Blueberry Pie Bagel
Wild blueberries folded into sourdough with a hint of vanilla. It really does taste like blueberry pie — and it has become a fan favorite for kids and the young at heart.
Why It Actually Tastes Like Pie
We did not call it “Blueberry Pie” as a gimmick. The name came from customers who kept saying it. Three specific elements work together to create the pie experience in bagel form.
Wild Blueberries
We use wild blueberries, not the cultivated kind you find in grocery stores. Wild blueberries are smaller, more intensely flavored, and have a higher skin-to-flesh ratio, which means more of that deep, concentrated blueberry taste in every bite. When they bake into the sourdough, they burst and create swirls of purple-blue throughout the crumb — little pockets of fruit that release their juice when you bite through them.
A Hint of Vanilla
This is the ingredient that pushes the Blueberry Pie bagel from "blueberry bagel" into "pie" territory. A careful measure of real vanilla is worked into the dough, adding a warm, sweet background note that mimics the vanilla you would find in a classic blueberry pie filling. It is subtle — you might not identify it immediately — but take it away and the whole thing falls flat.
The Sourdough Crust
Think about what makes a great blueberry pie: the contrast between the sweet, jammy filling and the buttery, slightly salty crust. Our sourdough base plays that same role. The tangy, chewy exterior of the bagel acts as the "crust," providing the savory, structured counterpoint to the sweet blueberry interior. This contrast is what makes people say it actually tastes like pie.
Blueberry Pie
Pie for breakfast. Absolutely.
For Kids & the Young at Heart
The Blueberry Pie bagel has become the unofficial kids' bagel at Dan's. And we say that with pride, because our goal was never to make a dumbed-down bagel for children. We made a bagel that happens to appeal to the same part of your brain that loves blueberry pie, and it turns out that instinct does not have an age limit.
Watch a kid take their first bite of a Blueberry Pie bagel and you will see genuine delight — eyes wide, purple crumbs on their chin, immediately asking for another one. Watch a parent take a bite of the same bagel and you will see something very similar. The sweetness is real but not cloying, the blueberry flavor is intense but not artificial, and the sourdough base keeps it grounded in what a bagel is supposed to be.
We have had families tell us that the Blueberry Pie bagel is the reason their kids started eating bagels, which led to them trying the plain, which led to them trying the everything, which led to them becoming full-blown bagel people. The Blueberry Pie is a gateway — the friendly, approachable entry point to the world of real sourdough bagels. We will take that role gladly.
The beautiful purple-blue color of the crumb comes entirely from the wild blueberries. There are no artificial colors, no dyes, no tricks. When you cut a Blueberry Pie bagel in half, the cross-section looks like a work of art — swirls of deep purple through golden dough, studded with whole berries that burst with juice. It is as photogenic as it is delicious, which is why it is one of the most shared bagels on social media.
“My kid calls it the purple bagel. She has it every Saturday. I have it every Saturday too. I just pretend it is for her.”
Perfect Pairings
The Blueberry Pie bagel is sweet enough to enjoy on its own, but these cream cheese pairings take it to the next level.
Blueberry Cream Cheese
For the blueberry maximalist, our house-made Blueberry cream cheese on a Blueberry Pie bagel is an unabashed celebration of the berry. The cream cheese is made with real wild blueberries, so you get a double dose of fruit flavor. The tanginess of the cream cheese balances the sweetness of the bagel, keeping it from becoming cloying. This is the combination for people who believe that if something is good, more of it is better.
Strawberry Cream Cheese
Strawberry and blueberry together create a mixed-berry experience that is bright, fresh, and summery regardless of the season. The strawberry cream cheese brings a tartness that plays beautifully against the deeper, more jammy sweetness of the baked-in blueberries. This is the pairing we recommend when someone says they want something fruity and fun.
Plain Cream Cheese
If you want to taste the full Blueberry Pie experience without any interference, plain cream cheese is the way to go. The clean, tangy cream cheese acts as a neutral canvas that lets the blueberry and vanilla flavors of the bagel shine. You get the full "pie" effect — the sweetness, the fruit, the vanilla — with just enough cool creaminess to tie it all together.
Pie for Breakfast? Absolutely.
The Blueberry Pie bagel is proof that a bagel can be playful and serious at the same time. It is made with the same sourdough craftsmanship as our Plain, the same boil and bake process as our Everything, but with wild blueberries and vanilla that turn it into something that feels like dessert disguised as breakfast. Life is too short to eat boring bagels. Start your morning with something that makes you smile.
“Tastes like pie in bagel form. That is not marketing — that is what our customers keep telling us.”
— Dan Hilbert, on naming the Blueberry Pie bagel