Have I ever told you how much I love fall time? I love fall. And about this time every year I start getting antsy for it. So it was a super great move for me to make this recipe because it was better than any candle, Scentsy bar, or scented oil I own. The smell of fresh cut apples simmering in cinnamon and nutmeg? Heaven. I just ignored the fact that it was 96° outside. You can make this recipe to can in jars (read our Introduction to Canning and Preserving by clicking here) or pop batches in your freezer. It’s fun to have on hand for quick desserts like apple pie, apple crisp, apple turnovers, and it’s great on waffles, pancakes and ice cream too. It also makes a super cute gift for the holidays or for a hostess gift or new neighbor gift, etc.
You’re going to ask me for those labels, aren’t you? I’ll get on that. One day. Before Christmas. Maybe.
*A note about thickeners: I spent a better part of a Wednesday pulling my hair out and cursing driving around town in search of, and making phone call after phone call trying to get information about thickeners! A huge thanks to my friend/canning mentor Britanie for helping me figure out what the heck to use; I must have texted her 47 times this week. Thanks to her, and my new BFF at the extension office, I can sort of pretend I know what I’m talking about around here. It can be confusing because I noticed recipes call for different things depending on when they were written, and I know the #1 rule of canning is to not make substitutions or changes to a recipe that has been tested for canning. I noticed a lot of older recipes call for corn starch, which is not recommended by the USDA for safe canning. Then I found lots of recipes calling for ClearJel, but I couldn’t find ClearJel anywhere. I finally got a hold of someone at my local extension service (I seriously love those people!) and she explained that the only products that have been verified after testing are Ultra Gel and Thick Gel. Ultra Gel is just a modified corn starch that’s safe and effective for use in canning (as well as tons of other things). She said ClearJel is the same thing as Ultra Gel, it’s just changed names. I found Ultra Gel in several local canning supply stores, so if you find a well stocked location you should be able to easily find it. You should also be able to find it at cooking stores. If not, then you can order it on-line, but that’s what you should be using. It’s not the same thing as the little boxes of “Sure-Gel” you get to make jam. If you are a Boise/Meridian local, I bought mine at Karcher Ranch Market in Nampa. And I’ve been told in Utah it’s at Orson Gygi. I hope that’s helpful to someone else since it took me a while to figure out!
So in order to make this yummy filling, you’ll need a bunch of apples; obviously. Make sure they are crisp, and tart works best- like Granny Smiths, but really any crisp apple is just fine. Feel free to use a mix!
You can use an apple-corer-slicer-thingy (which by the way always reminds me of a medieval torture device. Not that I am in any way an expert in medieval torture devices) or do them by hand. If you’re not doing a huge batch, it really doesn’t take too long to peel them. To keep your apples looking purdy, toss them into a bowl as you cut filled with either water with lemon juice or water with ascorbic acid (which sounds like a not-so-medieval torture device…) Just a note- you’ll want to slice more apples than you think you need because they reduce a bit when blanched and you’ll measure them after blanching.
When they’re all sliced up, you’ll give them a douse in boiling water; only about a minute will do it.
Remove the apples from the pot and set them in a big strainer if you have one and just cover to keep warm. I use one of these pasta pots that has a strainer that fits inside; it works perfectly.
Now for the sweet, sticky, full-of-fall deliciousness. Mix your sugar, Ultra Gel, and spices, in a large sauce pot.
Whisk them together with some apple juice and some water,
And heat it until it’s thick and bubbly. The Ultra Gel works so fast that by the time the sauce simmers, it should be about done.
As soon as your sauce is hot and bubbly, add the apples back in
and stir them until they’re heated through again. Man I wish you all had smell-o-screens. Someone needs to invent that. This will smell so so good.
Use a funnel to ladle the hot mixture into your clean jars
Make sure you get every last drop of the ooey gooey syrup
Pie. In a Jar.
Slowly move your spatula around in the jar to remove air bubbles and make sure you have one inch of headspace (the amount of space from the top of your filling to the top of your jar). Wipe off the jar rim so it’s nice and clean and then place your jar lids on top. Remember, your lids should have been soaking in simmering water, and your jars should be clean and warm.
Secure with the bands and process in a water bath for the time allotted. Let cool completely at room temperature.
So fun.
A quart jar should be enough to fill one standard pie. Just dump in a pie crust and you’re good to go! As I mentioned it’s also really yummy over pancakes, waffles and ice cream. You can fill crescent or puff pastry dough and make apple turnovers, or do as I did below and have an apple crisp made in the time it takes to whip up a quick crumb topping (I just used have of the crumb mixture from this Crumb-Topped Apple Pie recipe). There’s really no wrong way to eat a jar of apple pie filling. Unless you don’t eat it at all; that would be wrong. As noted in the comments- you can even put the pie filling in a pie crust and put the entire un-baked pie into your freezer and have ready-to-go fresh pies stocked up!
I love it when recipes are scaled way down- you could even try this out and just do one jar if you’re new and canning is intimidating. Or two jars if you find yourself ready to can a huge batch at 10pm only to realize you only have 2 jars left. Me? Never.
Apple Pie Filling
Recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation
Recipe as written below is for 7 quarts of apple pie filling. Click here, or see image above for measurements that yield just one quart (you can calculate from there depending on how many jars you wish to make, or according to how many apples you have.)
Ingredients
6 quarts Blanched, sliced fresh apples
5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups Ultra Gel or Clear Jel
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups cold water
5 cups Apple Juice
3/4 cups bottled lemon juice
Instructions
Use firm, crisp apples. If apples lack tartness, use an additional 1/4 cup of lemon juice for each 6 quarts of slices.
Yield: 7 quarts
Wash, peel, and core apples. Prepare slices 1/4-1/2 inches wide and place in cold water containing 1/4 cup lemon juice for every 4 cups water (or water containing ascorbic acid) to prevent browning.
For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon of boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain, but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar, spices, Ultra Gel, and spices in a large kettle with water and apple juice. Stir and cook on medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained apple slices immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately in a waterbath according to the recommendations below.
Processing time for pint or quart size jars: 0-1000 ft: 25 min, 1001-3000 ft:30 3001-6000 ft: 30 mins Above 6000 ft: 40 mins
Freezer Instructions: Alternately this recipe can be placed in freezer bags and frozen for several months. Place approximately 4 cups apple mixture to fill one standard size pie.
Have you all enjoyed canning week? I know I did; I learned a lot! I can’t thank my friends enough for answering all of my questions as I went along- I’m kind of a canning newbie too! Stay tuned in about a month or so when I have tomatoes coming out of my ears. There will probably be more canning projects then!
Questions & Reviews
Hi! your recipe looks great! New to canning and my question is, instead of slices, will it alter the outcome if I want to do smaller, 1/2-3/4 inch chunks of apple as I’m thinking of putting them in pint jars to make smaller pie/tarts & easier gift giving (over pancakes!).
Thank you!
Can I use Splenda with ultra gel for pie filling?
I’m brand new to pies…. Made the filling and it turned out GREAT! Thanks so much. But now that I’ve made my pie crusts… do I pre-bake them, then fill, then bake the pie? Or do I put the filling in the “raw” pie crust, and bake all at once? Is it the pie crust recipe that dictates the cooking time or the filling? I’m lost! Thanks for your help!
Sorry this response is so late- put it in raw!
If you are freezing the filing does it need the clear gel? Is it for canning for for the filling?
Sara, this is FANTASTIC!!! I do think you should change the yield of the recipe, though….. When I finally got to the point of filling the jars there was only 6 1/3 quarts instead of 7. Oh, wait…. I wonder if it is the fact that my kids couldn’t keep their grubby little paws holding spoons digging in and ‘testing’ it. Okay, it wasn’t only my kids;) Thanks SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!!!
Not sure why, but every time I do canning recipes, it never makes as much as it says. I know canning needs to be very specific so I am careful about how I measure but it always turns out less. Hope it all ends up being ok to put on the shelf. I get nervous. When I made this I didn’t even fill the 6th jar up all the way.
In Utah, I finally found the Ultra Gel and Thick Gel at Macey’s. Can’t wait to try this out!
Two years ago after reading this post I was ready to make apple pie filling and couldn’t fill Clear Jel/Ultra Jel anywhere!! I ended up just canning the pie filling without it and when I use my pie filling I thicken it to my liking prior to. Well- this year my Walmart is carrying it! So check out your Walmart shelves in the baking section. Also, this recipe is really really good!! I am going to do some tonight- I just picked 5 bushels of apples!!
I froze this in freezer bags and wondered, do you need to cook it, oops?
Nope- just defrost and you’re good to go!
9/25/13. Found ClearJel at Dawns Candy and cakes in Bothell, Wa. She sells it in as little as 1lb increments. So all of you in the Seattle area, no need to order from the internet 🙂
Thank you for the information!!! 🙂
Love your apple pie filling in a jar. Unfortunately, I did not have apples, but had an abundance of pears. I substituted pears for apples and it was great. I have canned 7 Qts and am doing another canner today. Thanks for the great recipe. I live in Florida and I have found the ClearJel online @ Amazon, Kitchen Krafts, and Webstaurant.
I found clear jel at Cash and Carry on Caldwell Blvd in Nampa Idaho, but it was a large bag and they wanted $52 for it! I think I will check out Thick Gel instead.
Thank you for the information on Karcher Ranch Market! Right around the corner from me. I was wondering if Ultra gel is absolutely needed or can I use Thick Gel? What is the difference between the two besides price (i.e. functionality, clear set, likelihood of getting a lumpy mass)?
I made this for the first time this year when we harvested the apples on our tree. I was told that sugars are interchangeable (sugars, not sweeteners!) and I subbed brown sugar for the white and apple cider for the juice. It made a more caramel-y pie filling. Perfect for a crisp or heated and spooned over a good vanilla ice cream! I highly recommend this recipe!!
Love this recipe! A friend and I made a batch yesterday–and after the water bath my jars have many bubbles in them– I had used my tool to clear the bubbles out before the water bath. There is no sticky residue that would suggest the lids leaked–and the lids are tight, no flexing, but I don’t like seeing all these bubbles. Do you have any thoughts?
I honestly have no idea- I’d call your local extension service, they always have all of the answers!
Sara, thank you so much for this scruptious looking apple pie filling! I do have one question. You recommend adding more lemon juice for less tart apples, when would this be added. Is it for the water to keep them from browning or needed in the sauce? Thanks so much! I can’t wait to make my house smell like heaven!
Just add it where the recipe says to add lemon juice. It’s both to prevent browning and also to add acidity for canning.
This is my first time doing this. I have cut apples and have just put sugar cinnamon on them and put them in the frig. We have been eating them like this. How long will they keep like this and can I still freeze them like this? I didn’t put anything else in it.
Just finished 93 quarts of this pie filling and it is delicious!! I found that if I mixed the liquids and the clear gel together first, it works much better as far as getting a smooth syrup! My kids like just the filling. It would be super yummy on waffles/pancakes/creeps etc!!
Hi. Love your canning expertise! Also, love your sweet Apple Pie Filling label. Would you be so kind to share where I can find it? Thanks!
I just whipped that up on my computer for this post and I didn’t save it- sorry!
What a great post! As a beginner to canning, I appreciate your detailed steps with pictures. I am really wanting to make homemade gifts for the holidays for friends, and this one looks like a winner!
I am so excited to try this recipe this year! It will also be a great Christmas gift! Thank you! But where might i find the pretty labels at???
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! I made one batch and its already gone. Now I’m getting ready to make thanksgiving pies so will be making a big batch. If I trade the clear gel for cornstarch since this batch will go straight into pies, is the ratio 1:1 cornstarch:clear gel?
I have friends at work lining up for a pie.
I brought one into work last week, with the top covered with maple leaves cut out of pie dough and painted orange with edible paints. It was so cute!
Found this on the Ultra Gel package:
1 T cornstarch = 2 T Ultra Gel. 1T flour or tapioca = 1 T Ultra Gel
For those of you looking for labels, here are some adorable free ones:
http://limeshot.com/2012/free-printable-mason-jar-labels
I made this yesterday, in preparation for Christmas gifts. I told myself, I should probably try it before I start handing out gifts like this…..Oh my AWESOMENESS! Filling is delicious! I poured it into a Trader Joe’s pie crust, made a crumb topping, and voila! It was like heaven in my mouth. I plan on adding decorative labels to my jars, attaching a crumb topping packet and instructions for Christmas gifts this year! Thank you for sharing this!
I’ve been using corn starch in my apple pie filling for 20 years now and I have never had a problem. So, don’t despair if you can’t find clear jell. Everyone loves my apple pie.
Has anybody tried canning the filling without the clear gel? I live in a small northern community in Canada. No chance of getting the gel here. Glad I found this website otherwise I would be cannning with tapioca… Maybe I can add a the tapioca just before or in a bag with the Christmas gifts.
I canned harvard beets earlier this month. It’s beets, vinegar, mustard powder and a few tablespoons of flour. Does anybody know if I should be freezing it since I used flour canning?
I couldn’t find info about this in the comments but can you use sure jell or does it need to be clear jell?
If the apples are precooked, how long and what temperature for a pie?
What about those labels? Any chance we can get a JPEG for printing??
Sorry, I never did make those!