It’s apple time and I found a recipe that makes truly mouth-watering apple pie filling. It is great to be able to make a crust, pop open a can of homemade pie filling and voila!– homemade apple pie, so superior to store versions.

I INTERRUPT THIS POST TO ASK A QUESTION: IF THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF APPLE PIE FILLING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, PLEASE DROP ME A LINE IN THE COMMENTS. Are you searching for a smaller recipe, one that doesn’t require processing for canning, other ingredients such as tapioca, etc.? This is one of our most frequently searched for (Googled) posts and I would love to know how to provide the kind of apple pie recipes people are searching for. So, if you have a moment, please give us some feedback by clicking on the word “comment” at the end of this post and describing the sort of homemade apple pie filling your heart desires. THANK YOU!

Here is the recipe. It is from allrecipes.com:

Canned Apple Pie Filling
submitted by rhonda

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 Cup cornstarch
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
3 T. lemon juice
6 pounds apples

Directions:
1. In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.
2. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
3. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2-3/4 inch headspace.
4. Fill jars with hot syrup and gently remove air bubbles with a plastic knife (metal may promote cracks in the jars).
5. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

I made a couple of alterations to the recipe based on my personal preferences and experiences with canning: (1) The recipe called for food coloring which I find unnecessary. (2) I use a plastic instead of a metal knife for removing bubbles which can cause jars to crack. (3) I find I need a little more headspace (3/4 in.) because with quart jars and large pieces of fruit a little more space can help prevent overflow when processing.

A few photos:
Here are the prepared apples. Most of the time, I leave the peel on when I have homegrown, organic apples. This time I peeled them for an extra tender pie filling, but I didn’t throw out the peels. (See my upcoming post on applesauce made from peels and cores.)


Next, make the syrup. The stage shown is after the cornstarch has begun to cook. Before this happens the mix is cloudy.


The jars packed with apples and ready for the syrup:

I would show you a homemade pie, but it was eaten so fast I didn’t have time to get my camera.

Tags: , pie filling, , , , home preserving