Canning Apple Pie Filling
Apple Pie is my husband's favorite dessert. Of course, I just found that out about a month ago! Yes, that's right, after more than a decade of marriage, I'm just now finding out his favorite dessert!
The really sad thing is, I've only made it twice in that whole time! So to attempt to make up for such a terrible lapse in my cooking patterns, I've been making it a lot recently.
The first few times I peeled the apples right before making the pie. But just as I'm never peeling another tomato before canning, I wanted to find a way to reduce my labor every time I wanted to make apple pie filling!
So, I started canning the apple pie filling instead. And after realizing that canned apples make an EVEN better pie, I'm sold on never peeling another apple just to make pies again!
Canning Apples for Baking
This recipe for canned apples is done in a water bath canner, and the apples are hot packed, which means they are boiled in syrup before canning.
You can raw pack the apples instead, and just pour the syrup over the top, but you will lose a lot of liquid during the process and your apples will be partially sitting in the air (inside the jar). That's a matter of personal preference, but for the recipe we will be hot packing the apples before canning.
This is a water bath canning recipe, so follow those direction here but process the jars for the time indicated below.
Ingredients
- 12 Pounds of Apples
- 5 Quart Jars with Rings and Lids
- Jar Labels optional
- 5 Cups Sugar
- 3 and 1/4 Cups Water
- General Canning Items as Listed HERE
Instructions
- Prepare jars according to Canning Directions HERE
- Wash, core, and peel Apples.
- Cut Apples lengthwise into 1/4 inch (ish) slices.
- Combine Sugar and Water in a large pan and bring to a boil.
- Add Apples to Syrup, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Pack Apples into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle syrup over apples, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Use plastic canning knife to remove all air bubbles.
- Process quarts according to Canning Directions for 20 minutes.
To Make Apple Pie with Canned Apples
- With 1 Einkorn Pie Crust ready, drain Canned Apple juice into a sauce pan.
- Stir over low heat until well combined.
- Raise heat to medium and stir until thickened.
- Add apples to Pie Crust and pour thickened juice evenly over the apples.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425°.
- Reduce heat to 350° and bake for an additional 40 minutes.
Janet says
How long will the canned apples last?
Victoria says
Hi Janet! We use them until they are gone, 5-10 years!
Abby says
My jars are processing right now but I can into an odd conundrum. I measured it 12 lbs then peeled, cored and cut them. When it came time to put them in my large stock pot, they didn’t all fit. So I had to leave out 1.5 lbs (post-cored) because it would’ve overflowed. Then when u was putting them in the jars, I still had enough apples in the stock pot too have been able to fill another jar. I didn’t have one ready so they’re not being canned now. So over all, I think I had a good 2.5-3 lbs of cored apples leftover.
Not sure if anyone else experienced this or if I completely miss-weighed my apples. I’m confident I didn’t but I still could’ve made a mistake
Abby says
Sorry about typos, I totally didn’t edit my comment before posting.
Victoria says
Hey Abby! Sometimes this happens if they jars aren’t packed full, which can take some practice. But you can either keep them aside and can them in another batch, freeze them, or just refrigerate them and make a pie soon!
Francine Strong says
I received 2 jars of canned apple pie filling with cinnamon added made this year, when i opened the jars the fruit was bubbling like it was starting to ferment. still tasted good do you think I can still make a pie with them. Sincerely Concern
Victoria says
Hi Francine! If it was actively bubbling, like it was fermenting, then I would throw it out. If there were just bubbles in the filling like it was air, then it should be fine. I would really have to see it myself to say for sure, so you will need to make the call. I’m sorry!