Homemade Apple Pie Filling Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best thickener for apple pie filling? ›

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed.

With a mountain of gooey cinnamon apples nestled under a perfectly buttery and flaky pie crust, this is most certainly my favorite apple pie recipe. To bring out the best apple flavor and texture, pre-cook the filling for about 5 minutes on the stove.

Crisp apples, rich butter, a blend of sugars, cinnamon and apple juice come together in perfect harmony to create the best apple pie filling of all time! There are so many reasons to make your own apple pie filling from scratch.

“Adding finely chopped whole lemon to pie filling is an excellent way to kill two pie-birds with one stone, bumping up both flavor and thickening.”

Cornstarch is faster-acting than flour and forms a smooth, relatively clear filling. Just be aware that too much cornstarch can create a slimy texture. When cornstarch is combined with acidic ingredients such as rhubarb or lemon juice, it can cause the texture to break down over time.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

The best way to thicken runny apple pie filling before baking it is to add some cornstarch, tapioca starch, or flour to your mix. To fix a runny pie that's already been baked, simply let it cool to see if it will congeal naturally. If not, you can stick it back in the oven for a bit longer.

Pie Filling Enhancer thickens fruit pie fillings the same way Instant ClearJel does. Its advantage is added ascorbic acid (which adds a bright, tart note), and superfine sugar, which prevents it from clumping. Pie Filling Enhancer is about half sugar, so you'll want to reduce the sugar in your recipe accordingly.

How to thicken apple pie filling without cornstarch? ›

I chose to thicken the filling with a roux instead of cornstarch. This creates a thick syrupy consistency that won't become grossly congealed once cooled. This is what makes my apple pie filling so much better than the canned pie filling.

Some say that scattering small bits of butter over a fruit filling keeps the juices from bubbling over in the same way that adding a bit of fat to simmering jam keeps it from foaming up in the preserving pan. The theory is that the fat disrupts the formation of bubbles on the surface of the viscous fruit mixture.

Adding an extra egg gives the pie a cake-like consistency.

There was a very thin shiny top layer, but the rest of the filling was a consistent light-orange color. I took a bite and thought it had a slightly strange consistency — the middle was cakey but wet at the same time.

There is no need to add lemon juice to prevent discoloration when baking with apples. It won't hurt the filling to have the lemon juice in there, but tossing the apples in juice isn't necessarily benefiting the dessert, either.

The three most common starches used to thicken the fruit juices of a pie are flour, tapioca, and cornstarch. I prefer cornstarch because I find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit.

Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a super-effective thickener that doesn't need much time to cook, although it does require high temperatures to activate. To avoid clumps, mix cornstarch with sugar before adding it to your filling.

Cornstarch has thickening power similar to Instant ClearJel. Like flour, it lends a cloudy, semi-transparent look to filling. It can also give filling a starchy taste. For full effectiveness, make sure the pie filling is bubbling up through the crust before removing your pie from the oven.