Homemade Apple Pie Filling with an exquisite buttery flavour that’s freezer friendly and easy to make. This will be your go-to filling for all those beautiful pies, tarts, or even ice cream toppings.
I love everything about the versatility of apple desserts, so it was a no brainer when it came to crafting the perfect Apple Pie Filling for all my cravings. This decadent recipe combines the best of all: butter, cinnamon and apples. It always takes me back to those cold weekends in my childhood when my mom used to bake apple pies, making the whole house smell absolutely divine.
Apple Pie Filling
Having it accessible in the freezer is the best thing about it. Basically everything is ready to go whenever that sweet craving hits you on a chilly gloomy afternoon. Or even in the summer time!
With only 8 easy and accessible ingredients (that you most likely have lying around your pantry right now) there’s nothing standing in your way of making this tasty filling anytime. And have I told you about the 10 minute cooking time? Yeah, it’s THAT EASY!
Ingredient Notes
- Apples – Best apples to use for apple pie filling are Granny Smith Apples, Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious.
- Lemon – I personally prefer lemons that have a thinner peel just so they’re juicier and about half of a medium sized lemon will give you enough juice needed for this. It will prevent the apples from oxidizing and gives the dish a nice tart flavor as well.
- Butter – Melted unsalted butter will create that soft creamy texture in the filling, thus giving the dish even more flavor.
- Cinnamon – Yes, I know some of you are not big fans of cinnamon and you can definitely make this kind of filling without it, but please trust me on this beautiful powder blends all the ingredients together so well, you won’t want to miss that final touch.
- Brown sugar – I love to use brown sugar for the filling to give it that darker tone as well as a delicious caramelized flavor.
How To Make Apple Pie Filling
- Slice and prepare the apples: Peel, core and slice your apples. Drizzle the lemon juice over the apples to prevent oxidation.
- Cook the pie filling: In a large skillet add cinnamon and butter and melt over a medium heat. After the butter has melted, add the apples, brown sugar, water and salt and stir well. Cover the skillet and cook on medium heat for another 5 minutes or until you notice the apple slices beginning to soften.
- Thicken the pie filling: In a small bowl combine the cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Add to the skillet and stir them in. Continue to cook until the apples are soft but not mushy and the liquid has thickened, about 1 minute. Take from the heat and allow to cool completely.
- Store: Store into jars or freeze in plastic bags. I was able to fill 4 12 oz jars.
FAQs and Expert Tips
FAQs
Best apples to use for apple pie filling are Granny Smith Apples, Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious.
It kind of depends on how chunky you like your apples, but usually I like them sliced 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch in thickness. Just make sure they’re uniform, so they’ll cook evenly.
So many things. Besides the obvious apple pie, you can make apple pie taquitos, apple pie tart, churro apple pie cookies, apple pie bombs, use it as topping on ice creams, etc.!
Tips
- You can cut your apples to the thickness you like, just make sure they’re all cut the same size, so they cook evenly.
- Don’t shy away from cinnamon or even other spices. A little bit of fresh nutmeg can elevate the flavor of this filling.
- If you don’t like using cornstarch, feel free to omit it, I just like a thicker filling, but don’t worry, even without the cornstarch the mixture will thicken more as it cools.
Storage
- Store this apple pie filling in glass jars or airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Your Apple Pie Filling is good to be stored in the freezer for 3-4 months at a time so you can even make a double batch since you know you can benefit from it whenever you wish.
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Apple Pie Filling
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 medium apples
- 1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup butter unsalted
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Prep the apples: Peel, core and slice your apples. Drizzle the lemon juice over the apples to prevent oxidation.
- Cook the apples with cinnamon butter: Add the butter and cinnamon to a large skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, water, and salt; stir well. Cover the skillet and cook for another 5 minutes or until the apples have started to soften.
- Thicken the filling: In a small bowl combine the cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Add to the skillet and stir. Continue to cook until the apples are soft but not mushy and the liquid has thickened, about 1 minute. Cool completely.
- Store: Store into jars or freeze in plastic bags. I was able to fill 4 12 oz jars.
Recipe Notes
- You can cut your apples to the thickness you like, just make sure they’re all cut the same size, so they cook evenly.
- Don’t shy away from cinnamon or even other spices. A little bit of fresh nutmeg can elevate the flavor of this filling.
- If you don’t like using cornstarch, feel free to omit it, i just like a thicker filling, but don’t worry, even without the cornstarch the mixture will thicken more as it cools.
- Store in glass jars or airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Your Apple Pie Filling is good to be stored in the freezer for 3-4 months at a time so you can even make a double batch since you know you can benefit from it whenever you wish.
Hi! I´m loving this recipe! did you try to preserve it? I mean like you do with a jam
No, I haven’t, but you can!
My freezer gets very full every summer. Can I can this and still get the same delicious result?
Yes, you can! The only tip I have is instead of using cornstarch if canning for a long time, use a canning thickener like ClearJell.
Could you possibly pressure can this?
Yes, you can! The only tip I have is instead of using cornstarch if canning, use a canning thickener like ClearJell.
I love the idea of using this filling for an apple pie. I looked at your apple pie recipe that you linked in this post and it uses fresh apples like traditional pie. Can you share with me how to use the prepared filling for a pie? I have cooked so many of your recipes but my all-time favorite is the lemon pepper baked wings!
Hi Karen! So you’d use it the same, that recipe is actually using the apples uncooked, whereas here they are cooked a bit. However, I would still bake the pie for an hour because you want to make sure the crust is cooked and nicely browned.
I’m just curious if the pie filling is still gelled after freezing when using the cornstarch ? I once made cherry pie filling with cornstarch, froze it, then thawed it just enough to put in the pie crust and baked it. When I cut into the baked pie it ran like it had no thickener. Someone explained that this was because I used cornstarch. Is this true?
That’s interesting, I’ve never had that problem before. I have some in the freezer now, but we’ll let you know once we thaw it out, just to make sure.
Hi Renee! So I’ve been doing a little reading on this and apparently cornstarch does break down after a time, so if you want to freeze this for a long time, you are better off using something like ClearJell which is a canning thickener. Like I said though, I’ve never problems, but I never froze for really long times either. Let me know what happens if you try it.