Delicious Apple Pie Filling

 
This year we went apple picking at the orchard with some friends on Labor Day. I decided to make apple pie filling with the apples. I usually try to make applesauce, but we still have some left from last year, so I thought, why not try something new? Here's the recipe, and steps, that I used to make this delicious apple pie filling:

Heat water in a large canner-sized pot, or a canner. You will use this to process the jars.
Rinse jars with warm water.

To make approximately 7 quarts, you'll need about 6 pounds of apples. You may or may not get 7 quarts, depending on the size of the apples. I am not sure how many pounds of apples I had, so I just guessed. I got about 6 quarts, due to not having enough syrup, so I probably had more than 6 pounds cut up.

Peel, core, and slice apples. Put them in a bowl of cool water with some lemon juice, so they don't brown, while waiting to get all of the apples cut.

Mix together:

4 1/2 c sugar
1 c cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 nutmeg

Add:
2 tsp salt
10 c water

Put this mixture in a cooking pot and bring this to a boil. Cook until bubbly and thick. Remove from heat.

Add: 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Pack the apples into warm jars.

Pour syrup over the apples, leaving about 1 in. - 1/2 in. headspace in the jar.
Remove air bubbles, by using a small spatula along the sides of the jar.

Put lids and rings on jars and put them in the large pot or canner and let them sit in the water bath for 20 minutes.

Remove jars and let sit on the counter. The jars should start sealing after starting to cool. If they haven't sealed after 24 hours, you can reprocess them with new lids.

Enjoy your delicious apple pie filling in apple pies, over ice cream, in turnovers, apple crisp, and other tasty desserts. Each quart makes enough filling for one pie. Enjoy!!!