Apple Chips
Oven-drying apple chips is a great way to get your fruit in snack form. It doesn't take a lot of work and it doesn't require a dehydrator, but it does require some patience. The chips won't get crispy for a while, and they stay deceptively pliable until after they're actually well dried.
Apple chips are crispy and delicious, and they make an excellent snack for adults and kids alike. If you have a food processor or mandoline, you can use it to get the apple slices as thin as possible. If not, just slice your apples paper thin. Placing the apple slices on top of a rack in the oven allows air to circulate underneath them, speeding up the drying process.
Don't be tempted to increase the oven temp to speed things along ~ you want to dry the apple slices, not roast them. Feel free to use a dehydrator if you have one.
Oven-Dried Cinnamon Apple Chips
- 2 apples suitable for baking (I used Fuji), washed, quartered, and cored
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Bowl of ice water
- Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling, if desired
- Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place a footed cooling rack on top of the parchment.
- Slice apple quarters thinly. (I ran mine through my food processor with the slicing blade in place.) Add the lemon juice to the bowl of ice water, and place the apple slices in the water as soon as they're cut. Let the apple slices soak in the water until the oven is preheated and all the apple quarters have been sliced, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the apple slices from the water with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels. Blot dry. Arrange in a single layer on the rack on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
- Bake apples at 225 degrees F for about 3 hours, or until they seem dry and are becoming crisp. They will shrink and darken. They should feel dry and papery to the touch. They may not, however, feel crisp. If they're done, they will crisp up as they cool. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Test the apple slices. They should feel dry and crispy. If not, return to oven, checking after 1/2 hour.
- Store apple chips at room temperature in an air-tight container. They'll keep for about a week.
Beautifully simple. You're making all the minimalists so proud. :D
ReplyDeleteNice.
What a great idea! I have 2 bowls full of apples left. I have made many jars of chutney and apple pie, but still I have 2 bowls of apples, so I am really happy to find this recipe :)
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious. I can't wait to make this snack.
ReplyDelete~gkbloodsugar: These are simple, and good. It's amazing how different a simple apple can taste when you remove the moisture! I'm not one to eat 3 apples at a sitting, but eating the equivalent in these apple chips wouldn't be out of the question. :)
ReplyDelete~Holler: This recipe came out of the necessity to use up some 20 pounds of apples we picked. I made pies, crisps, cookies, muffins, etc., and then realized we were eating so much dessert, it sort of defeated the point of eating apples! So voila, back to healthy apple snacks. Hope you like 'em!
~Manger La Ville: Thank you! I warn you, these chips are addictive. It's not hard to eat the entire batch. They're so sweet and crunchy, and the fact that they're good for you just puts them right over the top. Enjoy!
I made these last week hoping I'd throw them in with some granola but they got over before I knew it' Hehe
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea for using up all the extra apples we get every fall from apple picking! I don't know why I haven't tried this yet--I have an excellent dehydrator! Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteLooks healthy and tasty all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I wish I had these this afternoon when I was feeling snacky...and ended up with M&Ms!
ReplyDeleteYum, what a delicious, healthy snack. So seasonal too!
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never actually thought of making my own, but my son would love these. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThose look so good. I used to order freeze dried apple chips from a company in California. These look so good, I may have to try and make them.
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I use a dehydrator now, but I used to make apple chips this way. I didn need to leave them in the oven much longer, sometimes overnight to get them really cripsy. It might depend on the moisture in the air as well - not sure? I don't put anything on the apples though, but the temperature is at 135 degrees F, not 225 as in the oven. Thanks, Erica at comfybelly.com.
ReplyDeleteI recently got a mandolin for a gift. I made these today and they came out great! Great idea for gifts for family and friends. I love making them in the oven. Thank you for the great post!
ReplyDeleteI used the thinnest setting on my mandoline slicer. Set the oven to 225 degrees, placed the chips on parchment-lined cookie sheets. They were done in less than 35 minutes. They only appeared chewy when they came out of the oven but upon cooling they became crispy.
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic! Just made my first batch - and I ate all of them and have another batch in the oven. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteBonnie ~ So glad you liked these! And thanks for leaving a comment. :)
ReplyDeleteBest,
Sandy
Will have to try these - just want to suggest a reduction in waste production -
ReplyDelete- what is the purpose of your "parchment sheet" lining the baking sheet?
- should you not replace the use of paper towel for drying with fabric - eg. dish-towels or cheese-cloth - which can be re-used, not thrown away?
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestions ~ dish towels or cheesecloth would be a great replacement for paper towels. As for the parchment, that's force of habit ~ I appreciate the ease of cleanup. I reuse my baking parchment several times, for different applications, so it's a method I've come to rely on and find very useful.
All best,
Sandy
I just used a little non stick spray right on the cookie sheet and they did fine. I made a double decker by stacking a large cookie cooling rack layered with slices on top of each filled cookie sheet. No spray on the racks.
ReplyDelete