Last month we went to a local fruit orchard and picked fresh blackberries. Blackberries are just like raspberries but in my honest opinion, better! They taste a little bit sweeter and we prefer them…but will eat red raspberries too. Once we got home we got busy prepping them for the freezer. Here’s how you freeze fresh (unsweetened) blackberries.
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Place the blackberries into a colander under cold running water. Rinse them under the water for 3-4 minutes. You need to pick out any squashed or diseased berries along with leaf litter. Toss those things outside in your compost bin or let the birds enjoy. After rinsing shake the colander gently a few times to get off remaining water.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay berries on the paper in a single layer with space around each berry. Take a clean cotton towel and gently blot off any excess water. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for 2-4 hours or until the berries are frozen solid.
Remove from the freezer. Time to place them into freezer bags or freezer containers. I like to freeze them in 1 cup and 2 cup portions so I measure them out as I go along placing them into freezer bags. Purge out the air and zip close. Label and date the bags. Place them into the freezer. They’re good for 6-9 months if properly frozen. We always eat ours up within 3-4 months.
Frozen blackberries should be used straight from the freezer (without thawing) in your baked good recipes like muffins, breads, and pies. If you’re tossing them into homemade ice cream or a fruit smoothie…again straight from the freezer. I don’t recommend thawing them first because they tend to get mushy and lose some of their flavor.
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We are about a month away from blackberry picking time. This is very helpful as I like to save the blackberries to put in smoothies or oatmeal.
I so want to pick blackberries this summer so thank you for sharing this one. I haven’t picked them in years and I love them on vanilla bean ice cream during the summer.
The closest I am going to come to picking blackberries is either the frozen food shelves or picked them out of the store cooler. As a kid my brother & sister would make noise or scream snake to see me run. I got to the point that I would just sit down on the grass and cry and mom would tell me to just go home!!!