Homemade Candied Apple Slices Canning Recipe
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Tis the season for some apple recipes and my candied apple slices canning recipe is sure to hit the spot! This recipe was adapted from the ‘Apple Wedges in Cinnamon Red Hots Syrup‘ found in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I thought the recipe sounded amazing but am not thrilled to use red hot cinnamon candies (aka cinnamon imperials), red food coloring, and corn syrup so, as your resident rebel master food preserver, I went off the rails. Those ingredients are entirely unnecessary and ones I tend to want to avoid, not to mention I’m seriously not a fan of cinnamon red hots. Bleh.
What I will say is this recipe is a great way to preserve a bunch of apples and creates the perfect spiced apple flavor to pop open and eat, put over ice cream, thicken to make an apple pie with, serve alongside fried pork chops, and much much more. This recipe mixes cloves, fresh ginger, and cinnamon into a syrup made with good quality sugar, maple syrup, and a bit of apple cider vinegar.
You NEED the apple cider vinegar, so don’t think it’s weird. It is my favorite thing about this recipe and gives the lovely cider flavor you’ll be looking for because the ratio of sugar to vinegar really balances one another out. Apple cider vinegar should be in every apple recipe and I really should be adding it to my pie filling recipe the more I think about it. Maybe we’ll work on that this fall!
Why You Need Candied Apple Slices on Your Pantry Shelf!
This is a great recipe if this is your first time canning to learn the ropes of basic canning technique. Apples tend to be easily available this time of year and it’s something not too weird to get the ropes of canning, and learning to choose between raw packing or hot packing of fruits. This recipe is high acid meaning you can water bath can or steam can it and since it has added vinegar along with the acidity of the apples, these have very short boiling water canner processes. Enough to get a batch under your belt without taking up too much of your day!
I choose to peel my apples before canning candied apples lslices because my kids don’t love the peels left on like with pears and peaches. I save those peels and cores to make apple scrap vinegar and I will link how I do that below! I also use whatever apples I have. I normally get seconds from the orchard and it’s usually a variety bag, so I’m not picky as long as it’s not a delicious variety. A little snacky from a bug here and there is fine… it means the apple tastes good if they bugs are eating it! Don’t get caught up in needing perfect produce.
Equipment You Might Want:
- Large pot
- Large bowl
- Canning jars
- Canning lids and screw bands
- Canning funnel
- Jar lifter
- Water bath canning pot
- Steam canner
Ingredients:
- 15 pounds apples
- Lemon juice
- 3 cups raw unrefined sugar
- 1 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 Tbs whole cloves
- 1 Tbs fresh ginger, roughly chopped
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups apple scrap vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
Let’s can up some delicious candied apple slices!
Step 1: Prep
Wash apples, variety of your choice, with cool water. Rinse well and set aside.
Peel (if you want, I prefer to peel my apples), remove core area and cut into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the apple. It’s your choice and it ain’t that serious; botulism isn’t coming just because you don’t have uniform pieces of fruit (this is also high acid so botulism won’t thrive anyway). Cut the shape you want to eat. Save those apple scraps to start another batch of apple scrap vinegar! You can also use a johnny apple corer and peeler and can these as spiced apple rings. I do that too and they’re kinda fun!
As you work, place apples into a mixing bowl with some lemon juice and toss to coat them frequently to prevent browning.
Step 2: Cook
To a stock pot, add sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, chopped fresh ginger, water, and vinegar.
Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar.
Reduce heat to a gently simmer, cover and allow to cook for about 15-20 minutes to infuse flavors.
Once simmering is complete, remove cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and ginger pieces. I do this by taking my small mesh strainer and scooping them out.
Raw Pack Method
This is a quicker method but does mean the apples will shrink in the jar during the canning process when they release their oxygen while heating, meaning your jars won’t be “full” and the apples will be floating on up to half a jar of just liquid. I don’t like to do this since apples really do shrink a ton. You may need to prepare extra syrup too for this method.
Pack prepared pint or quart jars with apple slices, keeping below 1/2 inch headspace.
Pour syrup overtop to 1/2 inch headspace, removing any air bubbles and adding more liquid to maintain headspace. Jump to Step 3.
Hot Pack Method
This method involves heating the apples so they release their oxygen prior to packing into jars. The canner will also heat up faster and will create fuller jars in the end product.
With the liquid still simmering, add in the apple slices. Depending on how big your stock pot is, you may have to work in batches. Cook apple slices for about 5 minutes to heat through and remove the oxygen from the flesh.
Using a slotted spoon, drain apples and pack hot apples into prepared jars to 1/2 inch headspace.
Once all the apples have been heated and in jars, ladle over the hot syrup to 1/2 inch headspace, removing air bubbles and adding more liquid if needed.
Any leftover syrup can be simmered until it is a thick syrup and poured over pancakes. You won’t regret it!
Step 3: Canning
Wipe jar rims with a cloth soaked in white vinegar, add lids and secure with a screw band.
Process in a boiling water bath canner or steam canner for 15 minutes for pints or 20 minutes for quart jars, adjusting time for your elevation if needed.
Once processing time is complete, remove jars from canner to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
Step 4: Storage
After jars are cooled, remove bands and test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures or direct sunlight.
Shelf life is ’til you eat them. Aim to use canned goods within 2 years for best flavor and nutritional value but they’ll last much longer if need be. Don’t go tossing food because you think it ExPiReD.
Any jars that did not seal should be refrigerated and eaten soon or cooked down into applesauce. Do not reprocess; the apples won’t survive it.
Place the finished product on your pantry shelf and admire your beautifully canned apples!
And that’s how you need to be cannin’ apples this fall!
Notes:
I have no experience using any artificial sweeteners like granular splenda or any other sugar substitutes, so I’m not sure if they work well here or not and am not going to give a recommendation I don’t have experience using!
There is no required sugar here. If you want to leave it all out, do so. Just don’t expect them to be CANDIED without the…. candy.
You can replace the sugar with maple syrup or honey in this recipe but you will get a different flavor profile.
Equipment
- Large pot
- Large bowl
- Canning jars
- Canning lids and screw bands
- Canning Funnel
- jar lifter
Ingredients
- 15 pounds apples
- Lemon juice
- 3 cups raw unrefined sugar
- 1 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 Tbs whole cloves
- 1 Tbs fresh ginger roughly chopped
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups apple scrap vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Wash apples, variety of your choice, with cool water. Rinse well and set aside.
- Peel (if you want, I prefer to peel my apples), remove core area and cut into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the apple. It's your choice and it ain't that serious; cut the shape you want to eat.
- As you work, place apples into a mixing bowl with some lemon juice and toss to coat them frequently to prevent browning.
- To a stock pot, add sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, chopped fresh ginger, water, and vinegar. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar.
- Reduce heat to a gently simmer, cover and allow to cook for about 15-20 minutes to infuse flavors. Once simmering is complete, remove cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and ginger pieces. I do this by taking my small mesh strainer and scooping them out.
Raw Pack Method
- This is a quicker method but does mean the apples will shrink in the jar during the canning process when they release their oxygen while heating, meaning your jars won't be "full" and the apples will be floating on up to half a jar of just liquid. I don't like to do this since apples really do shrink a ton. You may need to prepare extra syrup too for this method.
- Pack prepared pint or quart jars with apple slices, keeping below 1/2 inch headspace.
- Pour syrup overtop to 1/2 inch headspace, removing any air bubbles and adding more liquid to maintain headspace. Jump to Canning Step.
Hot Pack Method
- This method involves heating the apples so they release their oxygen prior to packing into jars. The canner will also heat up faster and will create fuller jars in the end product.
- With the liquid still simmering, add in the apple slices. Depending on how big your stock pot is, you may have to work in batches. Cook apple slices for about 5 minutes to heat through.
- Using a slotted spoon, drain apples and pack hot apples into prepared jars to 1/2 inch headspace.
- Once all the apples have been heated and in jars, ladle over the hot syrup to 1/2 inch headspace, removing air bubbles and adding more liquid if needed.
Canning
- Wipe jar rims with a cloth soaked in white vinegar, add lids and secure with a screw band.
- Process in a boiling water bath canner or steam canner for 15 minutes for pints or 20 minutes for quart jars, adjusting time for your elevation if needed.
- Once processing time is complete, remove jars from canner to a heat proof surface lined with a towel to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
- After jars are cooled, remove bands and test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures or direct sunlight.
- Shelf life is 'til you eat them. Aim to use canned goods within 2 years for best flavor and nutritional value but they'll last much longer if need be. Don't go tossing food because you think it ExPiReD.
- Any jars that did not seal should be refrigerated and eaten soon or cooked down into applesauce. Do not reprocess; the apples won't survive it.
