Candy Apple Pie Filling

Processing: Boiling Water Canner 25 minutes
(half-pints, pints, quarts)
Storage: 12 months +
Yield: 4 cups per batch
       
Make delicious candy 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 apple slices
water, for blanching
1 1/2 cups water (or apple juice), chilled
2 tablespoons cinnamon red hot candies
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Thermflo (or Clearjel)
3 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
          
Heat red hots in apple juice/water until dissolved. Chill until ready for use.
   
Prepare jars.
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.
   
Prepare fruit.
Wash apples and drain. Peel, core and thickly slice apples (or dice). Place prepared fruit into a bowl of water (with half a lemon squeezed in the water) to prevent browning while you prepare the rest. Blanch apple slices for 1 minute in boiling water, then strain. Keep fruit hot.
       
Make fruit pie filling.
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.
         
Prepare lids.
Place lids into a bowl of boiling water. Remove the lids from the water when you are ready to place them onto the jars to seal.
   
Ladle hot pie filling into hot jars.
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.
   
Process jars in a boiling water canner.
Process in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude if required. 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.
   

Candy 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
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Next day: check for seals.

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:

• Add 1 teaspoon ground spice: try cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg;
• Add lemon zest;
• Caramel Candy Apple Pie Filling: replace the white sugar with brown sugar;
• Add a few drops of red food colouring when heating the pie filling mixture (before adding the fruit), if desired.

  
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOGRAPHS HERE        

  

Candy Apple Pie Filling Ingredients
	1 Quart (4 cups)	7 Quarts (28 cups)
Apples, peeled, cored, sliced	3 ½ cups	24 ½ cups
Water, chilled	1 ½ cups	10 ½ cups
Cinnamon red hot candies	2 tablespoons	¾ cup
Sugar	¾ cup	5 ¼ cups
Thermflo (or ClearJel)	¼ cup	1 ¾ cups
Bottled lemon juice	3 tablespoons	1 ¼ cups
www.foodpreserving.org