Here’s how to make a quick apple pie spice mix at home.
During the fall baking season, apple pie spice is a wonderfully convenient spice blend to keep on hand.
Instead of digging a bunch of rarely-used spices out of the back of your spice drawer each time you want to make an apple dessert, you can reach for a single jar of premade apple pie spice.
But in my experience, unlike pumpkin pie spice , apple spice isn’t something a ton of people keep stocked in their kitchen. So today I’m going to show you how to mix up a batch at home.
Homemade Apple Pie Spice Substitute
And if you’re here because you’re making a recipe that calls for apple spice and don’t have any mixed up, here are the ratios for a couple different measurements you might need.
For 1 tablespoon
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
For 1 teaspoon
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon ⅛ lightly heaping teaspoon ground nutmeg Generous pinch ground allspice Generous pinch ground cardamom
What is apple pie spice made of?
- Ground cinnamon: Cinnamon is the base flavor for apple pie spice, so you can’t really substitute for or omit it.
- Ground nutmeg: People tend to have strong feelings about nutmeg. If you don’t like nutmeg in your apple pie, you can reduce the amount in your blend by half or omit it completely.
- Allspice: Allspice has a warming, peppery kick to it. It really boosts the flavors of the other spices, but if you don’t have any, you can omit it. You can also replace the allspice with cloves if you prefer.
- Cardamom: Cardamom has an herbal, citrusy flavor that pairs exceptionally well with apples, but again, if you don’t have any, you can omit it.
How to Make Apple Pie Spice
Mix: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together until well-mixed.
Store: Store in an airtight container (recycled spice jars work GREAT for this) in a cool, dry place for up to 4 months.
Use: Use in recipes that call for apple pie spice or your favorite apple recipes when you want to spice things up a little.
Apple Recipes to Spice Up
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Small Apple Cake
- Cinnamon Apple Crumb Muffins
What is a substitute for apple pie spice?
Aside from making a homemade substitute with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom, in a pinch, you can simply substitute cinnamon for apple pie spice. The dessert won’t have the same depth or complexity of flavor, but apple pie spice is mostly cinnamon, so using cinnamon alone will get the job done.
If you have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can also substitute it for apple pie spice because they contain similar ingredients.
What is the difference between apple pie spice in pumpkin pie spice?
Pumpkin pie spice is usually made with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice or ground cloves. Apple pie spice is typically cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom. They can be used somewhat interchangeably.
Pumpkin pie spice works well in most apple desserts, but some people might not like the citrusy herbal flavor of cardamom in pumpkin desserts, so you’ll want to really consider the flavor you’re going for before substituting apple pie spice that contains cardamom for pumpkin pie spice.
More Kitchen Staples
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Cinnamon Sugar
- How to Make Whipped Cream
- What to Do With Leftover Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together until well-mixed.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 4 months.
If you’re a fan of crispy waffles, these are the best waffles in existence. They come out beautifully golden with a crispy, crunchy exterior and light and fluffy insides every time.
Today’s recipe is one I’ve gotten a TON of requests for: waffles!!
The Best Waffle Recipe (Fight Me)
If you’re a crispy waffle fan, these are the best waffles in existence. They come out beautifully golden with a crispy, crunchy exterior and light and fluffy insides every time.
They are substantial and sturdy enough to pile whatever you want on top. Soak them in syrup, strawberry sauce and whipped cream , scoops of ice cream and hot fudge sauce . However you eat these waffles, they’re going to be great.
And, as should be expected of the best waffle recipe in all the world, they’re very, very, very easy to make. You just need one bowl and a waffle maker.
How to Make Crispy Waffles
Start the waffles by combining all your dry ingredients: flour, corn starch, sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt, in a large bowl and whisking them together.
Then make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients: buttermilk, vegetable oil, an egg, and vanilla. This might seem like a lot of liquid, but don’t freak out! The recipe is correct, and the batter will be just fine. I promise.
Once the liquid ingredients are added, switch to a wooden spoon, and stir everything together until just combined. There will be some lumps, but that’s okay. Just make sure you don’t have any dry flour at the bottom of your bowl.
- Let the batter rest for about 30 minutes. Remember all that liquid we were just talking about? The resting time allows the batter to thicken and the gluten to relax so you get that really tender and fluffy waffle interior rather than chewy waffles. ( Here’s a good article on what’s happening while batter is resting, if you’re curious ).
If you’re serving waffles with sides, this is a great time to cut fruit, prep any meat you’re making, or make a fruit sauce.
- Once your batter is ready, preheat your waffle iron and cook the waffles according to your iron’s instructions. This recipe makes pretty exactly 2 cups of batter, so it will make 2 to 4 waffles depending on the capacity of your waffle maker.
Keep waffles warm in a 200°F oven while all the waffles cook, and then top with toppings and enjoy!
Variations
- Blueberry waffles: Stir ⅔ cup of washed and dried blueberries to the batter just before cooking.
- Chocolate chip waffles: Stir ½ cup of chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate to the batter before cooking.
- Strawberry and whipped cream waffles: Serve topped with strawberry sauce and whipped cream . (My FAVORITE way to eat waffles!)
Waffle Recipe Substitutions
This recipe uses a couple ingredients that not everyone keeps stocked in their baking cupboard. These waffles are best when made as written, but you can make the following substitutions and still end up with a pretty great waffle.
- Substituting for buttermilk: To make a buttermilk substitute , put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice (fresh or bottled) in a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill the cup the rest of the way with milk. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes to “sour,” and you’re good to go.
- Substituting for cornstarch: Corn starch is one of the ingredients that makes these waffles so crispy, so I recommend using it if possible, but in a pinch, you can replace the corn starch with the same amount of flour.
Do I have to let the batter rest?
Yes. As mentioned above, resting the batter gives it a chance thicken slightly and let the gluten in the batter relax so you get the best waffle texture possible.
How many will this recipe serve?
This recipe makes about 2 cups of batter, which depending on your waffle maker will make 2 to 4 waffles. It generously serves 2, but if serving to children/with a large breakfast, it could be stretched to serve 3 to 4.
If you would like to double the recipe, go for it. It scales up with no preparation changes needed. To change the recipe yield, hover over the serving size in the recipe card below or click if you’re on mobile, and slide the slider.
Can I freeze waffles for later?
Yes!! Extra waffles freeze extremely well, and I often double the recipe just so I have extras to freeze for later. Store cooked waffles in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 2 months.
To eat, place frozen waffles on a baking sheet and bake in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes or until heated through.
Troubleshooting and Tips
Batter is too thin: This batter will be a little thin-looking. This is normal, and it will thicken slightly as it rests!! If it looks like the photo of the batter above being poured onto the waffle maker, you’re good to go.
If you’re worried about it oozing out the sides of the waffle maker, make sure your iron is completely preheated before adding the batter. Ladle it on slowly, filling holes where more batter is needed, and then give it a moment to set (about 5 to 10 seconds) before closing the lid. This will help prevent batter from squeezing out the sides when you close the lid.
Waffle Maker: If you don’t own a waffle maker, this is the one I own , and I absolutely love it. I’ll be totally honest, I was little iffy when I took it out of the box, because it felt a bit cheap compared to waffle makers I’ve handled in the past, but it does such a good job cooking waffles that I don’t care. And you can stand it upright for storage, which is a nice space-saver.
More Favorite Breakfast Recipes
- Banana Pancakes
- Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
- Banana Muffins
- Cream Scones
- The BEST Banana Bread
Ingredients
- ▢ 3/4 cup ( 98 g) all-purpose flour
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 30g ) corn starch
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 12g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 cup buttermilk
- ▢ 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- ▢ 1 large egg
- ▢ 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ Melted butter optional for serving
- ▢ Syrup optional for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a shallow well in the dry ingredients and add buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla, and stir together until just combined.
- Allow batter to sit for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°F and set a baking sheet inside to place the waffle(s) on after cooking to keep warm while you cook the rest of the batter.*
- Preheat waffle iron and cook batter according to your iron’s instructions*, typically 4 to 6 minutes per waffle, until waffle is nicely golden and has mostly stopped releasing steam. Waffle may not initially seem crispy to the touch, but will crisp up out of the waffle maker.
- Top with melted butter and syrup if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from The Waffle of Insane Greatness
This outrageously good pumpkin pie is silky smooth, perfectly spiced, and so easy to make.
What’s your go-to holiday pie? First in my heart is usually Dutch apple , but pumpkin pie is a very, very close second.
Yet despite its high marks in my personal pie rankings, I didn’t have a tried and true favorite pumpkin pie recipe in my arsenal.
So this year, I set out to change that. I have tested and tasted so many pumpkin pies over the last couple of months, and can now officially share with you, my favorite pumpkin pie.
The Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Most pumpkin pie recipes making a classic pie are going to look fairly similar. The dairy they use might vary, you might have an extra egg or yolk in there, maybe there’s a little flour in the custard, but overall the ratios and ingredients for a good pumpkin pie won’t change a whole lot.
So when designing your perfect pie, you’re really tweaking the ingredient levels for optimum deliciousness.
This pie has just the right level of sweetness, with a mix of brown and white sugars. It’s generously spiced, but not in a way that overwhelms the pumpkin flavor the way the spices in some pumpkin pie recipes can.
And the texture is absurdly creamy, smooth and firm (but not too firm!). In short, this pie is perfect, and pretty much everything you want a pumpkin pie to be.
Ingredient Notes
- Sugar: I used a mix of brown and white sugar here because I like the darker molasses flavor the brown sugar gives the pie, but you can use all white or all brown sugar if you’d like. If you prefer a less sweet pie, you can reduce the sugar to ¾ cup.
- Pumpkin pie spices: I really like this particular blend/ratio of spices for pumpkin pie, but if you have pumpkin pie spice in your drawer, you can replace the spices (not the salt) with 1¾ teaspoons of pumpkin spice. If you’ve made my pumpkin pie spice blend , it’s pretty much the same ratio as the spices in this pie, so you can use that and get the same effect.
- Pumpkin puree: Pumpkin puree is pure pureed pumpkin. If you don’t regularly purchase it, double check the can to make sure you’re not accidentally getting pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced.
- Evaporated milk: Same goes for evaporated milk. You can usually find this in a can in the baking or coffee aisle sold alongside condensed sweetened milk. Make sure when you grab it off the shelf, you’re picking the right thing.
- 9-inch unbaked deep dish pie crust: Use your favorite pie crust recipe here. I used a half batch of my favorite buttermilk pie crust (if you are a pie crust novice, this is such a great recipe to start with because it’s suuuuuuper easy to work with). Frozen, store-bought crusts work great as well.
A note on pie crust: If making and rolling out pie dough does not bring you joy, I urge you to just grab a frozen pie crust at the grocery store. They absolutely get the job done and with a pie this good, no one’s going to complain you didn’t make the crust yourself.
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Pie
Mix your dry ingredients: Whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until well-mixed and no lumps remain. If you get some stubborn brown sugar lumps, run them between your fingers until they break apart.
Add eggs and puree: In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add pumpkin puree, vanilla, and the sugar and spice mixture. Whisk until well-combined.
- Add evaporated milk: Drizzle in the evaporated milk while whisking gently. Once milk is mostly incorporated, switch to a silicone spatula and stir a few more times, making sure to scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl so the mixture is uniform in color, but do not over mix.
Don’t go crazy with the whisking. You don’t want to whip a lot of air into the mixture because you can get air bubbles that will leave little craters in the top of your pie.
Fill your pie crust: Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. If you’re using a store-bought crust, you’ll probably have some filling leftover. This is normal.
Bake: Place pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips and set on the lowest rack in your oven. Bake for 15 minutes before setting the oven temperature to 350°F. The high starting temperature will help the bottom of the pie set up quickly so you don’t get a soggy crust.
Continue to bake: Bake for an additional 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the pie is set at least two inches from the crust but the center still wobbles slightly or the pie reads 175°F when tested with an instant-read thermometer.
If at any time your crust begins to get too dark, shield the crust with pie shields or foil. During testing, none of my smaller store-bought crusts needed this, but the pie in the photos got one for the last 10 minutes of baking time.
Pie shield note: If you’ve never made a pie shield before, I really like this simple method .
- Cool: Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve topped with whipped cream, and enjoy!
How do I know my pumpkin pie is done?
Pumpkin pie can be a little tricky to test for doneness because a perfectly baked pie always looks undercooked, and if the pie looks fully set in the oven, it’s absolutely been overcooked.
You can tell the pumpkin pie is done when the pie is set (not wobbling) at least two inches from the crust, but the center still wobbles slightly.
Some people swear by using a knife to check for doneness (insert a knife and it should come out mostly clean), but I find this method unreliable and the place where the pie was pierced often develops into a larger crack.
How do I keep my pie from cracking?
Don’t overcook your pumpkin pie. Cracks are caused when the eggs in the custard become overcooked and begin to contract, making the pie pull away from the edges of the pie crust or crack in the center.
To prevent cracking, bake your pie just until the outer edges of the pie look set. The center should still wobble slightly.
And real talk, sometimes though, cracking is just a part of pumpkin pie life. If your pie cracks as it cools, don’t sweat it. It’s still going to be delicious.
Do I have to let pumpkin pie cool for 2 hours?
Yes. The custard will finish cooking and set as it cools. If you try to eat pumpkin pie right out of the oven, it will be a hot liquidy mess and no one’s idea of a good time.
Is it OK to not refrigerate pumpkin pie?
As long as it has sufficient cooling time, you don’t need to refrigerate pumpkin pie before eating it. But custard pies like pumpkin pie should be stored in the refrigerator overnight or if you’re not eating them as soon as they’ve cooled.
Do I need to defrost my store-bought crust before baking it?
Probably not. If using a store-bought, frozen pie crust, follow the instructions on the packaging. Most of them are designed to go straight from the freezer to the oven. There is no need to defrost them first, and starting with a frozen crust will not change the cooking time.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Bread With Streusel
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Cinnamon Sugar Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Small-batch Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Recipe Notes
- Evaporated Milk Substitutions: You can replace the evaporated milk with a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, simply reduce the sugar to 3 tablespoons (any mix of brown/white sugar is fine) or omit it completely. You can also use 1¼ cups heavy cream (the amount of sugar will stay the same).
- Storage: Store the pie tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezing Whole Pumpkin Pies: Pumpkin pie freezes well. If you’re planning on freezing your pie, bake it in a disposable aluminum pie tin. Once cooled, double wrap the pie with plastic wrap and then an additional layer of aluminum foil if you have it. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
- Freezing Pumpkin Pie Slices: Flash freeze slices on a plate or baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Once frozen, wrap each slice individually in plastic wrap and then store in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight or at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- ▢ ½ cup ( 100g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ ½ cup ( 100g ) lightly packed brown sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ▢ Pinch to ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ▢ 2 large eggs preferably room temperature
- ▢ 1 15-ounce can (scant 2 cups ) pumpkin puree
- ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1 12-ounce can ( 1½ cups ) evaporated milk
- ▢ 1 9-inch unbaked deep dish pie crust
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until well-mixed and no lumps remain.
- In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add pumpkin puree, vanilla, and the sugar and spice mixture. Whisk until well-combined.
- Drizzle in the evaporated milk while whisking gently. Once milk is mostly incorporated, switch to a silicone spatula and stir a few more times, making sure to scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl so the mixture is uniform in color, but do not over mix.
- Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Place pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips and set on the lowest rack in your oven. Bake for 15 minutes before setting the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 40 minutes to 1 hour, until the pie is set at least two inches from the crust but the center still wobbles slightly or the pie reads 175°F when tested with an instant read thermometer.
- Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve topped with whipped cream, and enjoy!
Apple Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together until well-mixed.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 4 months.
