Freezer Apple Pie Filling
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.
Repin Freezer Apple Pie Filling Here
This filing can be enjoyed on it’s own or on ice cream or it can be used in:
Apple Pie
Apple Crisp
Apple Pie Cookies
Apple Pie Egg Rolls
Apple Dump Cake
Or pretty much any other apple dessert you can imagine!
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!
Ingredients:
24 cups sliced peeled baking apples 6-7 lbs
3 tbsp lemon juice
4 1/2 cups sugar (I used half brown sugar, half white sugar)
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
10 cups water
Instructions:
In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; set aside. In a Dutch oven (large kettle works) over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.Add water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add apples; return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 6-8 minutes.Cool for 30 minutes. Ladle into freezer containers, leaving ½ inch headspace. Cool at room temperature no longer than 1 ½ hours. Seal and freeze; store for up to 12 months.
Recipe Notes
Okay, here are my tips. Instead of quart jars, I use gallon-sized freezer bags. Let the filling cool a bit before filling the bags (one quart per bag) and then flatten the bag to freeze it. This way, you can stack the boards” of filling in your freezer and slide one out when needed. Less space needed, and thethawing time is shorter. After thawing, I heat mine up on the stove or in the microwave before putting it in my pie crust, and dot it with butter before sealing the top crust. Along the same lines, you can stack and freeze your pie crusts. Roll them in your 8 or 9″ circles between wax paper, and stack them together in one of those two gallon freezer bags. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using!
