Caramel Apple Pie Filling
Apple desserts are far and away my favorite fruit based desserts. Apple pie is pretty much the only fruit based pie I will eat (willingly and happily) and the only one I make somewhat regularly. I like apples on top of cheesecakes, waffles, vanilla or caramel ice cream and stacks of pancakes; I also like apples added to pancake, muffin and bread batters, swirled into coffee cake and cheesecake batters – I think you get the idea.
I’ve found that apple pie filling is the one of the best ways to incorporate apples into all of these places. The apples are already cooked, seasoned and suspended in a delicious syrup that adds texture and flavor (especially for toppings). However, I am not a fan of the store bought apple pie fillings. Usually the apples are cooked more than I would like and there is very little flavor to the syrup component – in short, they tend to be a bit insipid. Therefore, I always make my own, even if I only need a small amount. Over the years I have made many apple pie filling recipes (or thrown something together last minute that resembled apple pie filling 🙂). Of them all, this Caramel Apple Pie Filling is my absolute favorite and has become my go to recipe for any dessert that requires apple pie filling.
Why, you might ask, do I like this apple pie filling so much? Well, let me tell you…
- Intense apple flavor – there is no water added to this recipe, all of the liquid is juice released from cooking the apples, with the exception of a very small amount of apple cider/juice used in making the cornstarch slurry.
- Caramel flavor – caramel sugar, brown sugar and caramel syrup all provide a toasty, deep caramel flavor to the syrup component of this filling
- Spice – the warm spices are definitely present, but they do not overwhelm the caramel apple base of the filling
- Texture – the apples are soft without being mushy, they retain a bit of a bite to them. When baked into a pie or tart, this filling will hold its shape when sliced, even in a deep dish pie – it still has that “goo” to it but it does not run all over the plate or leak out into the pie dish.
- Versatility – if you like to do pie filling mash-ups, maybe mixing some berries into your apple pie filling, that works well here too. My favorite mash-up is cranberry-apple.
If you’ve jumped ahead to the recipe, you might have noticed that I don’t specify a type of apple to use in this recipe. I know that a lot of recipes do specify, but I find that is really up to personal preference. Personally, I like to mix a number of different apple varieties into my filling, I think this provides the most well rounded and balanced flavor. I’ll often include a selection of Granny Smith, Opal or Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Cosmic Crisp, Sugar Bee, Ambrosia, Jazz, or Honeycrisp. You want to choose apples that hold up well to cooking and baking and that run the gamut from sweet to tart. There are a plethora of apple variety guides out there, but I’m fond of this one: The Little Shine: Types of Apples and Uses
I do want to note, as written, this is definitely a bulk apple pie filling recipe. The yield is right around 5 quarts of apple pie filling. But I much prefer a higher filling to crust ratio than a standard pie. Even my slab pies get the fruit filling mounded up and packed in. For me, this recipe is just right to fill a 15 x 10 inch slab pie, and is only a little too much for a deep dish, mile high, 9 1/2 to 10 inch pie. You can always choose to cut down the recipe, or you can make the full recipe and can any excess for future use.
Caramel Apple Pie Filling
Equipment
- large deep skillet (about 7qt)
- small bowl
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp apple cider or apple juice (water is an option of last resort)
- 8 tbsp butter
- 15 large apples peeled and cored and either chopped or sliced
- 1 ½ cup toasted/caramel sugar
- 1 ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp cloves
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup caramel I recommend the apple cider variation of my
Salted Caramel Sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the corn starch and apple cider to create a slurry, set aside.6 tbsp corn starch, 3 tbsp apple cider
- Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet (about 7qt).8 tbsp butter
- Add the apples, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Gently turn and redistribute the apples until they are coated in the butter, sugar and spices. (If there is not enough room in the skillet to move the apples around at this stage, you can toss the apples, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt together in a large bowl before adding to the pan)15 large apples, 1 1/2 cup toasted/caramel sugar, 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon, 2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Cook the apples, stirring and redistributing occasionally until they are tender – they should be easy to pierce with a fork but still retain a bit of a snap to the bite.
- Remove the apples from the juices making sure to strain as much juice from the apples as possible to retain in the pan.
- Whisk the corn starch slurry and the apple cider caramel into the juices in the pan. Cook over medium heat until very thick and syrupy.1 cup caramel
- Return the apples to the spiced caramel syrup. Stir well to coat all the apples evenly with the syrup. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
- If you are not using the filling immediately, store it in an air tight container in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Allow it to return to room temperature before using in a pie or tart – if it is cold it will impact how the crust cooks.
Notes
Nutrition
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