16 Absolute Best Ways To Use Canned Pie Filling

Every ingredient has its place, but there's one item some people tend to treat with skepticism: canned pie filling. For those unfamiliar, canned pie filling isn't the same as canned fruit. It's often already sweetened and spiced, and is meant to serve as a convenient option when you don't want to pit, peel, cut, slice, and cook fresh pie filling. 

There are clearly reasons for canned pie filling to exist, but many avid bakers prefer to make their own from-scratch versions. They have their own flavor combos in mind, or perhaps they don't like how sweet pie filling tends to be. Yet we believe pie filling has its place in the kitchen — even ones owned by those who distrust this product. That's because pie filling is more versatile than you might imagine. Ready to be convinced? We've rounded up some of the best ways to use this sugary product that don't actually involve pies. 

We're always looking for ways to upgrade our overnight oats into something truly spectacular. Rather than settling for a mediocre and bland batch of oats and almond milk, step up your overnight oats with the addition of canned pie filling. You can also add Greek yogurt for extra protein, chia seeds for crunch, and some almonds to boost the fat content and ensure a well-rounded start to the day. If you're a pie lover, you might even consider adding a sprinkle of granola on top to mimic a crunchy crust or crumble. 

Pie filling is naturally hyper-sweet, so you'll want to tone down any other sugary elements you add, to avoid making your breakfast cloying. You can also mix in some contrasting flavors, like a bit of lemon juice or zest. This does a particularly excellent job of balancing out blueberry pie filling. 

No, we're not talking about Texas trash pie, that gooey play on pecan pie that also incorporates pretzels, caramel, and the kitchen sink. We're focusing on a fruity variation of the similarly-named Texas pie using canned pie filling. This dessert consists of a fruity base, sprinkled with boxed cake mix, pecans, shredded coconut, and melted butter. It's kind of like a cobbler or a dump cake with a Texas twist, made from the sort of shelf-stable ingredients people are likely to have on hand.

Many Texans stick to equal parts cherry pie filling and canned crushed pineapple, but you can easily branch off and explore other pie fillings. Apple would be a terrific complement to pecans, a spiced cake mix, and coconut shreds, while a peach pie filling could complement tropical flavors. 

Kolaches are the treat you need to try making if you love jam thumbprint cookies. These goodies feature a soft, yeasted base filled with a  fruity, chocolatey, or savory center. You can easily whip up sweet kolaches with canned pie filling by your side. It's much less labor-intensive than making a batch of filling yourself, which allows you to dedicate more time to the finicky yeasted dough. During the last proof, create a little nest in the center of your dough rounds using the back of a measuring cup. Then, carefully spoon your pie filling into the nest and bake. 

As a baker, you have some creative liberty in deciding what kind of filling to use. Cherry pie filling and blueberry pie filling are two classic options; they don't have the sizeable chunks that, say, apple or peach filling do, which can be awkward to keep in the small kolache nests.

There's essentially no wrong ice cream toppings, just ones we wish we could improve. For example, the grocery store squeeze bottle of strawberry sauce is much too thin and artificially flavored, while chopped fruit interferes with the smoothness of the ice cream and doesn't always give us enough sugary notes. The Goldilocks compromise is opting for canned strawberry pie filling. You get the textural chunks of strawberries and the syrupy, sweet sauce. 

The sheer number of pie fillings in existence allows for much experimentation. We recommend an apple pie sundae with maple walnut ice cream, apple pie filling, crunchy granola, whipped cream, and a caramel drizzle. Or, stick with a berry-forward pie filling to help curb the acidity of a lemon sorbet, or bring life to a bland blueberry ice cream. Regardless of the combo you choose, don't forget the cherry on top.  

We cannot tell you how much we absolutely love eating crumb bars. It's like shrinking an entire crumb cake into a small square and loading it up with extra streusel. While plain crumb bars adorned with pieces of cinnamon-sugar streusel are delicious, there's also something special about adding a fruity component into the mix. Canned pie filling makes this a snap.

Consider making a variation of Ina Garten's apple pie bars by substituting the homemade apple filling for a canned variety. Layer the fruit on top of the thick crust before sprinkling a layer of crumb coating on top. If you like the texture of the apples, you can tweak the recipe and add some pre-cooked ones to your canned filling. Alternatively, you can opt for a blueberry, mixed berry, or cherry pie filling with a decadent layer of cream cheese. The texture and tangy bite of these bars will forever change how you think of this recipe.  

You probably don't see brownies and immediately think of pie filling — but you should. This canned ingredient is viscous and thick, which means it can add moisture to your brownies and blondies and prevent them from coming out of the oven a dry and crumbly mess.

The tricky part of adding canned pie filling to your brownie batter is finding a flavor that matches well. Apples and chocolate are not at the top of our list for flavor combos, but a cherry filling mixed with a decadent dark chocolate brownie mix gives us Black Forest cake vibes. We could also see adding a bit of strawberry pie filling for a romantic (yet simple) date-night dessert. You can also drop the chocolate and stick to a more versatile blondie recipe. Try berry-based flavors, or experiment with wild combinations like lemon, peach, and blackberry. As with all of our suggestions, you should feel free to mix different pie fillings together to find a truly extraordinary flavor combo. 

Your cakes don't have to be boring. In fact, they really shouldn't be — there are so many ways to spruce a basic recipe up. Rather than go for the dense peanut butter or chocolate spread, though, you should grab a can of pie filling. It's viscous enough that it won't soak down into the sponge and make it limp, and it's also intensely fruity, ensuring major flavor in every bite. 

You can customize your recipe to whatever sponge variety and pie filling you have on hand. While many people will choose a plain strawberry filling to adorn a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting, we recommend using lemon pie filling in your recipe. It has the texture of lemon curd, with a surprising brightness that can elevate a standard sponge to new heights. If you opt for a three-tier cake, you can even add lemon on one layer and blueberry or strawberry on another.

Trifles are the perfect low-key dessert. They're an especially easy way to use up your leftover cake, or make the most of a sponge that didn't come out like you imagined. All you have to do is crumble the cake into small pieces and layer it in a jar with whipped cream (or pudding). If you want to infuse even more flavor into your trifle, you should also grab a jar of canned pie filling. It adds virtually no prep; you only have to layer it into the bowl or cup to create the desired visual effect. 

Since your trifle is layered, you can play with different pie fillings to create the perfect flavor combination. Regardless of your choice, it's important to be mindful that the pie filling is super sweet already, so pairing it with sweetened whipped cream and sugary cake could result in an overwhelming dessert — even for us. Consider using a more lightly sweetened cream, or tossing in other ingredients for contrast.