Why You Should Always Give Your Frozen Blueberries A Rinse Before Baking

Summer and early fall is the season of juicy fruit and berries, and one tasty berry we all know and love is the blueberry. Blueberries are great for so many dishes, whether it's blueberry pie, blueberry banana bread, or just plain blueberry pancakes.

While these berries taste great in your baking, however, working with them can be a bit tricky. That's even more true if you're working with frozen blueberries instead of fresh ones! The good news is that there are a couple of hacks for helping you bake with blueberries and get not only great-tasting but great-looking dishes as well.

One easy hack that won't cost you anything and requires barely any effort is to wash your frozen blueberries before you use them. Doing so helps keep your final baked product looking bright and appetizing. Here's why this is so important, as well as a few other helpful tips for baking with blueberries.

When it comes to washing your frozen blueberries, the reason why this is so key has to do with your food's appearance. When you add frozen blueberries to baked goods without washing them, they can sometimes look green or grayish. This is unappetizing, and even if the food is actually fine, it can give the illusion that it's not.

This happens because failing to rinse your frozen blueberries causes more juice to leak out into the batter. This colors your otherwise yellow or beige batter. Now, note that this only happens when baking dishes like pancakes, muffins, or cakes. If you're making a classic blueberry pie, the color running won't necessarily change the tinge of your pastry, but it's still not a bad idea to rinse your berries anyway.

Another thing to note is that when you rinse your berries, you won't just want to dunk them under a stream of water and call it a day. Wash the berries until the water running over them is clear, and then pat them dry with a paper towel. Then fold them into your batter, being careful not to overmix as this can still cause the juice to leak, giving you the same effect as if you'd never washed them in the first place.

Washing your frozen berries isn't the only hack for making beautiful blueberry baked goods. Another pro tip for helping your dishes come out right is to pay attention to how long you mix the batter. The longer you mix, not only is the juice more likely to run, but the berries are more likely to sink to the bottom of your pan. Instead, fold in your berries until they're just distributed throughout the batter, and then pop it into the oven.

You can also get gorgeous blueberry goodies by coating your blueberries in flour before you bake. This helps them keep from sinking to the bottom of your baked goods, causing a blue, juicy mess on the bottom half and a barren and empty dish on the top half. Or, you could just replace frozen blueberries with dried blueberries, which avoids the problem of juice running and berries sinking altogether.

Next time you do some baking with blueberries, keep these tips in mind. And remember — always rinse your berries! Doing so could be the key to making drool-worthy dishes that friends and family just can't wait to eat.