Homemade Apple Pie Filling and Easy Apple Dessert Pizza

 I had seen this recipe on The Country Cook and really wanted to give it a try - however I didn't have canned pie filling so I thought I'd start with some homemade pie filling first. I found this recipe on Chocolate Moosey and decided to give it a try!

The original recipe calls for throwing uncooked apples into the sauce for a crispier, crunchier apple. I choose to cook mine and get them nice and soft since that's the texture I wanted for the dessert pizza. I also reduced the amount of cloves - they are pretty strong to me, so I didn't think it needed a whole lot to season the recipe. If you think you want a stronger apple flavored sauce, decrease the water to 1 cup, and increase the apple juice to 1/2 cup plus 1 TBS.

You can use whatever apples you'd like in this recipe, or mix and match! I only needed about 2 large apples (I used Fuji) for my filling. I was rushing to get the pie filling on the stove so we could all collapse on the couch to watch Men In Black III and totally forgot to peel mine! Thankfully it doesn't really affect anything other than texture and will be fine for what I'm planning to use this for.

I think the recipe is really lovely - the gooey sauce comes out perfectly and the tender apples are lightly and deliciously seasoned. Use this anyway you would typically use canned pie filling - when heated it goes great as a vanilla ice cream topper! Enjoy this super easy to make apple treat.

As for the dessert pizza, it is super sweet and a delicious and tasty treat. My husband and I thought it was a little too sweet, but think that was largely because the crust we used for the dessert pizza was very thin. If it had a crust that was "normal" in thickness and not on the thin side, it would balance the super sweet flavors a little better in our opinion. You can also cut the amount of crumb topping and the icing in half for a less sweet but still completely decadent treat! My son absolutely LOVED this dessert and happily gobbled up his large slice, and I know he's looking forward to heating up another piece or two for dessert tonight!

Homemade Apple Pie Filling adapted from Chocolate Moosey

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water

1 TBS apple juice, apple cider, or lemon juice (I used apple juice)

1 cup sugar (I used half sugar, have Stevia in the raw)

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground clove

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 cups apples, cored, peeled, and diced small (about 2 large apples)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine water, juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cornstarch. Whisk together until smooth, then add in the apples. Bring to a light boil over medium heat, then cover and reduce heat to as low as possible to just maintain a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally until apples are tender and sauce has reached desired consistency. If sauce is getting to thick, thin with a little bit of water as needed.
2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool to room temperature, and then use immediately or store for later use in the refrigerator.

Here is the delicious, super sweet treat that we used the apple pie filling for:

 

 

Easy Apple Dessert Pizza slightly adapted from the Country Cook

 

Ingredients

1 recipe homemade pizza crust, or 1 store bought crust

1 recipe homemade apple pie filling (or 1 can apple pie filling)

4 TBS butter, softened to room temperature

2/3 cups brown sugar

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 TBS cinnamon

 

Icing Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 TBS milk

1 TBS melted butter

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Take crust out of the package (or prepare homemade) and place on round pizza stone.
3. If using canned filling, use a sharp knife to mince the apples to a smaller size (if desired) by inserting knife into the can of filling and slicing back and forth several times. This will allow more even distribution of the fruit.
4. Spread the apple pie filling evenly on the pizza crust.
5. Next, prepare the crumb topping: In a bowl, combine softened butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Use a fork or pastry cutter to mash the mixture together and evenly blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6. Sprinkle the crumb topping all over the apple filling.
7. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until dough is cooked, topping is heated through, and crumb topping is lightly browned.
8. While the pizza is cooling, prepare the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, melted butter and milk. Start with about 2-3 TBS of milk, and then add more until you reach your desired consistency.
9. Use a whisk or spoon to drizzle the icing all across pizza; you can make lines in one direction, and then cross in the other direction for even distribution.
10. Use a pizza cutter to slice, serve, and enjoy!

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