Bottled Peach Pie Filling

Melanie, this is for you. These pictures are from last year. I bottled these with Mom. It's a little early for peach season. I bottled these on September 20th. So we are still about 2 months off. I found that peach pie filling is a great way to use up your scraps after bottling regular peaches. There are also lots of peaches on the ground half rotten. We just cut off the bad parts and used the good. I'm so glad Mom and Dad have lots of peach trees!

This turned out a lot better than I expected! It was a tad bit runny coming out of the bottle. I fixed this by sprinkling 1 T flour and 1 T cornstarch over the filling before you put the top crust on.

This recipe makes 5 quarts.

19 cups diced peaches
5 cups sugar
1, 3/4 cup clear jel
3, 3/4 water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup lemon juice
another 1 cup lemon juice

Step 1 - Peel the peaches.  (About two large stainless steel bowl fulls) Dip the fruit in boiling water for 60 seconds. Remove and place in an ice water bath. Then peel

Step 2 - Cut the peaches. I like cubed shapes for pie. Leave out the mushy brown spots. Remove pits

Step 3 - Place 19 cups cubed peaches in large oversized bowl with 1 cup lemon juice. The lemon juice is to prevent browning.

Step 4 - Combine water, sugar, Clear Jel, cinnamon, almond extract in the largest kettle you have. Stir and cook over medium high heat until the mixture thickens and bubbles. (You could also use peach juice instead of water if you like)

Step 5 - Add 1 cup lemon juice and boil the sauce 1 minute more. Stir constantly.

Step 6 - Add the drained peach slices and continue to heat the mixture for 3 minutes.

Step 7 - Fill the jars with peach filling. Leave 1/2 inch head space

Step 8 - Process the jars in a water bath for 40 minutes

Step 9 - Lift jars out of water with a jar grabber. Place gently on counter top lined with dish towels. Leave these alone and don't touch or bump for 24 hours.

Don't eat until after Thanksgiving!! That's what Mom always said :)