November is a great time to prepare certain dishes, like Freeze Ahead Apple Filling, cookie mixes, and side dishes for the coming holidays. If I have the freezer space, I usually freeze pumpkin rolls and pumpkin pies too. This makes Thanksgiving and coming into December so much easier with all the hustle and visiting that these months bring. With a little planning, you can make your holidays easier too!
Freeze Ahead Apple Filling
Ingredients:
- 12 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- Water and orange juice
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 tblespoons cinnamon
- 1 tblespoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tblspoons butter
Instructions:
- Fill a large bowl about 1/3 of the way with water and pour about ½ cup of orange juice into the water. Stir to mix.
- As you peel and slice the apples, place the apples into the water mixture.
- After all the apples are in the water/orange juice solution, in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.
- Drain apples well in a colander and toss into the dry mixture covering the apples completely.
- Place the mixture into freezer safe Ziploc bags- you should have enough for 2 gallon sized bags or four quart sized bags if you like to make pies for one.
- This mixture can also be used for apple crisp and apple turnovers. (You can mix smaller portions in with pancake batter for a nice treat too!)
- To use for pie: Remove mixture from freezer and pour into prepared shells in a lightly greased pie pan. Cover the pies with a second pie shell layer, cut three vent hole in the top shell, brush with butter and sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until pie is bubbling and crusts are golden brown. (This mixture will make 2 shallow pies or 1 deep dish pie.)
- To use for apple crisp: pour into prepared 9X13 pan with about ¼ cup of water, top with apple crisp topping recipe of your choice and bake at 400 until bubbling and the topping is slightly browned.
- To use for apple turnovers: Prepare your dough, roll out and cut into circles, place a small amount of filled in the center of each circle, fold in half, seal with a fork and bake at 375 until golden brown. You can also brush the turnover tops with an egg and water wash and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon before placing them into the oven to bake.
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