Apple Pie Ice Cream (Simple & No Churn!)

This Apple Pie Ice Cream is not shy on homemade apple pie filling, spices, cinnamon-sugar pie crust bits, or caramel! With a rich, creamy base, swirled with perfectly thick, sweet, gooey apple pie filling, smattered with buttery, sweet bites of pie crust, and a touch of caramel too, this Apple Pie Ice Cream recipe is almost too good to be true!

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Like the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream I made a few weeks ago, this Apple Pie Ice Cream is inspired by another ice cream.

A quick bit of background: I went to Penn State for undergrad, and Penn State is very well known for their agriculture program, including their dairy products, and specifically their ice cream. It’s really kinda famous! Both regionally and nationally.

You can order it online, and have it shipped anywhere in dry ice. Last fall, we ordered 10 half-gallons from The Creamery at Penn State. A few of the seasonal favorites are their Apple Cobbler Crunch and Pumpkin Pie. Their fall and holiday flavors are just tremendous.

I wanted to recreate my favorite seasonal flavors. I’m not attempting to replace The Creamery ice cream because I feel a copycat version will never be quite as good, but I did want to model my own versions after them as best I could. It’s always handy to have an at-home recipe.

I made the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream recipe a few weeks ago, and today I’m sharing this Apple Pie Ice Cream. This Apple Pie Ice Cream is unique and special for a few reasons. 

First and foremost: it contains this from-scratch, homemade, quick & easy stove-top Apple Pie Filling that I posted a few days ago. My Apple Pie Ice Cream has generous swirls of apple pie filling throughout the ice cream.

Nothing beats that Apple Pie Filling! It’s the best there is. It’s perfectly thick, sweet, gooey, and potent with fall spices. It’s a quick stove-top filling recipe, and is based on our family favorite pie recipe that we’ve used since the ’60s.

That recipe produces a sweet, slightly tangy, spiced cinnamon syrup, and the apples get doused in it. The cinnamon syrup softens the apples as they cook, infuses them with goodness, and also makes the whole thing insanely ooey-gooey. The syrup is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, and you’ll want to eat a whole bowl of it like soup, it’s that delicious. 

And lots of that filling is swirled throughout this Apple Pie Ice Cream.

The second reason that this particular recipe is so sensational is the little pie bits. 

I used a refrigerated prepared pie crust — the kind you unroll (I have tried Pillsbury and generic/store brand, and I think Pillsbury is far superior! That’s my recommendation), and broke it into marble-sized pieces, rolled the pie crust marbles in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar, and baked them.

Just til the edges were firm and crisp, but the centers were still nice and soft. They’re sturdy enough to withstand getting folded into an ice cream, but soft enough that when frozen, they aren’t brittle or overly crunchy. 

These are delicious in their own right. Bits of pie crust, baked in butter and a dusting of cinnamon-sugar. I call them Pie Crust Pebbles and they should be their own separate recipe! They’re so poppable and addictive. Try not to eat them all before they make it into the Apple Pie Ice Cream.

Both of those things — the Apple Pie Filling and the Pie Crust Pebbles — swirled into a sweet, creamy, rich ice cream base, are what make this Apple Pie Ice Cream so exceptionally special.

Oh, I threw in a bit of caramel sauce too because — why not? It really adds to it. Just a touch and it is enough to drive everything home.

By the way, the ice cream base itself is two main ingredients: whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk. What you do with the basic canvas is up to you, but homemade, short-cut ice cream is a literal breeze.

This Apple Pie Ice Cream is not difficult or complex, but it has a few steps. If you would like to minimize steps or are in a time-crunch, you could pick up a can of apple pie filling to substitute. I wouldn’t, but you could if you needed to. And you could skip the pie crust pebbles altogether, if you must.

Again, I wouldn’t, and I’m not recommending this, but you could if you need to cut corners for some reason.

Altogether, this Apple Pie Ice Cream is one of my favorite recipes this season, and I’m really proud of it. Each element is amazing on its own, and they come together to make a true powerhouse recipe!

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Apple Pie Ice Cream recipe

This Apple Pie Ice Cream is not shy on homemade apple pie filling, spices, cinnamon-sugar pie crust bits, or caramel! With a rich, creamy base, swirled with perfectly thick, sweet, gooey apple pie filling, smattered with buttery, sweet bites of pie crust, and a touch of caramel too, this Apple Pie Ice Cream recipe is almost too good to be true!

Course Ice cream

Keyword apple cobbler ice cream, apple pie filling, apple pie filling recipe, apple pie ice cream, apple pie recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes

Chill time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 45 minutes

Servings 8

Author Sarah

Ingredients

For apple pie filling:

• 3 medium Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. butter divided
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup water, apple cider, or apple juice
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice

For pie crust pebbles:

• 1 refrigerated prepared pie crust Pillsbury brand are my personal favorite
• 2 tbsp. butter melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For apple pie ice cream:

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
• 1/2 cup prepared caramel sauce plus additional for drizzling

Instructions

For apple pie filling:

1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, combine the apples, brown sugar, and 2 tbsp. butter.

2. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until apples begin to soften and start to become tender.

3. Reduce heat to low, and add the granulated sugar, flour, salt, water, and apple cider vinegar.

4. Stirring frequently, cook until the mixture is thick, bubbly, and syrupy, 4-5 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon.

5. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining 2 tbsp. butter, as well as vanilla, cinnamon, and apple pie spice.

6. Allow to cool.

7. Meanwhile, prepare pie bites.

For pie crust pebbles:

1. Tear off roughly 1-inch pieces of pie crust, and roll into small marble-sized pebbles.

2. Combine pie crust pebbles and butter in a small bowl, tossing to coat.

3. In another small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon.

4. Add pie crust pebbles to cinnamon-sugar mixture, tossing to coat.

5. Spread the pie crust pebbles out on a small baking sheet.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes, or until they are lightly browned on the bottom.

7. Stir them around to rotate a little, and return to oven for 1-2 minutes.

8. Remove from oven, and cool completely -- cooling on the baking sheet is fine. They'll seem soft and squishy on the tray, but they'll crisp up as they cool.

For apple pie ice cream:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

2. Fold in sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and apple pie spice.

3. Fold in the pie crust pebbles and the caramel sauce. You can leave a few streaks if you'd like, or fold in thoroughly. Either way, don't overmix such that the whipped cream deflates.

4. Spread half the whipped cream mixture into a 9x5-inch loaf pan or a similar size pan of any shape.

5. Spoon half of the apple pie filling over the whipped cream mixture, and lightly swirl with a knife.

6. Spread remaining whipped cream mixture in the pan, and remaining apple pie filling on top, lightly swirling it with a knife.

7. Cover with foil or plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. Serve!

Recipe Notes

Side note: Granny Smith apples are the way to go here. They are my favorite apple for baking in general, and especially here. They’re firm, so they hold up well and don’t turn to mush when baked/cooked.