Frozen Apple Pie Filling

http://lenisrecipebox.blogspot.com/2006/01/frozen-apple-pie-filling.html

7-8 C sliced apples (thin) Granny Smith's are best
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Butter cut into chunks

These are the directions as I tried a bunch of different ways to assemble them quickly (we still have 20 of these in our freezer... and I have made a lot of pies after we froze them)

Take your ziplock bag and dump in everything except the apples and lemon juice and butter.

Hold the top of the bag and shake it up really good. (I did 10 of these bags at a shot, and let the kids help me, since they would just measure the same thing over and over into each bag)

Peal, core and slice your apples and dump them into the bag. Chop the butter up into chunks (I tried to get at least 8 chunks.. it helps to freeze the butter before chopping it up) and dump that in the bag. Zip it shut with lots of air and flip the bag over and shake it all really good until everything is coated well. Open the bag, pour in the lemon juice, squish it around and suck all the air out of the bag with a straw and zip it shut.

Squish it flat and lay it flat in the freezer. I can get 15 high this way.Dont wait until all the bags are done before putting them in the freezer.... they get WAY to juicey.. and dont pour the lemon juice ON the apples before putting in the bag, because then the mix in the bag doesnt coat the apples well.

When you want pie, take it out and lay flat on the counter for about 30 minutes (covering with a warm wet t-towel helps speed it along) OR in the fridge over night. Squish it around to make sure the butter is evenly distributed and dump in a 9" regular raw pie shell, cover with a crust or with a dutch crumb topping. Set the pie on a drip pan (you WILL need it) and bake as you would a normal pie (I did about 20 minutes at 400, and then 45 at 325). I think a deep dish might have worked better, but it wouldnt be up to the top of the pan then once it was cooked. Maybe you could just add an extra cup of apples and use it for deep dish.

The apples will STILL hold their form and not be mushy. I was SO pleased with this recipe.. I intend to do this every year. It takes approx 9 apples to make a pie, and we used about a bushel to do 20+ pies.