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Home / Pie Fillings / Canned Apple Pie Filling

Canned Apple Pie Filling

Filed Under: Pie Fillings, Seasonal Fall, Seasonal Winter Tagged With: Apples, Clearjel, Thickeners

canned apple pie filling 001

Delicious homemade apple pie filling — in jars on the shelf ready for nearly-instant desserts.

This is a high-quality product developed by the USDA that most people can’t say enough good about.

Please note that ingredients are per litre (US quart) jar of end product. If you want to do a standard canner load of 7 such large jars, multiply by 7.

Contents hide
  • 1 The recipe
  • 2 Apple Pie Filling
    • 2.1 Ingredients
    • 2.2 Instructions
    • 2.3 Nutrition
  • 3 Reference information
  • 4 Recipe notes
    • 4.1 No substitute for Clearjel
  • 5 How to make a pie with this pie filling
  • 6 Recipe Source
  • 7 Nutrition information
    • 7.1 Regular version
    • 7.2 Sugar-free version

Home canned apple pie filling 01

The recipe

Jar size choices: Either half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz) OR 1 litre (US quart / 32 oz)

Processing method: Water bath or steam canning

Yield: 1  litre (US quart) jar. Multiply recipe as desired.

Headspace: 3 to 4 cm (1 to 1.25 inches)

Processing time: 25 minutes (all jar sizes)

Print

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients are per litre (US quart) jar
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Apples, Pie Filling
Prep Time 1 hour hour
Cook Time 1 hour hour
Total Time 2 hours hours
Servings 1 pie
Calories 1054kcal
Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

  • 500 g apple (washed, peeled, cored, sliced. 4 cups / 1 lb. Measurements after prep)
  • 4 tablespoons Clearjel (30 g / ¼ cup)
  • 175 g sugar (White. ¾ cup / 6 oz. OR ¾ cup / 15 g Splenda®)
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
  • 125 ml water (cold. ½ cup / 4 oz)
  • 175 ml apple juice (unsweetened. ¾ cup / 6 oz)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (bottled)
  • 1 dash nutmeg
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Prep the apples. Slice no more than 2 cm (½ inch) thick. Set aside in a large bowl or pot with in water with some lemon juice or ascorbic acid in it to prevent discolouring.
  • In a large pot, mix together the Clearjel, sugar (or Splenda®, if using), cinnamon, nutmeg if using, water and apple juice. Set aside.
  • Boil a large pot of water (4 litres / quarts). Add about 500 g / 4 cups of apples at a time to the boiling water. When the water returns to the boil after adding the apples, time 1 minute, then remove the apples with a slotted spoon or strainer, and put in a bowl or pot and cover to keep warm.
  • Repeat for all apples.
  • Put the apple juice mixture pot on to cook over medium high-heat.
  • When it starts to thicken, which will be very soon, add the lemon juice.
  • Cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
  • Stir in the apple.
  • Ladle apple into prepared half-litre (1 US pint) or 1 litre (1 US quart) jars
  • Leave 3 cm ( 1 inch) headspace.
  • Debubble, adjust headspace.
  • Wipe jar rims.
  • Put lids on.
  • Process in a water bath or steam canner.
  • Process either size jar for 25 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1054kcal | Carbohydrates: 277.9g | Protein: 1.8g | Fat: 1.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 15mg | Fiber: 7.5g | Sugar: 246.2g
Jar size0 to 300 m (0 - 1000 feet)301 to 900 m (1,001 - 3,000 ft)901 - 1,800 m (3,001 - 6,000 ft)1,801 m (6,000 ft) and above
½ litre (1 US pint)25 mins30 mins35 mins40 mins
1 litre (1 US quart)25 mins30 mins35 mins40 mins

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.

What is the shelf life of home canned goods?

Recipe notes

  • The measurement for the apple is for already-prepped apple. After blanching, that’s 3 ½ cups in volume of blanched apple, and still around 500 g in weight;
  • Slice the apples no more than 1 cm (½ inch) thick. Thicker slices may trap too much air in them, which during processing will try to escape from the jar and cause product overflow. For the same reason, don’t skip blanching the apple pieces: blanching gets air out;
  • Some people advise to leave headspace of 3 cm (1 ¼ inches), because of how much this swells during processing. Others say excess headspace won’t help: instead, take the precautions mentioned above;
  • Optional: 1 drop of yellow food colouring per litre (US quart) jar being prepared;
  • You can reduce the sugar, or use granulated Splenda® (¾ cup / 15 g), or use 1 teaspoon of liquid stevia. For stevia, we’d recommend Better Stevia liquid stevia.
  • You may wish to reduce the amount of Clearjel by 1 tablespoon or even 2. It is safe to so; you are reducing the density.

No substitute for Clearjel

You can’t use flour or cornstarch etc., in this USDA recipe, only Clearjel.

Pamela Schmutz at Clemson University explains:

The recipes for fruit pie fillings all use a modified food starch called Clear Jel®. This starch produces the correct thickening, even after the fillings are canned and baked. Other starches, such as cornstarch, break down and result in a runny filling. Clear Jel® must be used as the thickener in these recipes; there is no substitution. Do not use any other form of Clear Jel®, such as Instant Clear Jel®. ” [1] Schmutz, Pamela. Pie Fillings. Georgia: Clemson University Extension. HGIC 3160. August 2010. Accessed August 2015.

NOTE: Penn State Extension and Utah State Extension back the Thermflo and Thick Gel brand names of modified starch respectively as equivalents to Clearjel.

Do not use recipes from allrecipes.com, etc., that appear to make a similar home canned pie filling with cornstarch.

canned apple pie filling 013

canned apple pie filling 005

canned apple pie filling 002

How to make a pie with this pie filling

A 1 litre (quart) jar makes an ample 20 cm (8 inch) pie.

For a 23 cm (9 inch) pie:

  • 1 litre (US quart) jar makes a scant pie;
  • 2 of these jars makes for a generously filled pie;
  • Some people say to take a 1 litre jar, empty into a bowl, then mix in a half-litre (1 US pint) jar of plain canned apple slices, and use that, for a really fruity and generous 23 cm (9 inch) apple pie.

Home canned apple pie filling 02

Home canned apple pie filling 03

Recipe Source

Apple Pie Filling. In: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture information bulletin No. 539. 2015. Page 2-26.

Nutrition information

Serving size: 1 litre (US quart / 4 cups / 32 fluid oz.) jar

Regular version

Per 1 litre / US quart:

  • 1054 calories, 15 mg sodium

Apple Pie Fillling Nutrition Regular

Sugar-free version

Per 1 litre / US quart:

  • 398 calories, 15 mg sodium
  • Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 11 points.

apple pie filling nutrition

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.

canned apple pie filling 003

References[+]

References
↑1 Schmutz, Pamela. Pie Fillings. Georgia: Clemson University Extension. HGIC 3160. August 2010. Accessed August 2015.
Tagged With: Apples, Clearjel, Thickeners

Filed Under: Pie Fillings, Seasonal Fall, Seasonal Winter Tagged With: Apples, Clearjel, Thickeners

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah

    November 08, 2023 at 12:40 pm

    Would subbing coconut sugar be safe in this recipe? Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Menolly

    March 21, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    Can I add a couple tsps of vanilla extract?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      July 26, 2022 at 2:27 pm

      Yes, that counts as a “seasoning” and typically it’s fine to adjust seasonings in a home canning recipe. Just bear in mind when adding flavouring that flavours can intensify during the canning process.

      Reply
      • Kathleen Dehaven

        October 03, 2024 at 6:18 pm

        Can I substitute sure jell for clear jelly as I don’t have access to clear jel

        Reply
  3. Sara

    November 28, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    Have you tried using erythritol in this basic canning recipe? Do you have any information on erythritol in apple pie? I understand it is 69-70% as sweet, and I was hoping to compensate for this with a touch of pure monk fruit extract instead of stevia.

    Reply
If you need FAST or relatively immediate canning help or answers, please try one of these Master Food Preserver groups; they are more qualified than we are and have many hands to help you. Many of them even operate telephone hotlines in season.
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Various studies through the years show consumers are not following science-based recommendations. They are not willing to change from old methods when science updates indicate new ones are needed. A large percentage are adapting recommendations in their own ways… Over half of home canners underprocess.”

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