Canned Apple Pie Filling

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We have a recipe for canned apple pie filling we have used for years. A few comments first.

A grocery bag of nice apples will do about 7 quarts. I still hand peel and slice; I don’t like the size of slices you get with an apple peeler. I slice my apples into water with a teaspoon of canning salt to 1 gallon of water to preserve the color. I was having trouble with the jars oozing when they come out of the water bath with the recommended 1/2 inch air space, so I went to 1-1/2 inch air space and solved my problems. The apples swell and will stay up in the neck of the jar if you have a good seal. If they drop down, you might as well make pie, crisp, crumble, or grunt, whatever the word is in your part of the country. A teaspoon of ground coriander added is a nice complement as well as using brown sugar instead of white sugar. You get a caramel apple flavor with the brown sugar.

I am always open to suggestions and try many recipes. We have had a cafe for 38 years so you know we have done our share of cooking. We try our best to make things from scratch and with as few preservatives as possible.

We really got aggressive with our pruning last year and had the most beautiful apples ever. We have Honey Gold, Haralson, Honey Crisp, and a Sweet Sixteen with a Honey Gold and an old Greening grafted on it.

We also used red Styrofoam balls brushed with Tanglefoot to keep the apple maggot fly at bay. It seemed to work. I glued craft sticks with holes in them into the balls so we could handle, paint, and hang them.

Our Canned Apple Pie Filling Recipe

5 quarts water

4-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring to boil and add:

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup minute tapioca mixed with 1 cup cold water, add to boiling syrup.

Bring to boil again.

Have the apples well-drained and add to the syrup and fill the jars making sure there are no air bubbles. Wipe jar tops with a clean cloth or damp paper towel, and apply sterilized lids as usual. Proceed with filling the canner and bring to boil and SIMMER 20 minutes. Lift from canner to a towel on the counter and let cool.

This works well with peaches, too. I wish berries were plentiful here; I’d try it with berries as well. Maybe we will get enough serviceberries (poor man’s blueberries) to try it as well!

Originally published in 2011 and regularly vetted for accuracy.