Homemade Apple Pie Filling
Submitted by donna3
Homemade apple pie filling cooks down sliced apples with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon for canning or freezing. Six-pound batch of filling that yields enough for multiple pies.
YIELD
36 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
3 hrsHomemade apple pie filling lets you stash a whole bushel of fall apples for pies and crisps all the way through spring. Six pounds of apples, sliced and tossed with sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg, sit until they release their juice, then a quick stovetop simmer thickens everything into pourable filling ready to go straight into a crust.
The sit-and-release step matters. Letting the sugared apples macerate 30 minutes before cooking pulls out their natural juice and dissolves the sugar without adding water. That concentrated juice cooks down into the syrupy gel that defines great pie filling.
Flour as the thickener gives a soft cloudy gel. ClearJel or instant tapioca work better for canning if you plan to keep this on shelves longer than a few months.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a mix of tart and sweet apples for layered flavor. Granny Smith plus Honeycrisp is the classic combo.
- Treat sliced apples in lemon water (1 tablespoon lemon juice per quart) to prevent browning before cooking
- Leave a half-inch headspace in jars or containers. The filling expands as it freezes.
- Cool fully before sealing or moisture trapped in the lid drips back and waters down the filling
- One quart fills a 9-inch pie with room to spare
Variations
- Swap brown sugar for half the white sugar for deeper caramel notes in the finished pie
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or a pinch of cardamom for extra fragrance
- Stir in ½ cup of dried cranberries or raisins per batch for a holiday version
Ingredients
Directions
Wash, peel, core and slice apples. Treat to prevent darkening. Combine sugar, flour and spices. Rinse and drain apples; stir into sugar mixture. Let stand until juice begins to flow, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.
Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Ladle pie filling into canor-freeze jars or plastic freezer boxes, leaving ½-inch headspace. Cool at room temperature, not to exceed 2 hours. Seal, label and freeze.
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