Apple Pie Filling

Article by Layla Khoury-Hanold

Our apple pie filling recipe is so easy and flavorful, you may never go back to canned apple pie filling again. After you've gone apple picking, make a big batch of it and store it in the fridge or freezer until you have time to make pies—or spoon it over your bowl of morning oatmeal. With our simple apple pie filling recipe, you’ll learn the best apple varieties to use for a sweet-tart flavor and how to achieve a gooey yet firm texture, plus what to make with all those apple peels and cores.

How to Make Apple Pie Filling Like A Pro

Reach for sweet-tart apples for the best flavor. Food Network Kitchen recipe developer Julian Plovnick recommends seasonal apple varieties like Cortland, Golden Delicious or Mutsu, but Pink Lady, Braeburn and Granny Smith apples are great year-round choices too.

Slice apples uniformly to ensure even cooking. Prep apples into uniform ¼ inch wedges, an ideal size that will cook down to a soft texture but still have bite.

Add warming spices for an autumnal flavor profile. Reach for a duo of ground cinnamon and cloves to impart toasty, sweet-spicy notes to complement the apples’ sweetness.

Use white and brown sugar to add flavor depth. White and brown sugar both help sweeten the apple pie filling, but light brown sugar also contains molasses, which adds a caramel-like sweetness, rich flavor and moisture.

Let apples hang out to allow spices to meld. Allowing the apples to sit at room temperature as they cool lets them mingle with the sugars and spices and ensures that the flavors are absorbed into the fruit.

Add lemon juice for a hit of acid. Lemon juice helps prevent the apples from turning brown and also adds a bright flavor note.

Thicken the apple slices’ juices to avoid a soggy crust. Whisking cornstarch into the drained apples’ juices ensures that the apples bake up with a gooey texture without adversely affecting the pie crust texture.

Don't overcook the apples. It’s better to slightly undercook apples than overcook them. “They should be soft enough to be eaten as a topping on ice cream or pancakes, but firm enough that they won’t fall apart when baked inside a pie," Plovnick says.

Best Apples for Apple Pie

The best apples for apple pie are any sweet-tart baking apple. Plovnick recommends fall seasonal varieties such as Cortland, Golden Delicious or Mutsu (also known as Crispin), but since they can be harder to find year-round, Pink Lady, Braeburn or Granny Smith apples are good options that are more readily available.

Plovnick shares that sweet-tart apple varieties also have a higher acid content, which helps prevent them from oxidizing too quickly when peeled, and helps them retain their structure when cooked, yielding a firm yet gooey texture.

Apple Pie Filling Storage

Apple pie filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 6 months. Be sure to let the apple pie filling cool before storing, use an airtight container and date and label the container with the contents.

Recipes Using Apple Pie Filling

One of the reasons why we opted for a cooked apple pie filling versus a raw apple pie filling is because of its versatility. Use cooked apple pie filling as a topping for pancakes, waffles and ice cream sundaes, mix it into cake or muffin batter, use it to make apple crisp or crumble or to stuff French toast or turnovers. Or, obviously, use it to make a gorgeous apple pie.

What to Do with Apple Peels and Cores

Don’t toss those apple scraps! Reduce food waste and use apple peels and cores to make apple simple syrup, tea and sugar. Here, Plovnick shares three easy apple recipes to use up apple peels and cores.

Make apple simple syrup.

Cover apple skins, cores and desired spices with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain, then return liquid to stove with 2:1 ratio of sugar (1/2 cup of sugar to 1 cup liquid). Cook until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Make apple tea.

Add apple skins and cores to a medium saucepan and cover with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off heat and add whole spices, then let steep 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain and drink iced or reheat for hot tea.

Make apple sugar.

Arrange peels on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in a cold oven. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes, or until apple peels are dried and crisp. Turn the oven off and let peels cool down in oven. Once cool, blend apple peels with granulated sugar until well combined.