Apple Pie Spice brings a little bit of fall magic to all kinds of recipes, from breakfast to drinks to desserts — not just apple pie! Make this simple, customizable spice blend with pantry staples and keep it on hand for whenever you need it.
Homemade Apple Pie Spice is one of my favorite, most-used mixes in our spice drawer. Consider it the cozy autumn cousin to pumpkin pie spice, adding a warm and earthy deliciousness and irresistible aroma to everything from my favorite Apple Crisp recipe, to Apple Cobbler, to a playful glass rim on a refreshing Apple Cider Margarita — and yes, of course, apple pie and Apple Pie Bars too!
What Makes This the Best Apple Pie Spice
Now, you may wonder why you should make my recipe and not just pick up a jar at the grocery store or make one of the other recipes floating around on the internet. Here’s what makes this one special:
- A formula for extra deliciousness. My secret for stellar apple pie spice is borrowing an ingredient from my Pumpkin Pie Spice: ginger. It’s not commonly used in apple pie spice, but it adds an irresistible warmth and a little bit of zippiness that I find lacking in the more typical blends.
- Festive for fall. This spice blend is perfect for so many fall-inspired eats and treats. Use it in place of cinnamon in recipes like Apple Peanut Butter Cookies and Apple Oat Pancakes. It’s also wonderful sprinkled over Baked Oatmeal or a steaming, frothy latte, or mixed with sugar for the most lovely cinnamon toast (try my easy English Muffin Bread recipe for the most AMAZING toasted experience)!
- Never-ending, customizable supply. As long as you have the individual ingredients on hand, you will never run out of homemade apple pie spice – and it comes together FAST, and is so easy to double, triple, etc. You can tweak the amounts and customize the blend so it’s 100% perfect for YOU!
What You’ll Need
The ingredients list is short; all of these items are staples in a well-stocked spice collection! Scroll down to the printable recipe card to find the exact ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions.
- Cinnamon – Different types of cinnamon bring different flavors to the table. Vietnamese cinnamon (also known as Saigon cinnamon) is bolder and spicier than the more common varieties found in grocery stores. Be absolutely certain that the cinnamon you’re using has robust cinnamon flavor and aroma. I recently bought a jar of cinnamon that, when I got it home and opened it, smelled almost like paper and had no flavor – you can bet that I returned it!
- Ground ginger – My secret ingredient for extra warm coziness. If you have ground cloves and/or cardamom in your spice drawer, you could also play around with adding a bit of those spices.
- Nutmeg – If there’s one spice you grind yourself for this recipe, I suggest that it’s the nutmeg. And actually, you don’t “grind” nutmeg, you grate it with a fine zester or rasp. You can find whole nutmeg at most specialty spice shops and some grocery stores; the flavor and aroma is out of this world good!
- Allspice – Nope, this is not a blend of “all” spices. It is one spice (and spelled as one word) that has the warmth of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, but with an edge of black pepper. In other words, delightful!
My Favorite Ways to Use Homemade Apple Pie Spice
Pies are just the beginning. There’s so much room for creativity with this spice blend.
- Use it in ANY apple recipe that calls for spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc. Add up the amounts needed for each individual spice and use that much apple pie spice in the recipe. Try it in my Sauteed Apples, Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats, or Cranberry Apple Crisp. This spice mix makes Apple Dump Cake even easier!
- This makes for awesome Homemade Applesauce flavor!
- Stir it into oatmeal or cream of wheat for a warm, cozy fall breakfast. It’s delicious in my Overnight Baked Apple Oatmeal.
- Sprinkle it over sliced apples for a fall snack. If you like to dip, grab a little bowl of peanut butter or Caramel Apple Dip!
- Add it to my Easy Candied Pecans Recipe.
- Use it in pretty much any of my apple recipes. And when you’re in a pinch, you could even use it in my pumpkin recipes and Spice Cookies!
- I already mentioned rimming a glass of apple cider margarita. I think it would also be perfectly lovely to add an apple pie spice rim to glasses of Apple Cider Sangria – just dip the glass rim into apple cider, then mix 3/4 teaspoon of the spice blend with 1 tablespoon sugar, and dip the wet rim into the spiced sugar. Pretty and delicious!
How to Store
Storing spices is both easy and tricky.
The easy part? Stash your homemade apple pie spice in a jar or airtight container, then put that in a cool, dry place like your pantry.
The tricky part is answering the question of how long it’ll last. Know that, just like any other spice, the flavor of this spice blend will fade over time – and the time it takes for this to happen will depend on the freshness of the individual spices you use.
The short answer is, this spice blend should keep very well for at least 6 months before the flavor starts to fade – that’s assuming the spices you used to make it are good and fresh. But the best way to tell is to simply open the jar and smell it. The apple pie spice should have a bold, spiced aroma; if it doesn’t, it simply won’t add much flavor to your recipes.
More Homemade Spice and Seasoning Blends
Apple Pie Spice
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir all ingredients until evenly incorporated.
- Store in a small jar or spice container. Use in the recipe suggestions in the blog post above.
get new posts via email: