Description

Spiced apples in a luscious sauce ready and waiting to be used in pies, as a topping for ice cream, cake or even as the base for a quick apple crumble.

Ingredients

Scale

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced (8 cups)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups water

Sauce

1–1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of allspice
6 tablespoons (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) regular modified food starch (not instant) like Clear Jel
1/2 cup water

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Instructions

Sterilize 2 quart bottles or 4 pint bottles by washing in very hot sudsy water and rinsing well.
Prepare a water bath canner if planning on canning the filling. If planning on freezing the filling, use 2 quart freezer bags or 4 pint freezer bags or freezer containers.
In a large sauce pan, combine 8 cups apple slices with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a container, combine the sauce ingredients and stir will to combine so there are no clumps.
After the apples have boiled for 5 minutes, pour in the sauce mixture and stir well to combine. Allow this mixture to boil for 1 minute. The sauce should be thick, and the apple slices still slightly firm.
Carefully ladle the hot apple mixture into bottles, using a funnel to keep the bottle rim clean.
Fill bottles leaving 1/2” between the top of the bottle and the apple pie filling (this is called headspace).
Release any air bubbles, by inserting a utensil and carefully working it around the sides of the bottle.
Wipe off the jar rim with clean, slightly damp cloth (food on the rim prevents a the bottle from sealing.)
Attach the prepared lid and metal band and finger tighten. (Prepare the flat lid according to the manufactures instructions.) Do not try to reuse lids.
Place filled bottles into the canner making sure the bottles do not touch.
Process in a water bath for 40 minutes. (This processing time is for sea level, add processing time if you are at a higher altitude.)
Carefully remove the extremely hot bottles from the canner and set on a towel or rack to protect the surface underneath, again making sure the hot bottles are not touching.
Allow bottles to cool completely and check that the lid has sealed by pressing center of each lid. If the center of the lid is slightly concave, the jar is sealed. If the center of the lid pops up and down, the bottle did not seal. Unsealed jars can be refrigerated and the filling used within 2-3 days, or frozen or reprocessed within 24 hours.
Properly sealed apple pie filling will keep for up to one year.
To freeze the apple pie filling, prepare the freezer bags or containers.
Follow steps 3-5 above.
Allow the apple pie filling to cool for 15 minutes.
Ladle the warm apple mixture into freezer bags or containers, leaving about 1-1/2” of space at the top. As the liquid freezes it will expand and the reserved space allows for this expansion.
Seal and label the container or freezer bag as apple pie fill and include the date.
Transfer to the freezer and freeze.
Use within 4-6 months.

Notes

Use a mixture of firm sweet apples and firm tart apples according to your preference. I like the ratio of 2 parts tart to 1 part sweet apples.

If only using Golden Delicious apples, increase the lemon juice to 1/2 cup.

Check the internet for instructions on adjusting the processing time at your altitude.

I usually double the recipe. If making more, it is best to do it in batches.

1 quart of apple pie filling will fill a 8″ pie, if making a larger pie, add 1-2 raw sliced apples to the apple pie filling just before adding the mixture to the pie.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/2 cup