Any good apple deals in your area? In ours recently, Safeway had Gala & Granny Smith apples on sale for $.50/lb. The picture shows evidence that I got just a few (and by just a few, I mean that's over 40 pounds)!
Here's what over 40 pounds of apples yielded:
- 6 apple pie fillings
- 7 freezer bags with 1 C of chopped apples to use in breads, muffins, cookies, etc.
- approx. 160 ounces of apple sauce (directions in this post)
In total, it took us about 2 hours. You definitely need a peeler/corer/slicer though to make things go faster! Even if it would have taken a little longer though, it is so worth it! It's not only more cost-effective, but healthier and a HUGE stress-saver during the holidays! How nice it will be this next month to be able to have fresh baked, homemade apple pies with almost no prep work at the time!
Here is the apple pie filling recipe we used (adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book):
because of the amount of apples, I would recommend a deep dish pie plate...
- 8-10 apples (we used 7-8 granny smith & a couple gala)
- 2 T all-purpose flour
- 3/4 C sugar
- 1/2 t cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- splash of lemon juice
mix all ingredients well and put in a freezer bag or other storage container. I've read you can freeze the pie fully assembled (with crust & all), but some have recommended against this as your crust can sometimes soak up too much juice.
For the chopped/sliced apples, we didn't do anything to them at all. Just peeled and sliced or chopped. They do discolor & once thawed will be mushier (not crisp like a fresh apple), so you wouldn't want to use these for just plain eating. However, to bake with, they are fine. We chose not to "process" them with any sugar, cinnamon, etc. so that they could be used for any recipe we wanted.
Sounds great. When you made your freezer bags with chopped apples do you have to do anything to prep them or just chop and flash freeze?
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you have a recipe for you apple pie filling?
Hi Jodie! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteGreat questions. I went ahead and updated the post with more directions & a recipe! :)
If you want to store fruit in the freezer for baking, smoothies, etc., you really don't need to do anything to it (except peel/cut depending on the fruit). It will be mushier when thawed than fresh fruit, but that's totally fine for baking! :)
Happy apple freezer "cooking"! :)