Apple Chips

Last Sunday we made our annual trip to the North Georgia mountains to pick apples.  The trees were absolutely loaded with crisp Rome Beauty apples. 

We had a good time apple picking and before we knew it our bags were filled with apples.  The kids especially liked the challenge of getting the apples at the tops of the trees.  Isn't it awesome to have a grandpa and a daddy who are willing to give you a little extra boost to reach the apples at the top?

The kids took turns shooting the apple cannon again this year.  

When all was said and done, we had collected 4 pecks of apples in just under an hour.

Now my beautiful apples adorn my counter top, and the apple recipes are already swirling around my head.  What should I make first?  Apple pie, caramel apples, applesauce, baked apples, apple dumplings, apple pancake?  (So many possibilities and so little time.)

The winning apple recipe was apple chips.  The recipe came from Vittlesandbits.blogspot.com and it sounded easy enough.  Slice apples, spray with canola oil and bake.  What could go wrong?  Believe it or not, I usually manage to mess up the very simplest of recipes and this was no exception.  My apple chips came out more like chewy dried apples slices instead of crispy chips.  They were still really tasty but not at all what I had expected.

Apple Chips

• 2 large apples, cored (I used Red Delicious)
• 2 T. sugar (optional)
• 1 t. cinnamon
• canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Thinly slice apples crosswise about 1/8-inch (2 mm) thick with a mandoline or sharp knife.  Arrange apple slices in a single layer on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, and spray with canola oil cooking spray.

If using sugar, combine in a small bowl with cinnamon.  Put mixture into a sieve and sprinkle evenly over apple slices.
 

Bake in the top and bottom third of the oven until apples are dry and crisp, about 2 hours.  Remove from oven and let ‘chips’ cool completely before transferring to a sealed container for up to 3 days.  Makes about 2 cups of apple chips.

OK so this is what happened.  I baked my apples for 2 hours - still chewy and not even slightly crispy.  I baked them 1 hour longer - still not crispy.  I turned them over and baked them for another hour - still chewy.  In total, I baked my apple slices for 5 hours and they never got crispy.  I'm not really sure what went wrong.  The only thing that I can think of is that I didn't use enough Canola oil or I sliced them too thick.  (There just aren't that many variables in this recipe - you'd think I could figure out where I went wrong.)

The bottom line is this - these apple chips were really yummy - especially the ones that I tasted right out of the oven while they were baking.  The cinnamon sugar apple slices tasted like warm, sweet apple pie.  I hesitate to call them "chips" because they came out more chewy than crisp but they were still good.  I ate every last one within 2 days - that should tell you something.

Now I'm turning to you, my blog followers, for help.  If you've successfully made apple chips at home - please send me your directions.  If you know what I did wrong in my apple chip making process, let me know. 





I loved these chewy apple slices but I also want to try making crispy apple chips as well.  I can't wait to hear your suggestions.

Ciao!