Apple pie spice is a warm, comforting and fragrant fall spice blend that is used in many recipes, especially desserts. You can make this easy blend at home in only a few minutes.
It is perfect for baking or giving as a gift during the holiday season. While it doesn’t get as much love as pumpkin spice, it is a great mixture of flavors!
As you might guess from the name the flavors in the mix are the ones that go best with apple pie and many other apple desserts, from apple crisp to baked apples to apple donuts!
Why Make Your Own Apple Pie Spice
There are two big reasons for making your own blend:
- It is expensive to buy – I priced this at my local grocery store and it cost almost $6 for a small 1 ounce jar! And considering the #1 ingredient in it is much cheaper cinnamon that is not a bargain! Making it at home will save money, especially if you love fall baked goods.
- You can customize it for your personal preferences – A commercial blend blend usually contains just 3 ingredients – cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. I like to include ginger and I love to include cardamom, both of which give a rich, deep flavor and make the homemade mix taste much better than store bought.
What is Apple Pie Spice Blend Made From?
Cinnamon – This is the key flavor and is a classic sweet and warm flavor to combine with apples.
Nutmeg – Nutmeg is the other main ingredient in the mixture. It has a warm aromatic flavor with a little bit of bittersweet.
Allspice – This has a mild spicy sweet flavor and pairs very well with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Ginger – Ginger is slightly peppery and adds a nice contrasting taste to the other sweet flavors.
Cardamom – Cardamom has a distinctive citrusy flavor with a lot of zest that is both sweet and spicy. It is expensive to buy a jar, but there are many other delicious recipe that use it, so it won’t go to waste!
Tip: Looking for more recipe ideas to use that jar of cardamom? Try my cardamom cookies or speculoos or Swedish tea ring! Cardamom is popular in Scandinavian cooking and is also used in Swedish meatballs.
How to Make
Combine the ground spices in a bowl and mix it well. Finding everything in your spice cabinet is the most time consuming part of the recipe!
How to Store
Store the mixture of spices in an airtight container. A Mason jar or a Weck jar work well. You can also reuse an old spice jar, which is a great way to reduce waste. Just make sure whatever you use has an airtight lid.
If you want to give it as a gift during the holiday season add a festive bow or a ribbon to decorate.
What to Make with Apple Pie Spice Mix
- Obviously it is great for apple pie
- Sprinkle on homemade applesauce
- Add to a morning bowl of oatmeal
- Make apple donuts
- Make a favorite fall cake like caramel apple cake
- Make apple crisp or apple cobbler
- Enjoy an apple smoothie
- Make apple muffins
- Use on French toast or pancakes
- Add to a latte for apple flavored coffee
- Make an apple galette as a simple alternative to apple pie
Both of these autumnal spices have cinnamon as the most prominent ingredient, but pumpkin blend has cloves as the main secondary flavor while the apple pie blend has nutmeg.
If you don’t have it you can just use cinnamon as a substitute. Even better would be using cinnamon and nutmeg in a 3:1 ratio, so 3/4 of a teaspoon cinnamon with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Find more Homemade Spice Blends
Apple Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- Store in an airtight container
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
