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 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
There are some very good apple pie filling recipes online. This was the first one I tried and I don’t see a need to try any others; this one’s very good. HOWEVER, it got four stars rather than five, not for the recipe itself but for a few things which should have been noted but weren’t. They would have made the process much smoother and less frustrating (I bit my lip and my tongue a lot).
1. When she says large pot, she means LARGE pot. Not a dutch oven; way too small.
2. Recipe calls for six cups of water. Use one cup of that as cold water and mix with the cup of cornstarch into a slurry. Then add the remaining five cups of water and other ingredients. Otherwise you will end up with clumps of cornstarch; not pretty.
3. Depending on the size of your apple slices ten minutes may not be enough time to cook them down.
4. Do not set your time for ten minutes and leave them to simmer. Stir them well a few times during that time or however long it takes your apples to soften. Otherwise the mixture will begin to burn and the apples on top won’t soften as much as they need to.
5. I added ½ tsp of allspice; yummy!
People who put recipes online need to give a thought to those of us who are not accomplished cooks and bear in mind tips that will make our efforts to use their recipes successful. Please don’t assume we know things that people who’ve been cooking most of their lives know. Think it through before you put it online. As I said, that’s why I’m only giving four stars. But when all was said and done (WELL over an hour and 11 minutes) in and of itself, this is a five star recipe. Can’t wait to bake a pie!
Thank you for your feedback Bonnie. I am glad you enjoyed the end results! Thanks for trying our recipe.
fast, easy, delicious and convenient for use. freezes well in gallon freezer bags.
Very delicious. I used three varieties of apples for a richer taste. The calories listed are for filling one pie? I find it hard to believe that the filling for one pie is only 118 calories. LOL If you meant per slice, how many slices are you saying are in one pie?
Thanks
This makes 4 pies, each pie with 8 servings. The nutritional information is for 1 serving (without crust).