Apple Pie Filling

By Erin Jeanne McDowell

Updated Oct. 28, 2020

Apple Pie Filling
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(422)
Comments
Read comments

Many apple pies call for simply tossing cut apples with sugar, adding a thickening agent and some spices, and plopping it all into a crust. But precooking the apples has multiple advantages: First, it draws out some of their juices, to ensure consistency. (No undercooked apples or runny filling here!) And, second, it prevents the filling from sinking away from the crust as it cools, leaving a pocket of air between filling and crust. Use this all-purpose filling in a traditional pie, tiny hand-held pies, or in a cobbler. It can be made several days ahead, leaving just assembling and baking. 

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:6 cups (enough for 1 9-inch pie)
  • 4tablespoons/55 grams unsalted butter (½ stick)
  • 6 to 8medium apples, such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith or Gala, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch dice (about 6½ cups/1 kilogram)
  • 2tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 1½teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1cup/220 grams light or dark brown sugar
  • 1tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
  • ⅓cup/45 grams all-purpose flour
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

320 calories; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 54 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 229 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples, tossing to coat in the butter. Add lemon juice, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and stir to combine. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the apples start to soften, 5 to 6 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    In a small bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and flour. Add to the pot and stir well to combine. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Let the filling cool completely before using. (You can speed this process up by spreading it into an even layer on a baking sheet.) The filling will keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Ratings

4 out of 5
422 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Kristin

Very delicious, but there was far too much liquid in the filling to use in a full pie. After chilling, I strained the juices back into the pot and reduced them to about 1/3 cup (as Erin recommends for similar fruit pies). Then added the reduced syrupy stuff back to the apples. No soggy bottom!

Carin

For me this recipe yielded an unpleasantly gluey and over-spiced pie. Too much of everything -- sugar, cinnamon, ginger -- overwhelmed the flavor of the apple. I suggest cutting way back on all the ingredients, except the apples!

Stacy E.

This is an excellent template for making apple pie filling. I go all the way down to ~150 grams brown sugar + 60 grams granulated white sugar if I've got sweeter apples (Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, etc). I only use the full amounts if I've got a lot of Granny Smiths. If you're not sure, weigh out the brown sugar and add about half to the pot, pulling it off the heat and tasting as you go to see if it's sweet enough. Apples vary widely in sweetness, so it's worth taking your time with this step.

Clover

There was WAY too much liquid. I will strain next time as this made apple pie soup. The flavor was fantastic though.

Shreya

Made this for my apple pie and I definitely recommend halving the recipe, I used four apples and it came out really nice, family loved it

Ida

I've never used this particular pie filling, but I make my fillings when I have access to a variety of fresh from the tree apples. I mix it and allow it to juice out so the liquid comes out of the apples and reduces down from about 6 cups to almost 4. I then freeze the fillings. When I need to make a pie, I thaw the filling and stir before pouring into the crust. The process works beautifully.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.