How to Dry Blueberries

Dried fruits nourished American pioneers through their long winters. In Little House on the Prairie, Laura and Ma pick buckets of blackberries daily in the creek bottoms. Ma spreads them in the sunshine to dry.

We had never dried berries before. However, we have dried apples. So when my 8-year-old daughter asked if we could dry blueberries, how could I resist?

Did you notice the two URLs included on the watermark of the photo? Once I had a contract for my book and knew it would be called The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion, I changed the name of this website.

Using Ma's method as a starting point, we lined a cookie sheet (for easy moving) with cheesecloth. Then, we placed the blueberries on the cheesecloth and covered them with another cheesecloth. The cheesecloth protects the blueberries from bugs. Next we placed the blueberries in direct sunlight hoping for sun-dried blueberries. (If you're not familiar with cheesecloth, it's just a light and airy fabric.)

In the late evenings, we brought the blueberries indoors so dew would not cover them and returned them to the sun each morning.

I knew it would take at least several days to dry the blueberries. However, on day 4, they were still big, round, and juicy. Our days had been extremely humid, and I suspect the humidity prevented the blueberries from drying more effectively. I decided to use the oven to dry the blueberries before they went bad.

I removed the cheesecloth and baked the blueberries at 200° for many hours. I checked on the drying blueberries every two hours. When the blueberries were no longer juicy when squeezed, they are ready to be removed them from the oven. If you can, turn off the oven and leave the dried berries in the oven overnight (with the door closed) to ensure all moisture is gone. Baking times will need to be adjusted based on the size of the blueberries and their moisture content.

The dried blueberries tasted a lot like raisins. The children especially enjoyed them mixed with yogurt and granola.