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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 1x
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Ingredients
For 2 quarts of Filling
- 7 cups sliced peaches
- 2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup ClearJel plus 2 tbl
- 1 1/2 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1/4 tsp 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 tbl
- 5 1/4 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1 tsp 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 pectin. 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.
I made peach pie filling last year and all of the jars were much too sour. The lemon juice, I felt, ruined the whole batch. Can I use citric acid instead?
Lemon juice is for more a chemical balance than flavor so much. I’ve not used citric acid.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Yes, but are you suppose to put the jars in boiling water bath, return to boil for 30 minutes? Or statr in cold water bath?
for any canning you need to use warm or hot jars. The reason is because your food going in is hot. You dont want your jars to crack due to hot contents going into a cold water bath. Not only would you lose a lot of food but you could get a false seal which can be deadly. On vegetables and meat with a false seal will kill you.
This was my first time to EVER make peach pie filling. I was not disappointed! Next time I’ll use just a little less lemon juice as it seemed a little too tart, but I am very impressed with the finished product!
★★★★★
It’s canning now! The thickened sauce tastes wonderful! Can you save extra for later? and I didn’t use that much lemon juice, it seems excessive. I haven’t made a pie yet, maybe when I’m done canning! I used peach juice since these were extra juicy peaches, I think that made the sauce thicker. I already had clear jel, I get it at a Mennonite store, and I used the fruit fresh .
★★★★★
The best peach pie, hands down, that I have ever eaten. Thanks for a great recipe. I will be trying the apple version come apple season!
This is concerning the issue with the peach filling spilling out after or during the canning process. I looked up additional information about the procedure. It read that after blanching and cutting up the peaches, “For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon 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 water, sugar, Clear Jel, and if desired, cinnamon and /or almond extract in a large kettle. Stir and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil sauce 1 minute more, stirring constantly, Fold in drained peach slices and continue to heat mixture for 3 minutes. Fill hot jars without delay, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed.” The added step of heating the peaches through in the boiling water before adding to the boiled mixture might keep them from spilling over. As I haven’t used this recipe and don’t know for sure if it would work but it is worth trying. I will be trying it when the fresh Colorado peaches arrive in August and update my results. Thanks for the recipe! Nothing better than peach pie when the winter’s cold arrives.
Hmmm interesting – I wonder though if boiling the peaches impacts the flavor or texture. I could see blanching to remove the skins but a full on boil is something new to me. Let me know if you do it this way and how it works out.
I appreciate your investigation! Thank you!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Thank you for sharing this! I have been eating the canned version so this is perfect timing as I am cutting down unhealthy snacks and habits. Perfect also for my pescatarian diet!
Wow! This is what I’ve been looking for. I’m so glad I found it. Can I add mangoes in the jar too? Peach mango version. Haha
★★★★★
You could try it with mangos. I’ve personally not tried it but it sounds awesome!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I have never used Clear Jel so am I reading this correctly that you put 2+ cups of the dry powder into the liquid for the 7 quart recipe? Just spent two hours readying my peaches so don’t want to mess the recipe up! Thank you!
Hi Gretchen,
Yes, that’s the recipe my family has been using for generations. Make sure it’s not Instant Clear Jel and that you’re using the cooking Clear Jel. There is a HUGE difference. Also taste your peaches. If they are really sweet you can cut back on the sugar.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
My filling turned out ridiculously sweet 🙁 and I even cut down the sugar to 6 cups. What did I do wrong? Is there anyway to save these and make them less sweet?? I used an entire case of Palisade peaches…I’d hate for ALL this to go to waste!!
Also, at least 3 of my jars wouldn’t seal no matter what I did (emptying some filling out, cleaning the rim/changing sealing ring, re-processing)…did I do something wrong?
Hi Michelle,
The amount of sugar with the lemon juice is actually calculated that way for reason due to how chemistry works (I had to google it to understand how lemon juice affects things like this). This recipe I’ve been making since I was little and my Mom since she was little. I’m thinking it had to due with how naturally sweet the peaches were to begin with. The only thing I can think of to save it is to add more acid (lemon).
As for the jars not sealing I’ve had that happen more a bunch of times in my life whether I’m making filling, apple sauce or even spaghetti sauce. It had to do with the actual seal, not how clean the jars where. The seals themselves were bad.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
There are two different kinds of clear jel. The cooking or regular kind works best in canning recipes because it can handle the higher temperatures, keep the clear filling appearance ie: not turn cloudy, and not separate after canned which increases shelf life. The instant clear jel is better in making fresh pie filling you will eat immediately or in freezer jam, ice cream, puddings, gravies, etc, and does not necessarily require heating to thicken. So this recipe would use the regular clear jel…NOT the instant. Clear jel in general is superior to regular cornstarch, its modified to thicken faster and have better shelf life in canning.
Thank you so much Heather for your explanation! I’ve never seen or heard of Instant Clear Jel until someone a while back asked about it. Very detailed response – thank you!!!
Best Kitchen Wishes!