How To Make Oven-Dried Apple Chips

Apple chips are one of my favorite snacks, but since I don't own a dehydrator, I never thought about making them at home. For some reason I thought drying the fruit in the oven would take a prohibitively long time, or use up more energy than it was worth, but it turns out thinly-sliced apple slices take two hours or less to transform into crisp, sweet chips.

I was inspired by Emily's post on five uses for apple chips, which mentions making apple chips in an oven, and was guided by Emma's post on drying fruit without a dehydrator. The basic method is the same: fruit is laid out on parchment-lined baking sheets and baked at a low temperature for several hours, until most of the moisture has cooked away.

I baked two unpeeled apples, one sliced whole with a mandoline, the other cored with a melon baller and sliced with a mandoline into ¼-inch rings. (A wider mandoline helps make prettier slices; with my narrow Benriner, I had to cut off the sides of the apple to make it fit.) I didn't season them with anything — although a little cinnamon or nutmeg would be nice — just laid the slices in a single layer on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and popped them into an 225°F oven.

After an hour, I turned the slices over. The cored rings were much crisper than the uncored whole slices, so they only took another 30 minutes in the oven. The whole slices baked for a total of two hours. After taking the chips out of the oven, I spread them on wire cooling racks and once they were cool, packed them into airtight containers (with a handful snacked on immediately, of course).

Was this project worth it? I think so, especially if you are trying to find a way to use up apples that are past their prime. I only ended up with a small container of chips, but if I had filled my oven to capacity, I would have made as many chips as I typically buy in a bag, for less than I normally pay. Plus, the super-sweet, almost caramelized flavor of these chips is much better than that of store-bought. This is a good lazy Sunday cooking project, when you feel like being in the kitchen, but don't want to take on anything too involved.

Have you ever made apple chips? How do you do it?

(Images: Anjali Prasertong)

Comments (7)

Can't wait to try this--thanks!

I posted on this today! I can hardly keep these around the house they're so popular with my family. We don't core the apples, but we use the dehydrator so it's interesting to have this take on it.

http://jesser.org/?p=3405

How long can I store them in a ziplock bag?

Do you think one of the peelers that take the core out and slice in rings would work as well. I don't have a mandoline but I do have one of the peelers.

... must try, what kind of apples did you use?

I make apple chips all the time. But a little bit different. I like my apples tart, not sweet, and you cant find tart apple chips in the store, so I make my own. (I used tart apples like gravenstein or Granny smiths.) I peel and core my apples with a handy little tool called an apple corer/slicer. it makes handling apples super fast, and I make a lot at a time so this is handy. But, I am really interested in trying this next time with the peels on. (thank you for that). Then I soak my apple slices in a bowl full of water and lemon juice, which I soak for a good half the day. Then I put them in the dehydrator for a couple hours until completely dry all the way through. Package the same way you do, in air tight containers. Half of which gets shipped to my mom, who is a big fan of them as well.

@Melloello: Depending on how dry your apples are when you take them out of the oven, they should last anywhere from several weeks to several months in an airtight container. They get a little softer and less crisp over time.

@Jeepyj: Yes, any tool that cuts the apple into thin rings would work.

@lizziebeth1: I used Fuji apples. But I like the sound of Nwfotobug's tart chips with Granny Smiths or Gravensteins!