It's not a terrible problem really, to have a friend bring you a bag of 20 apples fresh from a Washington orchard. But with just the two of us, I feared they would go bad before we could eat them all. And that's where my aunt Krista came in.
Just a couple of days before the gift of apples, she'd posted a recipe on Facebook for apple chips. They were lovely, sliced in thin circles and spaced in a single layer. But I wondered how long it would take me to bake 15 apples in such a meticulous way. So I took a different approach, we'll call it rustic.
I decided to use the food processor to slice the apples - slicing them in half first and then cutting out the core in a wedge. Then I layered them on 3 parchment lined baking sheets and cooked them for 9 (!) hours. With just 15 minutes of prep work, they were in the oven. And the smell in the house - nothing short of heavenly. It lasted for days.
Slow roasting the apples in an uneven layer, results in chips at various degrees of doneness - some bites chewy, others crispy, or a mix of the two. Fifteen apples filled 2 1-liter jars to the brim. I put one jar in the refrigerator, the other in the freezer. They're delicious either way, but I especially like them straight out of the freezer.
Make a batch as a snack alternative during these pound inducing holidays. Or fill jars with them and give them as gifts.
Oven Roasted Cinnamon Apple Chips
Ingredients
- 15 apples cored and thinly sliced
- ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Arrange 3 oven racks so they're spaced equally.
- Preheat the oven to 185 degrees.
- Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Arrange apple slices in a thin, fairly even layer over parchment. You'll have some overlap.
- Sprinkle generously with cinnamon. (Leave some plain if you like - see headnote)
- Bake 8-9 hours, rotating the baking sheets among the 3 levels a couple of times.
- Turn off the oven and open the door a crack; allow oven and apples to cool.
- Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container for a week at room temperature, 1 month in the refrigerator, or much longer in the freezer.
Wonderful recipe. Cinnamon and apples has got to be two of my favorite autum foods. Something about cinnamon in the fall. May I suggest that you roast your cinnamon before grinding. It will completely enhance the delivery in the front notes when cinnamon is used to sprinkle or finish a dish.
Thank You
That's a great idea...
I love the sound of this healthy but delicious snack Marissa! 😀
You sold me with the rustic version vs. the meticulous one! jaja! So easy to make and I can smell it from here Marissa!
Wow, great snack idea. Would you mind posting he original recipe baking temp and time info as well, though, if I want to cook them more quickly?
Hi Paula - I've seen several recipes that suggest 200 degrees for 1 to 3 hours. If you keep them in a single layer instead of the 'rustic' version, they'll cook much quicker. 🙂