Cinnamon Apple Chips―A Holiday Treat

Looking for a delicious holiday treat that's good for you? Apple chips are naturally gluten-free and if you skip the sugar in this recipe, really quite healthy. Perfect for entertaining and gift giving. You can choose your favourite firm apple here. Fuji or Gala are nice sweet choices, while a Granny Smith is pleasingly tart with the added sugar.

• 3-5 large sweet crisp apples, sliced into 1/8” thick rounds
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1-2 teaspoons of granulated sugar (optional)
• parchment paper

Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven and preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Core (see notes) and thinly slice the apples. A mandolin does the best job here as you want the apple slices to be very thin

Optional: To keep your apple slices brighter and to speed up the drying process a bit, fill a large bowl with cold water, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt. Add the apples to the water and allow them to sit for 15 minutes.

Pat apple slices with a paper towel to remove extra moisture. If you've allowed them to soak, spend a little extra time drying the slices.

Add sliced apples to a large bowl and coat with cinnamon and sugar. If you're using a sweet variety of apple, skip the sugar―it's really not necessary.

Arrange the apples in a single layer on the prepped baking sheets.

Bake for an hour in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Switch the pans from top to bottom and continue baking for another 1 to 1.5 hours.

Test your apple slices by removing from the oven and allowing to cool. If the apple is dry, they're ready. They won't be crisp like a dehydrated apple—they'll have a bit of flex to them. But, they shouldn't be soggy or limp.

Baking times will vary depending on how thick you've sliced your apple. Another reason thinner slice work better!

Turn the oven off and allow the apple slices to sit for another hour or overnight to ensure total dryness. However, if it looks like the apples are on the verge of overcooking (browned) allow them to dry out on the counter.

Once totally dry, store in an airtight container for up to a week.

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‍NOTES*

You don't have to core the apples, if you don't mind picking out the odd seed. If you leave the core, you get a pretty little star in the centre of each slice (provided you slice horizontially).

Cooking time may vary depending on the apple you use, the thickness of the apple slices and/or different ovens.