What else to do with blackberries?

[chickenreferee]

This has been a super year so far for the blackberries at my house. I'm getting ready to make some jam but I dunno what else to do with them except make cobblers....any suggestions?

Also, I've only ever made cooked jams and jellies, but I'm seeing recipes for freezer jams? Are they as good?

 

[booker81]

Freeze them! When I get worn out from jamming, I'll take the rest of the berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries), and freeze on a cookie sheet in one layer. Once frozen, I dump them into a gallon freezer bags with the date and type, and store in my deep freeze (not a frost free - the thaw cycling will make them clump). Whenever I need some for pancakes, cobbler, whatever, I just pull the bag out, measure out what I need and put them back in. Pre-freezing keeps them loose and measureable, and they will last a long time.

 

[wyoDreamer]

X2 for Booker81 advice.

I kept some in ziploc bags for easy grabbing - I loved to grab one or two frozen berries for a quick snack, just pop the frozen berry into my mouth on a hot day, yum!

Most of the berries were washed and frozen, then measured and vacumm sealed in 1, 2 and 4 cup increments. I always had the 4 cup packs pre-measured for pie, hubbies favorite. He reminisces about the blackberry pies I made when we lived in Wisconsin. We had a patch 10 feet from the back door. I would pick them by the ice cream bucket and freeze them.

They are also good in muffins, coffee cakes, and smoothies. My favorite is syrup for pancakes - use 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1 to 2 cups of blackberries. Heat until warmed through. I also made a blackberry sauce that I used on cheesecake.

You can also use them to dye eggs at easter time, lol !

 

[chickenreferee]

Doh! I dunno why freezing them didn't occur to me. I used to eat them like that all the time as a kid. THANKS for the idea!

Never thought of blackberry muffins or coffee cakes....gonna try a pie too! It's supposed to rain for a few days, hoping when the sun comes back out I can get another gallon or so.

Yay!! Thank you booker81 and wyoDreamer!

 

[donrae]

Blackberries make great freezer jam. I don't know that I'll ever make cooked jams again, esp with all the sugar. And how easy--measure, crush, stir. I'm teaching my ds10 to make freezer jam this year!

And what's wrong with cobbler? Can one have too much cobbler? I think not lol.

We also freeze them, on a cookie sheet as stated so they don't clump all together. Smoothies and sryups are also our go-tos. And of course, eat them by the handsful!

 

[chickenreferee]

I made this blackberry cream cheese coffee cake thing the other day....it was interesting. I think next time I will just make a cheese cake.