Recipe request: make-ahead apple pie filling

VermontCathy

I have a glut of apples roughly every other year. I'd like to find more uses for them.

One idea I had is a pie filling that is made fresh and canned, or possibly frozen. Then in midwinter, I would open the pie filling can, dump it in a pie crust, and make fresh pie.

Does anyone have a recipe they can share for a cannable apple pie filling?

Torey

This one is from our VFD cookbook. I've never made it but I know the lady that submitted the recipe and she was a very good cook. If you try it, let us know how it is.

Apple Pie in a Jar

7 quarts peeled, sliced cooking apples (about 7 pounds)

SYRUP:

4½ cups sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

10 cups water

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Peel and slice apples. Fill hot quart jars with apples, leaving 1” head space. Make syrup by combining sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and water. Cook until thick. Add lemon juice. Pour syrup over apples, leaving ½” head space. Process 20 minutes in water bath. Yield 7 quarts. 

This is excellent to make muffins – adjust your wet ingredients to allow for this mixture. Also excellent to serve with pork roast.

vickeym

This is the recipe on the National Center for Food Preservation here in the US.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/chttps://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/apple_filling.html

Apple Pie Filling

Quality: Use firm, crisp apples. Stayman, Golden Delicious, Rome, and other varieties of similar quality are suitable. If apples lack tartness, use an additional 1/4 cup of lemon juice for each 6 quarts of slices.

Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Yield: 1 quart or 7 quarts

Procedure: See Table 1 for suggested quantities. Wash, peel, and core apples. Prepare slices 1/2-inch wide and place in water containing ascorbic acid to prevent browning.

For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon of boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain, but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar, Clear Jel®, and cinnamon in a large kettle with water and apple juice. If desired, food coloring and nutmeg may be added. Stir and cook on medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained apple slices immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately according to the recommendations in Table 2.

Table 1. Apple Pie Filling. Quantities of Ingredients Needed For 

1 Quart 7 Quarts

Blanched, sliced fresh apples 3-1/2 cups 6 quarts Granulated sugar 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp 5-1/2 cups Clear Jel® 1/4 cup 1-1/2 cup Cinnamon 1/2 tsp 1 tbsp Cold Water 1/2 cup 2-1/2 cups Apple juice 3/4 cup 5 cups Bottled lemon juice 2 tbsp 3/4 cup Nutmeg (optional) 1/8 tsp 1 tsp Yellow food coloring (optional) 1 drop 7 drops

Table 2. Recommended process time for Apple Pie Filling in a boiling-water canner

Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 3,000 ft 3,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft

Style of Pack Jar Size 25 min 30 Min 35 min 40 Min

Hot Pints or Quarts

This document was adapted from the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA, revised 2015.

Reviewed February 2018.

VermontCathy

Thank you both @Torey and @vickeym. I will look into this now that we are at the heigh of apple season!