spent a total of about 4 hours picking berries.  It’s hard, slow work and with 3 of us working (the 3 younger kids lost interest quickly) we were able to pick about 2 gallons of berries.  The berries are very small but they go a long way in recipes and are really worth the effort.

Unfortunately, we forgot our camera to take pictures while we were picking but I did get pictures of some of the preserving process.

The berries are washed very well; this takes quite a bit of time to get them clean as they are covered in lots of little woodland insects and leaves.

Once clean we froze them flat and then put them in a couple of gallon-sized freezer bags.  They have been sitting since, waiting for a special occasion to bring them out.  Thanksgiving last week was that special occasion and they were used in a huckleberry cream cheese pie!  Here’s the promised recipe:

Ingredients for Huckleberry Pie

Graham cracker Crust

• 1 ½ cups crushed Graham crackers (roughly one package or 20 squares)
• 1/3 cup butter (melted)
• 3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix crackers and sugar together, add melted butter mix well and press into pie plate.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350.  Cool Completely

Cream Cheese Filling

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whipped cream

– beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth, fold in whipped cream pour into cooled crust and refrigerate

Huckleberry Pie Filling

• ½ cup sugar
• 4 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
• Dash of salt
• ½ cup water
• 2 cups of fruit (huckleberries or blueberries)
• 1 ½ teaspoons butter

– Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.  Stir in water, add 1 cup berries.  Bring to a boil.  Stir for 1-2 minutes until thickened.  Add butter and remaining berries.  Let it cool and then pour it over the Cheese Filling.

This pie is to die for!!  Really it is super good!  If huckleberries are not part of your berry storage you could use blueberries.  It would even be good with raspberries or blackberries but you would need to tweak the topping recipe to include less water.  With all the pie we ate last weekend I’m surprised I even fit in my office chair this morning.  Enjoy!!

Looking for other Yummy Pies??  Try our Homemade Apple Pie!  Or if you would like a flaky pie crust, try this one!!