Peach season is upon and lemme tell you sumptin’ people… I LOOOOOOOOOVE fresh peaches! I’ve had this recipe for a century and make fresh peach pie filling every summer. Now you can either jar/can it when it’s done OR you can use it right away.
Trust me.. when it’s butt-crack cold outside (presuming you live in the a place where it gets butt-crack cold in the winter) nothing speaks ‘summer’ like a warm fresh peach pie.
Homemade Peach Pie filling
- Yield: 2 quarts or 7 quarts
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Ingredients
For 2 quarts of Filling
- 7 cups sliced peaches
- 2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup ClearJel plus 2 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 qt jars/lids/rings
For 7 quarts of Filling
- 6 qts of sliced peaches (about 7–8 pounds of peaches)
- 7 cups sugar
- 2 cups ClearJel plus 3 tablespoon
- 5 1/4 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 7 qt jars/lids rings
- Plus an additional 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh pectin
Instructions
- Make an ‘X’ in the bottom of each peach.
- Place into boiling water for 30-60 seconds
- Remove and place into ice cold water
- Remove skins
- Cut up the peaches
- To keep from turning brown mix in 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh. Stir to coat.
- Combine the water, sugar, ClearJel and cinnamon in large pot.
- Stir and cook over medium high heat until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble.
- Add the lemon juice and boil the sauce for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Add in the drained peach slices and cook for 3 minutes.
- Fill the jars within ¾”-1” from the top.
- Put the filled jars in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1” of water.
- Boil for 30 minutes.
Notes
ClearJel is not the same as SureJel – read THIS article that explains the difference and what will happen when you try to substitute one for the other.
My local stores do not carry ClearJel so I order it off of Amazon.
Rowan says
Yum! When you say cook the peaches for 3 minutes, does that mean cook, or boil? I’m so used to everything needing to be boiled before processing.
TKWAdmin says
Hey Rowan!
My 3 minutes – it’s not quite a full boil but rather it’s thick an bubbly. The risk of overcooking it, as I’m sure you know, would be it’ll turn to more jam/preserves.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jennifer says
Maybe I’ll just make them into jam instead.. I’m worried my peaches are going to go bad if I wait another week.. As I go back to work the day after tomorrow for 7 more days till I can process them.. Oh well…maybe next time pie filling.. Am going to order some clear jell for next time and maybe for apple pie… Do you happen to have that recipe? ????
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jennifer!
Mmmm I <3 peach jam and preserves! With regards to apple pie - are you asking for instructions on how to make apple pie filling for canning or a recipe for an apple pie?
Have you seen this recipe? http://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2014/11/13/to-die-apple-pie-bars/ It's SUPER easy and so yummy!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jennifer says
I am waiting for my husband to come home with the bourbon for the preserves.. Going to make a vanilla bourbon peach preserve, skins on.. Yummy!
How to make apple pie filling.. I figured you were so good at making peach, you would have an amazing apple pie filling recipe!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jennifer,
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH vanilla bourbon peach preserves??? Dear God will you be besties with me??? <3
Apple Pie Filling for canning -
6 quarts of cut apples, peeled
3 cups of sugar
1 cup Clear-Jel
5 cups apple juice (natural, not the fake stuff)
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbl cinnamon
2 1/2 cups water
now if you like you can add apple pie spice to mix (1 Tbl or go with 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp ginger)
1. Blanch the apples in a huge pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Meaning put the apples in, then once it returns to a boil, time it for 1 minute.
2. Drain and put in a covered bowl (I tend to drizzle a little lemon juice on the apples to prevent browning.
3. In a large pot add in the water, apple juice, spices, clear jel and lemon juice.
4. Bring to a boil over medium heat (while stirring) and boil for 1 minute. You want it thick but watch as it'll thicken really fast. If it's too thick, add a bit more apple juice.
5. At this point remove from the heat, stir in the apples and ladle into your clean jars. The mixture will be thick so you won't be able to pour it in.
6. Process per the water batch instructions above.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jennifer says
Hello! I’m new to canning so I do not always understand how to get the correct measurements for the fruit. How do you know you have 6 quarts of sliced peaches? Do you use a jar to stuff them into ? I also get confused about bushels.. Kinda wish everything would be by weight or pieces of said fruit, although I know fruit differ in size…. I know most canning has to be precise and I don’t want to mess it up! ????
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jennifer!
2 quarts of sliced peaches are about 7 cups. So if you need 6 quarts of sliced peaches you want 21 cups of peaches. I just measure/eye ball it out.
Honestly with the fruits I’m not too accurate with measuring it. I look more at the pectin and sugar. That has to be precise. Sorry I couldn’t be more precise.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jennifer says
Thank you so much! I am assuming that’s 21 cups of sliced peaches.. I am having a heck of a time finding the clear jell .. All I can find is the sure gel.. ???? Is there no way to substitute?
Rich says
hi tkw.. could your canning recipe be used with other fresh fruit? Have you tried other fruits using your recipe. thanks
h thanks
TKWAdmin says
Hi Rich,
The premise is the same – sugar, water, lemon, petcin but what differs is the amount of sugar per the fruit. I make all of my own pie fillings, jams and jellies.
Were you looking for a specific type of fruit?
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jamie says
hi- I canned your filling a few months ago, and I just made my first pie with it. This was my first time water bath canning…I followed your directions but it never said to put the lid on the canner while boiling…is that ok? Should I have processed it with the lid on? I’m worried if I should let anyone at the pie…however it looks fine and all my hard sealed properly. Thanks for your help!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Jamie!
I’m confused. when you say ‘put the lid on the canner’ are you referring the the actual lid for the canning pot? If so no, you don’t want to put that on. You just need to make sure your water was boiling, your seals were cleaned and tightened and when you put the jars in the water, that it had at least an inch of water above it. After that you just follow the directions as listed above.
When you went to open them, did you try and press down on the seal? If it wiggled or popped then you didn’t get a good seal. If it’s hard/solid (meaning it doesn’t move) then you’re good to go!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Monty says
Thanks for answering. Rats! I was afraid the jars would not be shelf stable. They are in the fridge now. Can I buy frozen pie shells and spoon the filling in, cover with another fresh crust, wrap and freeze? Have you ever done that? If so, any tips?
TKWAdmin says
You are most welcome Monty!
*gasp!!!* Buy frozen pie shells??? *wink* Just go with fresh crusts for both. Get your pie tins, spray with cooking spray and place parchment paper in the bottom round (not the sides). Next place in your bottom crust, fill it and then top with a fresh one. Put your air holes in. Next place the entire unbaked pie tin in a plastic bag and then place in the freezer. Freeze the pie for several hours, or until it’s stiff enough to handle easily. Remove it from the freezer and the bag. Place the frozen pie tin in a slightly larger pan of warm water, to thaw the underside. You’re not defrosting it but rather just getting it to where the pie (still frozen) comes out of the pie tin. Flip it over and remove the parchment paper.
Place the pie in a freezer safe bag and freeze until ready to bake.
To use, remove the pie bag from the freezer and take it out of the pan. Place the frozen pie in the pie tin you made the ‘raw’ version and place the whole thing back in the bag. Tent the bag and place it in the fridge over night to thaw. When ready to bake, brush with egg/cream/milk and sugar. Bake per your normal directions.
Let me know if this helps!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
MONTY says
Thank you so much! I’ve got to go freeze some pies!
Priscilla Mullenix says
I always freeze my pies without crusts. I put filling in a gallon size bag and lay the sealed bag into the pie pan I will use later to bake the pie. Put it in the freezer and it molds to the pie pan for later baking and they can be stacked in the freezer. When it is frozen, remove the pie pan and stack for later baking. To bake, remove the filling from the bag and put into your pie crust for baking.
Monty says
I am so disappointed… first my recipe for 7 quarts made TEN… good thing I had extra jars (no real disappointment here!)…
but… the entire first batch of 7 quarts I filled about 3/4-inch from the tops and every one overflowed in the canner. I can only assume the seals are not good.
Do I need to refrigerate all these after they cool tonight I and wash the gook off the outside of the jars tomorrow?
Can these first 7 jars be stored on a shelf?
The second batch of 3 quarts I only filled to about 1 1/2 inches from the tops of the jars, and they sealed perfectly.
Peach pie filling tastes awesome, hence a three-star rating in spite of my difficulties.
Please guide me…
TKWAdmin says
Monty,
That surprises me that you ended up with 10 as in the 20+ years I’ve been making this recipe that’s never happened to me. Perhaps the peaches were cut bigger *shrugs* but hey, I’ll take your extra pie filling *wink*. A lot of things can lead to the quarts overfilling/lids coming off in the canner – the seals were not good (that’s happened to me) and or there was residue on the jar that prevented it from making a good seal.
Yes you’ll need to refrigerate your fillings of the ones that overflowed. Since the seal was not fully made they cannot be kept on the shelf as you’ll risk food poisoning. What I would do is then just freeze that filling (if you have freezer space) or make a boat load of pies and be the best friend to everyone 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Karyn says
can you prepare the filling and then just freeze it without
The canning process?
TKWAdmin says
Hi Karyn,
I’ve personally never frozen mine but it stands to reason that you should be able to. I would allow to cool completely before you put the mixture into your containers and freeze it.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Sheri Parker says
Hi. In your 7 quart recipe ingredient list, it says 7 qts then it says 6 qts sliced peaches. Which is correct for the amount of peaches, please? Making this tomorrow as soon as I know. Got peaches in Lancaster, PA yesterday at a produce auction for a ridiculous price!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Sheri!
Sorry about that, it was a typo in the code. The additional 7qrts was removed. To make the 7 qrt batch, you only need 6 quarts of peaches.
I LOVE going to produce auctions! YUM!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Lisa says
Gave this a whirl and highly recommend to all. Thanks for the tip on working with the clear jel. Have had some clumping issues too.
TKWAdmin says
Thank you so much Lisa! I really appreciate it 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!