Peak season, peak value

July sits right in the heart of North American blueberry season, which makes National Blueberry Day one of the best-timed fruit holidays on the calendar. This is when the berries taste their brightest and cost the least, so it is the month to buy them by the pint and eat them by the handful. Look for berries that are plump and firm with a silvery-white bloom, the natural dusty coating that signals freshness. Avoid containers with any soft, leaking, or shriveled berries hiding at the bottom.

Freeze a summer’s worth

Because blueberries are cheap and abundant in July, this is the smart moment to stock the freezer. They freeze better than almost any other berry and lose little in the process. Spread them out unwashed in a single layer on a sheet pan, freeze them until solid, then transfer them to bags so they stay loose instead of clumping into a brick. Rinse them only when you are ready to use them. You will be pulling out farmers-market berries for muffins and smoothies long after the season ends.

Bake them without the sink

Anyone who has made blueberry muffins knows the disappointment of finding all the berries fused into a purple layer at the bottom. The fix is almost too simple: before folding the berries into your batter, toss them with a spoonful of the recipe’s dry flour. The light coating gives the batter something to grip and helps suspend the berries evenly through the muffin or pancake instead of letting them sink. It costs nothing and works every time.

Not just for dessert

Blueberries are genuinely nutrient-dense, high in fiber and rich in the antioxidant pigments that give them their deep blue-purple color, which makes a daily handful one of the easier good habits to keep. But do not box them into breakfast and dessert. Simmered with a splash of vinegar into a quick pan sauce, they are excellent over pork or duck, and scattered fresh over a salad with goat cheese and toasted nuts, their tartness plays beautifully against salt and fat. They also freeze into little pops or fold into pancakes with almost no effort, which makes them one of the most flexible fruits in the kitchen. However you eat them, National Blueberry Day is best celebrated with the good in-season berries, straight from the carton.

How to celebrate

  1. 1
    Buy in peak season

    July is the heart of blueberry season in North America, which means the best flavor and the lowest prices of the year. Look for plump, firm berries with a silvery-white bloom, the natural coating that signals freshness and has not been rubbed off.

  2. 2
    Freeze a flat

    Blueberries freeze beautifully and cheaply in summer. Spread them unwashed in a single layer, freeze until solid, then bag them. Rinse just before using. You will have farmers-market berries for smoothies and muffins all winter.

  3. 3
    Bake without sinking

    To keep blueberries from all sinking to the bottom of muffins or pancakes, toss them in a spoonful of the dry flour before folding them into the batter. The light coating helps suspend them evenly.

  4. 4
    Eat them for the nutrition

    Blueberries are genuinely one of the more nutrient-dense fruits, rich in fiber and the antioxidant pigments that give them their deep color. A handful on yogurt or oatmeal is one of the easier healthy habits to actually keep up.

  5. 5
    Try them savory

    Blueberries are not only for dessert. Simmer them into a quick sauce with a splash of vinegar for pork or duck, or scatter fresh ones over a salad with goat cheese and nuts. Their tartness plays well against salt and fat.