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If you’ve never heard of apple chips or ever had a chance to eat them, then you’re in for a real treat. These healthy apple chips are not only addictive, they’re also super easy to make. You’ll love the steps on how to make apple chips, so that you’ll always have a healthy snack readily available. This is definitely one snack you’ll want to keep around for everyone to enjoy.
Well, you know the saying, “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away”! That’s because apples are power-packed with tons of super nutritional value. It’s a great source of fiber, Vitamin C and Potassium. In addition to this, apples are known to have antioxidant properties, aide with digestion, promote heart health and can even help with healthy weight management. Apples are one of the healthiest fruits you can snack on without that guilty feeling. And they’re just awesome on so many levels.
With all these apple health benefits, why wouldn’t you want to have a healthy apple snack on hand?
And so what are apple chips, you might ask. Apple chips are dehydrated sliced apples that have an irresistible natural sweetness and texture to them. They’re a great alternative to store-bought potato chips and definitely a much healthier option.
Instead of buying buying apple chips online or at your local store, it’s well worth making your own. Not only would you be saving money, but you’ll also get to make enough so you and your whole family can enjoy.
With the so many varieties of apples to pick from, you can practically turn any type of apple into chips. If you’ve got a sweet tooth Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious, and Honey Crisp apples are ones you can explore making your chips with. And if you like things to be a little more tart, Granny Smith and McIntosh apples might be just what you’re looking for.
For this simple recipe, we’ll be leaning more on the sweet side of things using organic Gala apples.
If you ever end up with a large quantity of apples, this is also a great opportunity to preserve your apples for long term food storage.
These apples chips are very easy to make. The dehydration part may take a little long, but they’re definitely worth the time and effort.
To begin, you’ll want to have a large bowl of acidulated water ready before you start slicing away. The acidulated water is basically water that’s been made acidic using either lemon juice or vinegar. This will help prevent the apples from browning as you slice them.
With a sharp knife, you’ll start out by slicing up the apples to about 1/8″ thick and no larger than that. Make sure that the slices aren’t to thick, otherwise they won’t dry enough and won’t have that nice chip texture. The best recommendation on how to thinly slice apples for apple chips would be to use a mandolin. That will ensure that you get evenly sliced apples for your chips.
As you’re slicing up the apples, remember to drop them in the acidulated water to stop any browning from happening on the apple slices.
Slicing up the apples could be a fun activity to get the kids involved. So depending on their age and with proper supervision, this would be a great opportunity to get them engaged in the process of making these delicious apple chips.
Once you have all of your sliced apples finished and placed in the acidulated water, let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then remove the apples to drain some of the liquid out. After doing that, you can place the apples in your dehydrator to start the dehydration process.
When it comes to storing your apple chips, you’ll want to make sure to place them in an airtight bag or jar container. In addition to this, label and date the containers and then store them in a cool and dark area. Properly dehydrated apples can last for up to 6 months in airtight sealed containers.
The overall process of making apple chips is super fun and easy. You can follow the detailed steps below on how to make apple chips fast so that you and the whole family can start enjoying them as soon as possible.
Prepare acidulated water first by adding 2 tbsp of lemon juice to 3 cups of water.
Slice apples 1/8" think with a sharp knife or use a mandolin for even slices.
Place each apple slice in the acidulated water as you cut them. This will help prevent them from browning.
Let the apples sit in the acidulated water for 5 - 10 minutes.
Remove the apple slices from the acidulated water. Place all slices on on a clean and dry kitchen towel to drain all the water. If you have a large dehydrator tray, you can place the apple slices on the tray and lay over the sink to let the water drain.
Lay each apple slice evenly apart on the dehydrator tray(s) to prevent the slices from sticking to each other.
Dehydrate at 135º F for 12 hours.
You can use any apples of your choice using the above instructions. Feel free to experiment with different kinds of apples. Enjoy and have fun! 🙂