Apple Pie Filling Canning Recipe

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apple pie filling canning

Apples are in season and that means it’s apple canning time. Along with canning applesauce and apple jelly, I like to can apple pie filling. It’s so wonderful to open those jars mid winter for a very quick dessert.

I use apple pie filling mostly for making an apple crisp. I can throw a dessert together in the matter of minutes! Of course you can also make a pie with apple pie filling! You will need two quart jars for a regular size apple pie.

This recipe yields approximately 7-8 quart jars.

If you prefer not to can, I also have an apple pie filling freezer recipe!

Apple Pie Filling Canning Recipe
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 6 Pounds Apples (about 24 medium apples)
  • 4½ cups Sugar
  • 1 cup Cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoon Salt
  • 10 cups Water
  • 3T Lemon Juice
Instructions
  1. Peel, core and slice apples. Keep apple slices in lemon water (or use Fruit Fresh) until the filling syrup is almost ready.
  2. In a large pan mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add water and mix well. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.
  3. While syrup is cooking, pack apple slices into hot quart jars. Once the syrup has thickened, pour syrup over apples in the quart jars. Leave ½" inch of head space. Use a knife or spatula to remove air bubbles.
  4. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

 

Tips

  • If you are just getting started with water bath canning check out the Ball Blue Book for Canning and Preserving. A great website to use for a canning resource is Pick Your Own.
  • Make sure you follow instructions exactly when canning. It is important to use exact measurements.

This recipe is perfect for making apple crisp at the spur of the moment!

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Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.

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Comments

  1. spokaneanna says:

    Every recipe I’ve seen says to ‘stir until mixture is thick and bubbly’. How long is that? I stirred for 35 minutes until I felt the syrup was changing from thin to thick. Was this too long?

    Also the recipe a friend gave me follows yours to a t, except that her recipe stated 2 teaspoons of lemon juice not 3 tablespoons as all the other recipes I’ve seen have. I think that these jars will stay in the fridge and be used within the week.

    • Hello!
      I did not need to stir mine for 35 minutes to reach thickness. I used medium-high heat and stirred at a rapid boil for maybe 15 minutes.

      If your jars sealed you should be good to go!
      Renae recently posted..Giveaway: ReadyU Proctor & Gamble Prize PackMy Profile

      • spokaneanna says:

        thank you Renae. I already opened 3 of the jars and made a cobbler. I put huckleberries in with the apples, so each quart does not have enough filling to make one pie. The other 3 jars went in to the fridge because I am a bit nervous about the lemon juice. This was more work than I intended, but next time I’ll just can apples and see how it goes. (I left 1 inch headspace but I think the huckleberries expanded and each jar overflowed. I spooned some filling out of each and then resealed with no problem). Next time I’ll try boiling the syrup for only 15 minutes and see how it turns out.

  2. I have a ton of pie cherries. How well do you think this recipe would work to tweek the spices alittle and use cherries and not apples?

    • Hi Kathi,
      I have not tried this recipe using cherries! I know that you cherries can be canned. I found this recipe for cherry pie filling that might work for you! http://www.pickyourown.org/cherrypiefilling.htm

      Renae

      • I did use your recipe with my cherries, only I omitted the nutmeg and added 3/4 of a T almond extract and decreased the salt by about 1/4 t.. I also added about a Tablespoon of red food coloring. The jars were so pretty and the filling was great. Thanks for your apple pie filling recipe I made 50 jars last year with my apples and 14 jars of the cherry pie filling. I will also check out the recipe you provided. Thanks so much for the reply.
        Kathi

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