Apple Pie Spice

Make your own apple pie spice with this 5 ingredient spice blend. While you can sometimes buy this pre-mixed, if you make it at home you can adjust it to exactly suit your taste – more cardamom, less nutmeg, whatever you like. We consider this to be the perfect blend but it's a good recipe to play around with.

You only need five ingredients for this blend. Of course, it's a great mix to have on hand for pies, but also seasonal recipes like croissant bread pudding, an apple galette, apple cinnamon rolls, easy apple blackberry crisp, and more. Keep reading for a list on ways to use it.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Cinnamon: this is the main spice, and it's best to use a pretty good-quality cinnamon for the best flavour. We like to use a mix of cassia and ceylon cinnamon to get the best of both.
• Cardamom: as some people are sensitive to cardamom, start with ½ teaspoon and add more to taste.
• Cloves: or allspice, if you prefer.
• Ginger: if you like the taste of fresh ginger more than dried, omit the dry ginger and add a pinch of fresh grated ginger to whatever you're making instead.
• Nutmeg: pre-ground nutmeg has a much less pleasant flavour than freshly ground whole nutmeg. If possible, buy it whole and grind or grate (with a Microplane or nutmeg grater) for this recipe.

Method

Step 1: measure out all of the spices.

Step 2: mix together in a bowl and store in a sealed jar.

Top Tips

• Use fresh spices: the more recently purchased, the better the taste. If you're buying prepackaged spices, use a recently opened bag or container. If you're getting them in bulk, you can ask when they were last replaced and use soon after purchasing.
• Keep it in glass: a glass jar won't absorb smells in the same way plastic will, and is easiest to clean. A small twist-top jar is great and easy to recycle into a spice container.

Recipe Notes

Try packaging apple pie spice in a nice jar as a small gift. It's especially cute with a small basket of apples with a homemade apple pie recipe! Tie on a cute ribbon, add a small label, and you're set. If you want to make it even sweeter, include the other ingredients needed to make the pie (or even a batch of homemade pie dough).

If this seems like it makes more than you could use during apple season, reduce the amounts to make a batch that you think you can get through quickly. There's a slider when you tap or click the servings number in the recipe card that will automatically adjust the measurements for you.

How to Store

Apple pie spice will keep for about a year - as long as any of the individual dried spices would - in a dry, cool, dark place. Don't keep spices above the oven or stove top, they spoil quickly there. We recommend using it within about 3 months for the best taste.

How to Use Apple Pie Spice

Use the spice mix in any recipe that calls for cinnamon for a more complex flavour. You can also use apple pie spice in place of pumpkin spice. Apart from any apple desserts, here are some recipes we recommend it in:

• Cinnamon raisin sourdough bread
• Cinnamon sugar cookies
• 3 ingredient puff pastry cinnamon twists
• French plum cake
• Olive oil carrot cake (to replace all of the ground spices)
• Peach turnovers with puff pastry
• Sourdough star bread – especially if you add some small apple pieces
• Candied walnuts
• Maple hemp granola
• Sourdough morning glory muffins – this recipe calls for a whole tablespoon of cinnamon, so it has a spicy kick!

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