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 *
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 granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground 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 keep covered. 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
I Have frozen apple pie filling. I Have ready made pie crust. Have taken Both out of freezer to thaw. Please tell me time and temperature to cook. Also, do I precook the pie crust before putting the pie filling in? Thank you!
I cooked mine at 375 for about 40 minutes (until the crust is browned). Because the filling is cooked, you just want to make sure the crust is cooked (no need to prebake)! Be sure the filling is defrosted before baking.
Thank you for this information. This was my only question. The Filling can out great, I fill 5 freezer bags. Ready to bake for Thanksgiving!! I’ll keep you posted.
My first try at this. I had planned to can the filling, but would rather do this. I have sure gel. How much should I use instead of cornstarch. Thanks
Hi Gena, we have only made this recipe as listed so I am not sure. Maybe another reader will be able to help.
Thank you!! I am a ‘Little” older than you and didn’t know Apple Pie Filling could be frozen. My trees are loaded now and have to do something. Too hot to do the traditional canning thing. A little searching and bingo, there you were. Printed your recipe and another bingo, larger print that I can see without the BIG glasses. Thank you again. Will let you know how it turns out later this week once the job is done. Just thought a note of thanks was needed.
I hope you love the filling Shirley! Thanks so much for stopping by!
I did thaw it before hand but it was like a gel in the bag that I had froze it in. I baked it anyway but peering through the lattice top it appears to still be gelled? Did I use too much cornstarch? I used the same amount in the recipe though? I’m starting to think that maybe I should have just made it from scratch and then used it right away like I normally do vs freezing it…
Yes, it will seem to be gelled once defrosted, this is the nature of the cornstarch. I’ve had great success baking this from frozen so once baked hopefully you a lovely pie just as you expect.
I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago and I’m about to make an apple pie for Thanksgiving. My question is do I fully thaw the filling before baking it in the pie?
I would thaw it as sometimes recipes with cornstarch can seep a little bit of liquid as they defrost.
Roughly how many apples is 7lbs? I have 8 large Granny Smiths and is like to try this filling. Not sure if cutting the recipe in half would be too little?
7 lbs of apples roughly translates to 14 large apples, 21 medium apples, or 28 small apples.
I’ve made a recipe similar to this but when I take it out of the freezer and use it, the bottom crust seems soggy. Is there a way to avoid that? Thank you.
I sometimes add a sprinkle of flour/sugar to the bottom of the pie crust before adding the filling with my rhubarb pie (maybe a tablespoon of each or so), if you try it, let me know how it works!
Food thickened with regular corn starch commonly seperates after freezing and thawing you should use Waxy Maize Starch(a modified cornstarch) to avoid this problem. It’s easily found in health food stores
Thanks for the tip Alex!
I saw someone had asked if you can you use flour instead of cornstarch? No response was given..
We use cornstarch for this recipe. If you try with flour, please let us know how it works for you!
Do u use flour or cornstartch for a little thickening and how much per pie ??
How many cups of filling do you use per pie to freeze ??
Recipe was spot-on for flavour and consistency.
I am so glad you liked this recipe!
Made it, Luv it
Can I use pears instead?
I have been reading all the comments on freezing pie filling. All this seems like alot of work. I do what my mom did. Make pie (apple or other type of fruit or pumpkin etc ) and make it in a tin foil pie plate. Use your favorite recipie and bake it. cool, put another tin foil or a paper plate on top, face down to protect the pie from gettig crushed in, wrap in tin foil and place in a freezer bag, remove as much air from bag as you can and freeze. To use, set out on counter, unwrapped, to thaw. Serve
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
Freezing just the filling in a ziplock takes up much less space in the freezer. It also allows the cook to use the filling in more ways than just making a pie. That’s why I feeeze pie filling.
I had apple pie filling that I made from scratch in my freezer for 4 years. I thawed it in my frig for about 4 days, would you say it would be safe to make my Apple pie?
4 years is a long time to keep pie filling so I’m not sure if it would still be good. Even if it cooks fine, the flavor may be off.
here is a great idea,,,line a pie plate with Saran wrap, pour in your filling, place more wrap on top & freeze in zip lock bag…now your pie is easy to take out & remove wrap & place into pie dough pie plate…I usually buy the same size of tin foil plates as my pie plate I will use…add a topping for Dutch apple pie & slide into oven…DONE …is good for most fruits to do same…freeze them for up to 1 yr…takes 3 min to get your pie in the oven & bake it as you would if using the zip lock bags…
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
Hi Holly.
Thanks for the recipe.
I still have to ask a question : ” 7 lbs apples” means this “7 ibs cross weight” (with apple peel, core case .. ) or “net weight” ( peeled … ) ?
Great question, 7 lbs with the peel and core etc.
Yes, to Karen. You can use Splenda–works the same. My aunt made pies like this all the time for her di
diabetic husband.
To Janet Rotundo, the tapioca in that quantity flavors the filling.
Can you use Splenda instead of sugar and splenda brown sugar.
I have only made this recipe as written so I can’t say for sure.
How do you stop the apples turning brown while you are peeling them?
Mine don’t generally turn brown but you can dip them in a bowl of water with lemon juice added.