Here is an awesome recipe to use up all those apples you have! Or just a great and inexpensive way to be prepared for the holidays!
When cutting the apples, I peeled them by hand and used an apple slicer/corer which gave me fairly thick chunks of apple! If you have an Apple Peeler/Slicer/Corer this will definitely speed things up but your slices will be much thinner. You will want to adjust the cooking time to about 5 minutes and the cooling with the lid to about 10-15 minutes. After the cooling period, you want to make sure your apples are not mushy… they should still have a very slight texture.
This filing can be enjoyed on its own or on ice cream or it can be used in:
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- Apple Pie
- Apple Crisp
- Apple Pie Cookies
- Apple Pie Egg Rolls
- Apple Dump Cake
- Or pretty much any other apple dessert you can imagine!
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It’s easy to make and tastes 100 times better than store bought apple pie filling. Technically, this will last about a year in the freezer… except it will be long gone before then!
Items you’ll need for this recipe:
* Apples * Freezer Bags * Cinnamon *
Freezer Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 7 pounds apples approx. 22-24 cups (I used granny smith as it tends to hold up well in baking)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- Zest & juice the lemon and set aside.
- Peel and slice apples fairly thick (about 8 slices per apple.) Toss apple slices with lemon juice & zest, and set aside.
- In a large pot, combine both sugars, corn starch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and water. Bring to a boil while whisking over medium-high heat and let boil 2 minutes until thick and bubbly. Stir in apple slices and cover.
- Reduce heat to low and let simmer 10 minutes or until apples begin to soften. They do not need to be completely cooked! Remove from heat and cover. Let cool about 30-40 minutes, checking periodically. Your apples should be soft but not mushy.
- Ladle equal amounts into 4-5 freezer bags. (approx 2 ½ cups into each bag.)
- Let cool on the counter and then freeze for up to one year.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert, Pie
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A few questions:
Q: Is the whole lemon mandatory or can we just use lemon juice and if so how much do we use?
A: You can eliminate the lemon and zest and replace with 3 tablespoons lemon juice.
Q: Will any variety of apple work in this recipe or does it have to be Granny Smith?
A: Any variety will work. The key is making sure the apples don’t get too soft. Certain varieties will soften more than others, only leave them covered as long as it takes for them to soften. Once they are soft and not mushy, spoon them into the bags.
Here are a few more recipes you’ll love
* Apple Pie Egg Rolls * Apple Pie Tacos * Apple Pie Roll Ups *
Adapted for sweetness, flavor and consistency from Allrecipes.com
After thawing the apple pie filling do I have to drain the excess juices so the pie crust does not get soggy while baking?
If you have a lot of excess liquid it can be drained.
To make sure your boiled liquids do not get clumpy use the whisk. If you use a wooden spoon it will not mix as well. If you want added flavor I substituted some apple cider that was fresh pressed. That was really yummy. Love this recipe!
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
Hi Rebecca, I haven’t tried this recipe in a slow cooker but I think it would work well. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
My filling is also gelled, even after thawing and baking. I have used them anyway because I don’t like to waste, the taste isn’t bad,it’s just a weird texture with the gelled filling. I’ll be trying a new recipe this year.
I’m sorry to hear that Kelly. It will seem to be gelled once defrosted, due to the cornstarch, but we’ve had great success baking this from frozen.
Excellent recipe! The lemon zest really makes the apples pop. Will use this again.
I lucked into over a bushel of Northern Spy apples this fall and have just finished making 4 batches of this recipe, prepped for 16 deep-dish pies. The 2 sample pies I made resulted in rave reviews from my family. It’s a simple recipe, especially as I didn’t bother peeling the apples, and I selected it because it had less sugar than others. It still seems very sweet. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I just made my first batch of pie filling. It smelled so good as it was cooking, my husband ran out and bought pie pre made pie crusts. I unrolled them, filled the pie crust, topped it and it is in the oven baking now. Can’t wait to try a warm apple pie!! The filling is wonderful so I expect to love the pie. Thank you for a wonderful, easy recipe with normal ingredients. This is a keeper for sure!!!
Thanks for leaving a comment, Doreen! Let us know how it turns out for you!
Freezer Pie filling is delicious and easy but please note the size of freezer bag you used.
You can use any size of freezer bag that you have. I usually use a 1 quart bag. Enjoy Carla!
Fantastic! It’s just the way I had hoped it would be. Not too sweet, and very tangy. Your recipe has the least amount of sugar on the web. At least from a quick search. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers. They probably tweaked the recipe. I only had about 3 1/2 pounds of apples, so I halved the recipe and it worked great. It filled three quart size freezer bags. Thanks, Holly!
I made this exactly as written and ended up with enough for 4 pies and a 8×8 size pan apple crisp. The apple crisp was so flavorful and my family loved it. I used green apples from my Moms tree. It was easy as pie!
So glad you love the pie filling!
This pie filling is congealed and not cooking up well at all. Your recipe doesn’t say how to actually use the filling so I put it in the cooked pie crust cold and put it in the oven. It was smooth when I put the filling in the freezer bag a few days ago. This is the worst pie right now. Why isn’t it flowing nicely? Your apple pie recipe states you don’t need cornstarch but this recipe calls for 1 cup of cornstarch. Is that why this is all gloppy?
I am sorry to hear that Margaret, we have had great success with this recipe. Once defrosted you would use the apple pie filling as directed in the recipe you are preparing. If the cornstarch was fully mixed into the apple pie mixture that shouldn’t be what is causing it to be gloppy. But I have never had that issue so I am sorry I can’t be of more help.
Making the filling worked great. Tastes delish~! I haven’t tried it from frozen yet.