Home Canning Apple Pie Filling with Recipe and Tips

Along with Fall and the cooler temperatures comes canning season, at least for me. During the months of September and October I’m busy with my home canning making homemade applesauce, apple pie filling, apple butter, pumpkin butter, pear sauce, and several other goodies to stock my winter pantry.

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Earlier this month I purchased a bushel of apples at our local Farmer’s Market and got busy with my home canning. You can find my recipe for home canned Apple Butter and Creamy Applesauce right here on the blog. This recipe will yield 6 to 7 pint jars. Please see my additional notes located below the recipe.

Apples Pie Filling Recipe

10 lbs.  fresh apples
Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector
4 cups granulated sugar
4 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Wash, peel, core and slice apples. Some people slice them into rings but I like to peel, core and cut into wedges. Treat with Fruit-Fresh to prevent apples from darkening.

Combine granulated sugar, water and lemon juice in a large stock pot. Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Drain apples from water and then place them into the hot syrup and let stand for 10 minutes. Bring apples and syrup to a full boil over medium to high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove apples from syrup, keep hot. Return syrup to a boil.

Layer hot apples loosely into a hot canning jar. Ladle hot syrup into the jar leaving a 1/2″ headspace. Wipe rim, add seal and add the band until it’s fingertip tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water of the canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Lower the rack into the simmering water. The water needs to cover the top of the jars by at least 1″ in depth. Adjust heat to medium-high and bring the water to a boil. Process the jars for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove cover. Let jars sit in the hot water for an additional 5 minutes. Remove jars from the caner and place them on top of a towel on your counter to cool. If properly processed they should keep for up to 1 year. Store in a cool, dry place.

Notes: This pie filling can be used a wide variety of different ways. I will drain out the syrup and use the apples to make apple crisp, apple cobbler, fruit pies, apple dumplings, etc. You can turn it into applesauce once you open the jar…by just tossing it into the blender and blending until smooth.  Once the jar has been opened you will need to store it in your refrigerator.

Purchasing Apples: I personally like to use a combination of apples when I do my home canning. I will use 1/2 sweet eating apples and 1/2 tart baking apples. I personally like the two type’s combined. Always purchase ripe apples that don’t have any damage, mold, or bruising. Quality counts!!!

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