Homemade Apple Chips
January 2, 2012 
Well, the holidays are over and what a whirlwind it was. And so much fun. My brothers and their families came to visit and I did a ton of cooking for that, including an enormous batch of chicken ragu, which I smartly froze ahead of time. That was a timesaver. I made big pork loins stuffed with one of my favorite stuffings. I also made Jamie's Peanut Butter Parfaits which were a big hit. We decorated Oreo cookies and I made Cranberry Upside Down Cake. It was all a lot of fun.
I also got to reveal something that I had kept a bit of a secret all year. I started a knitting blog last spring but did not talk about it at all here because I couldn't let my family know about it. In March, I started a big project to knit something for every person in my family by Christmas. I ended up knitting 17 projects for everyone. What a thrill it was to finally present them to everyone during their visit. It was hours of knitting and thousands of stitches and lots of tinking, but a whole lot of love knitted into every item.
We also gave our annual Christmas Eve party at which I give out a homemade goodie at the end of the evening. This year, it was homemade apple chips, which are a fairly healthy thing to snack on and I thought might be nice for everyone during the holidays. I made them the day before the party with the help of my youngest son. We had three ovens going, baking seven pans at one time. After several hours of this, I wondered if I was crazy. But 12 hours later, the last batch was done. You, however, won't be making such large quantites so don't worry. They are very easy.
These apple chips are made by simply slicing apples very thinly on a mandoline, dusting with a little brown sugar and cinnamon and baking very slowly in a low oven for two hours, flipped the slices once after an hour. They end up becoming these nicely dehydrated, crispy sweet apple chips that delicious to eat. You will love them.
These really must be done on a mandoline. I have a heavy duty one by de Buyer that is amazing. I slice potatoes, zucchini, onions, just all kinds of food on that thing. It not only slices food far more thinly than I could by hand, but it does it perfectly uniformly and very quickly. I can zip through a pile of potatoes in no time. If you don't want to invest in one that is that expensive, there are all kinds of cheaper plastic ones that are made now that you can even get a Bed Bath and Beyond. There are many models on Amazon. Even OXO makes a neat little handheld one. A mandoline is really the way to go.
After I made the apple chips, I bagged them in cute little packages I had made up. I did the labels myself on my printer with Epson Self-Adhesive Sheets and designed the labels in Pages on my Mac. So easy. The bags were one pound glassine bags that I ordered at Nashville Wraps. I printed the top labels on card stock, cut them the width of the bags and then just folded them over and stapled them onto the bags. The two fonts I used were Pharmacy and Liorah.
Happy 2012 and I look forward to a great year of cooking with you!
Homemade Apple Chips
for a printable recipe, click here
this makes about 25 chips
Ingredients:
1 large Granny Smith apple
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (please do not use wax paper).
Using a mandoline, slice the apples as thinly as you can. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl and dip the apple slices lightly in the mixture, just lightly coating them. Lay the slices on the baking sheets, about 12 slices per sheet. Bake for 1 hour. Remove one pan at a time and flip the apple slices over with tongs. When you return pans to oven, also rotate them - put the one that was on the top rack on the bottom. Bake for one more hour. Remove pans from oven. Apple slices will start to harden up pretty quickly. Remove with tongs.
Enjoy making homemade chips? Try making healthy homemade Beet Chips:
Reader Comments (75)
what a great idea for a healthy twist on gift giving! Happy New Year, Elaine!
What an excellent recipe and gift idea. I had a mandoline from Pampered Chef and it did not work. I have to look at some other models.
Happy New Year!
What a talent you have! I love the fact that you are a knitting person. I am a Realtor, a cook, and a knitter. I just completed a beautiful throw and am working on mastering the art of creating a sweater. Sometimes I feel funny about talking about my knitting, not sure why. Anyway, your work is amazing! Do you do you own photography also?
curious if anyone has any ideas into how to turn these into savory treats. Would like to think that we could scoop up some dip without the guilt.
These look delicious! What a great gift idea too. My daughter has a little friend who's allergic to everything under the sun, but this would be perfect for him. Thanks!
Happy New Year to you & family; your Apple Chps look fantastic and I'm trying them out this week to take to my family holiday celebration this coming weekend! Also the Cranberry cake and cream puffs....our fave's!
You are amazing by the way.....how does Brian stay so slim with all these wonderful food creations!!
Have a great 2012 and thanks so much for your blog!! Love it!!
Cheers, Sylvia
Great Ideas! especially the one about starting holiday projects in March :) The chicken thigh ragu will be perfect for my non-meat eating friends too. Thank you for sharing all your fabulous ventures.
I really love this post! When I do food gifts for friends, I always prepare things that seem a little exotic, like chocolates and special cookies. Apple chips are such a simple thing to prepare (I acknowledge the amount of time you put into it). I have never considered giving them as a gift before. However, thinking it over, they are indeed a great gift, and your beautiful packaging makes them all that more special. I believe it is in packaging my gifts that I fall short, and I'm going to use this post as an inspiration to go the extra mile in the future, to make the packaging of my food gifts as special as the food inside. Thank you for the inspiration!
I second what Michelle said, you are indeed very talented. I enjoyed reading your blog very much. Thank you so much for sharing and I wish you and family good health and good cheers all year round.
Faye
As usual, what a great idea!
Your talents never cease to amaze me Elaine! Wishing you a wonderful new year!
A knitting blog? how cool. How satisfying. I love apple chips. They are good in soups too, like apple or butternut squash. Also baked in galettes. Happy New Year to you.
These apple chips were OUT OF THIS WORLD! They were so delicious, my mom and I were lucky enough to receive a bag when we left Brian and Elaine's party. What Elaine did not mention ... all of the other delicious food she had prepared for their annual party. She is so talented ! Thanks for a another wonderful memory.
I had already made these apples myself after getting a salad at Panera Bread where they had topped off the salad with them. Went home and bought a bag of tart apples and only put the cinnamon on them. One of the easiest things I have ever made and just great for snacking on.
My dad adores apple chips...in fact, I gave him a box of apple chips for Christmas, the individually packed ones are great since they can last 2-3 months...
I bet he would grin from ear to ear (with teeth missing, he just turned 60 this year) if I gave him a batch of these homemade goodies that I made for him. Thanks for sharing!
These chips look amazing - wonder how do they taste..:))
What if I replace the granny smith apples (which aren't available here) with other variants?
Are these crisp crisp? Could they be packaged in a vacuum seal bag? How long do you think the shelf life would be? Sorry for all the questions - I send care packages to our troops overseas and thought this might be a nice change to other items I send, but want to make sure they would make it.
I made my chips 2 months ago & put them in thin plastic bags and they are fine. I used MacIntosh apples.
From The Italian Dish:
Janet: Yes, I do all my own photography. Click the link "Food Photography" in the nav bar to read about it.
Mary: You don't even have to put sugar on these to make them. I'm actually planning on making them with different seasonings in the future.
Srey: You can use any kind of apple that you like.
Linda: The chips are very crisp and brittle - I would not put them in vacuum seal bags but instead some kind of tins or plastic containers. Also, I am really not sure of their shelf life. When I make them, they disappear within a few days. It's going to depend on how thinly you slice the apples and how much they get dehydrated. I would suggest that you make a sample batch and see how long they last.
i just love your knitting blog with all the beautiful pieces you've made for your family..and the apple chips look delicious and so beautifully packaged too!
How were you able to make those stars right in the middle of the apple chips?
your cooking blog is amazing and I would love to peak at the knitting site...how do I access? thanks for all the inspiring tips. I have been using the bread recipe for quite some time and have done some adaptations for great rye bread. congratulations for your accomplishments! Mary
What a labour of love! Lovely informative post, beautifully photographed. But my fave on this page are your fingerless gloves - love them! Wish I could knit as it would come in handy living here in Scotland, but I am disadvantaged having originally hailing from Florida, where wool is practically outlawed. But I must try the apple chips - I can cope with that at least.
FABULOUS! The only probem: we ate them all instantly! Buon Anno!
Seriously an awesome idea! I love the labels and the bags you used! Can't wait to give the apple chips a try and also look forward to using this new way of packaging treats! :)
Wow!!Home made apple chips..It sounds great..I am definitely try this chips..Sounds very tasty.
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Those gloves are beautiful! I love the colours.
I thought this recipe was great. My chips weren't done after 1 hour so i just waited until the edges were wrinkled and slightly brown (about 2 hours, i have a slow oven. They were very crisp after I let them cool (will be slightly pliable while hot.
I used Jonathan apples but I think a more flavorful, crisp apple would be preferable. I added cinnamon to the simple syrup and poured my extra lemon juice in as well. I made sure to soak them overnight and dried them thoroughly on hand towels before placing them in the oven as well. I also reused my simple syrup for a second batch, very convenient.
From The Italian Dish:
Online Gourmet: The recipe calls for the chips to bake for 2 hours.
I tried chips on the mandoline but I still need some practice! Love your apple chips and the label is so cute! Wonderful idea!
You are always so creative with labels and packaging. These are so lovely!
i've tried making these four times now. once, i got crisp apples but the other three times they never got crisp. i did try different apples each time because i was trying to figure out which apple i liked the most. could that make a difference or is it just my oven? the last time, i left them in the oven over 3 hours... thoughts?
From The Italian Dish:
Kimberly: Well, I have made them so many times but I always use Granny Smith apples. So I can't say if other apples do not crisp up or not. I don't know why yours would not crisp up. Did you flip them over half way through the cooking? That helps.
Can these be made in an Excalibur dehydrator, or do I need to use the oven?
Best chips I made in a long time! So yummi and so easy to do! I added sesame seeds and they give it an extra crunch! Thanks so much for sharing!
These were delicious, but instead of putting them straight on a pan, I put foil on the pan. Some of the apples stuck to the foil. Do you think they'd stick to the pan if I put them directly on there?
Delicious, though! Thanks for sharing!
From The Italian Dish:
Kathleen: I used parchment paper on my pans and they stuck just a little bit, but not too bad. No clean up either! If you don't use something on the pan, your pan will really be hard to clean.
what temp were they cooked at, low temp could be a wide range
From The Italian Dish:
Mel: The recipe says 225 degrees F.
After the first hour I went to turn them and almost all were stuck to the wax paper...???
From The Italian Dish:
Missy: Yes, they do stick a little bit. I have found that using better parchment paper helps. For a while I was buying parchment paper at Gordon's Food Service and stuff was sticking like crazy. I switched to a different brand and it has a much better release. Also, if that doesn't help, try spraying a little Pam on the parchment. They do stick a little. You just have to lift them off carefully with tongs.
I have a commercial dehydrator. Will this work instead of the oven? Has anyone tried it?
These are super awesome. I can't keep them in the house. Friends and family can't just stop at one. Thank you for the great recipe.
I use a dehydrator when making these. I slice them 1/4 inch thick. Use the fruit/veg setting on dehydrator which is 135 degrees F. I like to use white sugar and cinnamon instead of brown sugar. The ratio of sugar and cinnamon is the ratio I use when making cinnamon toast. Dehydrate about 3 hours give or take. Depends on how quick I get to it. The longer it is the crisper they get. If I dry them at night, then I set the dehydrator on the lowest setting, 95 - 105 degrees F.
The apples stick to the trays, but not to bad if you flip them halfway through. If you don't then a flat, butter knife or spatula will work. Also, it does make a mess on the trays and dehydrator. Warm, wet washcloth or warm, wet paper towel cleans the dehydrator pretty easy. The trays clean easy in the sink.
Make sure when using a mandoline to use a food holder if at all possible. It is very easy to cut or slice your hand and/or fingers.
These are supremely easy to make and soooo delicious.
I would like to make these now for Christmas...has anyone tried freezing them?
I made these one year in a dehydrator. They came out chewy and wonderful.
I was a counselor at girls camp that year. I took several gallon bags full. Six girls ate every one of them in two days time.
They tasted like little bites of apple pie. YUM.
Just popped my first batch in the oven. I used two large Braeburn apples (very excited about them; they're our favorite!). I used an extra half tablespoon of sugar just to cut back the cinnamon spice a smidge, so I'm hoping it won't throw off the crisp. Fingers crossed! Great recipe; once everything is prepped, it's a set it and forget it kind of thing. Thanks for the inspiration. :)
I am setting up to do these in the morning... I am a dehydrater... so it is always full,, in this case it is good to use the oven... thank you much... yummie snack for work...and healthy.. :)
Just got through making them. They are really good snacks. Thanks.
These tasted SOOO great! I just used some Ambrosia apples that I had in our fruit bowl. Although, mine were more chewy/caramel like than crispy. Maybe they had too much sugar on them. Did anyone else have this issue? Any tips?? They still tasted wonderful though.
Help!!! Just made these tonight. When I went to take them out of oven after one hour to flip them over, they were stuck! Some I could not flip at all. I used wax paper, was I not supposed to? I am so bummed these did not turn out :(