Spiced Apple Pie Filling

Processing: Boiling Water Canner 25 minutes (half-pints, pints, quarts)
Storage: 12 months +
Yield: 4 cups per batch
    
Make homemade apple pies in minutes! Simply pour into a pie shell, cover with the top and bake. Quart (950ml) jars are great for family-sized pies; half pint (1-cup) jars of canned pie filling make approx 4 x mini pies. Pie filling is also delicious stirred through homemade yoghurt or used as a topping on cheesecake, pastries, pancakes, ice-cream or other desserts.  

    

PLEASE NOTE: This recipe makes 1 x quart jar. To make larger batches, multiply by the number of jars you wish to make (we recommend using 2 or 3 large pans for large batches) or refer to the chart at the end of this recipe.     

    

INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 cups peeled apple slices (or cubes)
water, for cooking
1 1/2 cups water (or apple juice), chilled
3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 cup Thermflo (or Clearjel) (1/8 cup for pancake topping)

2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice     

          

METHOD:

1. Cover jars with water and bring to a boil, boiling for 10 minutes. Once the time is up, turn the heat off and leave jars in the hot water until ready to fill.

2. Wash, peel and core apples. Cut into thick slices. Place apple slices into a bowl of water (with half a lemon squeezed in the water) to prevent browning whilst preparing the remainder. Using a slotted spoon, place apple slices into a pan in a single layer. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer apple slices for 1 minute, then use the slotted spoon to remove to a bowl, and repeat with remaining apple slices in the pan. Cover fruit to stay hot.
3. Whisk sugar, Thermflo and the water together. Heat until thick. Remove from heat. Whisk in the bottled lemon juice. Immediately stir the apple slices into the pie filling, adding extra apple juice if too thick, and bottle immediately.

4. Place lids into a bowl of boiled water. Remove the lids from the water when you are ready to place them onto the jars to seal.

5. Immediately ladle the hot fruit pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1inch (2.5cm) headspace. Remove bubbles, check headspace is correct, then wipe rims with damp paper towel then seal.

6. Submerge jars in water and boil for 25 minutes (add an extra 5 minutes of processing if adding dried fruit or nuts, as listed in flavour ideas below), adjusting for altitude if required by following chart below. Start timer once water returns to a full boil. When time is up, turn heat off and rest jars in water for 5 minutes before placing onto a towel-covered bench overnight to cool.

7. The next day: check jars have sealed before labelling and storing in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 12 months. Jar lids should not flex up or down when pressed.Please note fruit pie fillings will have tiny bubbles present after processing.

         

FLAVOUR IDEAS:

• Try different spices: try cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg or vanilla;
• Add extra lemon juice and/or lemon zest;
• Replace the white sugar with brown sugar;
• Replace 1/4 cup sugar with a few tablespoons of honey;
• Add a little liqueur to your pie filling: try brandy, kirsch or rum;
• For something different, add 1/4 cup pecan or walnut halves, or raisins. If adding these, process for 30 minutes.

    

Spiced Apple Pie Filling Ingredients
	1 Quart (4 cups)	7 Quarts (28 cups)
Apples, peeled, cored, sliced	3 ½ cups	24 cups
Water, chilled	1 1/4 cups	7 1/2 cups
Sugar	¾ cup	5 1/2 cups
Thermflo (or ClearJel)	¼ cup	1 1/2 cups
Bottled lemon juice	2 tablespoons	3/4 cup
www.foodpreserving.org

    

Spiced Apple Pie Filling Processing in Boiling Water Canner
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Altitude 0 – 1,000ft	Altitude 1,001 – 3,000ft	Altitude 3,001 – 6,000ft	Altitude ≥6,000ft
Hot	Half-pint Pint Quart	25 minutes	30 minutes	35 minutes	40 minutes
www.foodpreserving.org