Apple pie filling substitutes

Peeled sliced apples cooked briefly with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and cornstarch until the syrup thickens.

Best for

apple pie, dump cake, turnovers, hand pies, apple crumble, cinnamon roll filling

Better than the can in every way except speed, and it is not slow. Simmer the apples with the sugar, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a quarter cup of water for about five minutes, then stir in two tablespoons of cornstarch slaked in a little cold water and cook another two minutes until the syrup turns clear and thick. Cool it fully before it touches pastry. Firm tart apples such as Granny Smith, Braeburn or Bramley hold their slices; softer eating apples collapse into sauce, which is fine in a dump cake and wrong in a pie. Expect a fresher, less sweet, less gelled result than the can, which most people prefer.

Any other canned fruit pie filling, which is built the same way with fruit in starch-thickened syrup.

Best for

dump cake, hand pies, turnovers, cobbler, crescent roll pastries, cheesecake topping

Structurally identical, so nothing about the recipe changes: the same viscosity, the same sugar, the same behaviour in a hot oven. Only the flavour moves. Cherry is tarter and much darker and will stain a pale cake batter red; peach is the closest to apple in sweetness and mildness; blueberry is sweeter and looser. If the recipe leans on the cinnamon-and-apple aroma, as most dump cakes and spiced coffee cakes do, add a teaspoon of cinnamon or apple pie spice to the batter so the dish still smells the way people expect.

Unsweetened applesauce simmered to thicken, then sweetened, spiced and set with a little cornstarch.

Best for

dump cake, hand pies, cinnamon roll filling, cake layers, crepes, muffin filling

The fastest cupboard fix and reliable if you fix the water and the texture. Simmer the sauce in a wide pan for ten minutes until it mounds on a spoon, then stir in a quarter cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of cornstarch slaked in cold water, and cook two minutes more. What you cannot get back is the slices: this is smooth, so a lattice-topped pie will look and eat like an apple butter tart. In a dump cake or a filled roll nobody notices.

Plain canned apple slices packed in water or juice, with no sugar or thickener added.

Best for

apple pie, turnovers, crumble, hand pies, apple crisp

Often sold right next to the pie filling and cheaper, and it gets you closer to a real pie than applesauce does because the slices are intact. Drain them, reserving half a cup of the liquid, then bring that liquid to a simmer with a third of a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon and the cornstarch slaked in cold water until glossy, and fold the apples through. The slices are softer than fresh-cooked ones and can break up when you stir, so fold gently. Taste for acid and add lemon juice, since canned apples are usually bland.

Frozen apple slices used from the freezer, or dried apples plumped in hot water or cider first.

Best for

pie, fried pies, hand pies, crumble, dump cake, stack cake

Both work and both need the same treatment as fresh: sugar, spice, lemon and cornstarch cooked until the syrup runs clear. Frozen apples release a lot of water as they thaw, so cook them uncovered for five minutes before you add the starch or the filling will be soupy. Dried apples take the opposite problem: soak them twenty minutes in hot water or cider, then simmer with the syrup, and expect a denser, chewier, more concentrated filling that is closer to a traditional fried apple pie than to a canned filling.

Concentrated spiced apple spread or clear apple jelly, both intensely apple-flavoured but with no fruit pieces.

Best for

cinnamon roll filling, crepes, turnover filling, cake glaze, sandwich cookies, danish

Honest limits: this is not a pie filling and it will not fill a pie. Apple butter is far more concentrated and much darker and sweeter, so a whole pie made from it is heavy and cloying. Where it excels is thin layers, so swirled into a cinnamon roll, spread in a turnover, or brushed over a tart it gives a deeper, more caramelised apple flavour than the can does. Thin it slightly so it spreads, and cut the sugar elsewhere in the recipe because it is very sweet.