Making Apple Pie Filling.....

My girlfriend and her hubby were sweet enough to bring me two boxes of mixed apple varieties to make some yummy pie filling. I had never made or canned pie filling before and I was shocked at how super easy it was!

Since I feeling a bit unsure of the whole process....I made Jenny come over and bring her boxes of apples and we made a triple batch together....it's always more fun that way anyway, right? I think so!

Once we cored, peeled, and sliced the apples (with one of those handy Pampered Chef tools) we were ready for yummy syrup! I was really easy to measure up and make. Here is the recipe:

APPLE PIE IN A JAR

Peel, Core, and Slice apples into quart jars, cover with syrup

*Be sure to leave head space (@ one inch)

*Burp the jars (run a knife along the inside edge of the jar to get the bubbles out)

TO PREPARE SYRUP

4 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup corn starch

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

10 cups of water

Cook syrup until thick and bubbly-stir often. When syrup in ready add 3  TBSP of lemon juice.

Pour the hot syrup over the apples, burp, and seal jars.

Process 20 minutes in a hot water bath, or pressure can @ 5 lbs. pressure for 20 minutes.

Note: I did the hot water bath option. I heated up my lids before putting the ring on and then found that 30 minutes was the magic number for my stove.

Amount of syrup makes 7 Quarts.

One jar is enough for one large apple pie.

Don't they look so pretty all canned up!!

I made the best EVER apple crisp with this pie filling yesterday!!!! (I had a couple cans that didn't seal for some reason.....good excuse to use them!) I made my crisp topping with granola instead of oatmeal for the first time...WOW!! My hubby said I have to make it with granola every time from now on!

MY APPLE CRISP

Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam

Pour two of the quarts containers into the pan

TOPPING:

1 1/2 cup of granola

1 cup flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of any nut you pick (optional)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 cup of cold butter

Combine all the ingredients and cut in the butter, the mix should then be crumbly

I cooked it @ 375 for 20-30 min. until bubbly