This homemade apple pie filling is made with sliced Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, spices and butter, all simmered together until thickened. The best pie filling that also works great for a variety of other desserts and pastries.
Apple pie filling from scratch tastes SO much better than the canned version and can be used in everything from fried apple pies to cream cheese danishes.
Fall is here and there is an abundance of apples at the stores, which means it’s time to make apple pie! Or in this case, homemade apple pie filling. I’m not so good with pie crusts, so typically I purchase the crust and load it full of my own apple pie filling for an amazing fall treat.
Apple Pie Filling Ingredients
This recipe contains apples, lemon juice, water, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter.
How do you make apple pie filling?
Start by coating your apple slices in a little lemon juice to keep them from browning. Make the sauce by placing the sugars, water, cornstarch and spices in a pan, then bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the apples and cook until the apples are tender. Add a little butter, then you’ll be ready to make your pie or other apple treats.
Tips for perfect results
- You can cut your apples into any size or shape that you like, just be sure to cut them uniformly so that they all cook at the same rate.
- Need ideas on how to use this filling? Check out my amazing Dutch apple pie recipe.
- Freshly grated nutmeg has so much more flavor than the pre-ground variety. Whole nutmegs keep for years when stored in a cool dry location, so buy a bottle and shave off a little nutmeg as needed for your dishes.
- I use butter in this pie filling because it makes the finished product taste a little richer. You can omit it if you prefer.
- Homemade pie filling can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months
Recipe FAQs
For apple pie, you want apples that will hold their shape and have a nice well rounded flavor. I use Granny Smith apples for this apple pie filling because they stay firm after being cooked and they have a tart flavor that works well with the sweetness of the brown sugar. You can use other apple varieties for this recipe, such as Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples.
I recommend making apple pie filling rather than just placing raw apples into a pie shell. When you make your own filling ahead of time, you can better control the consistency of the filling, as well as how soft the apples are. If you simply place apples and sugar in a pan, you won’t exactly know how much liquid the apples will release when cooked, or if they’ll come out tough.
This homemade apple pie filling is made with sliced Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, spices and butter, all simmered together until thickened.
Flavor Variations
While this filling is fabulous as-is, you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Fall Fruit Filling: Use half apples and half pears in the recipe.
- Cranberry Apple Filling: Add 1/2 cup of dried cranberries to the pan when you add the sliced apples.
- Caramel Apple Filling: Omit 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Stir 1/3 cup of caramel sauce into the filling during the last 2 minutes of the cooking time.
Now that I’ve had homemade pie filling, I’ll never be able to go back to the store bought kind. The flavor of this version is SO much better, so even if you have to cheat and use a pre-made pie crust like I do, you’ll still end up with an amazing pie.
More delicious apple recipes
Apple Pie Filling Video
Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients
- 4 cups apples peeled and thinly sliced, I used Granny Smith
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground if possible
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Drizzle the lemon juice over the apple slices.
- Place the water, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large pan.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute or until just thickened.
- Add the apples to the pan and stir to coat with the sauce. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the apples have softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add the butter to the pan and stir until it has melted.
- Cool the apple filling for 10 minutes, then transfer it to containers and refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to use it.
Notes
- You can cut your apples into any size or shape that you like, just be sure to cut them uniformly so that they all cook at the same rate.
- Need ideas on how to use this filling? Check out my amazing Dutch apple pie recipe.
- Homemade pie filling can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months
Lubna says
Looks droolworthy… I can feel the taste on my tongue by seeing the pics….
Jess says
Never buying store-bought again!!
Amy says
You can’t beat apple pie and this filling is so tasty!
Chenée says
I never knew it could be so easy to make my own apple pie filling! Thank you for this recipe!
Kathleen says
This apple pie filling looks incredible. I want to eat it by the spoonful.
Claudia Lamascolo says
I love apple anything, this is perfect we just got a bushel and it couldn’t have better timing I am going to try this tomorrow! thanks
Trista Wapachee says
What’s the crust on the top?
Sara says
This crust: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/dutch-apple-pie/
Kylie says
Help! I doubled the recipe for two pies, and overnight in the fridge it turned into jello! I’m not sure how this happened and I’ve tried reheating it and adding more water but it’s still holding the jelly consistency
Sara says
It sounds like maybe too much corn starch was added as I haven’t seen something like this happen before! How did you reheat it?
Kylie says
I put the filling back on the stove, first at low heat to see if it would help anything, and then on medium high to see if I could remelt the jelly-like bits