Apple Chips Two Ways

It is funny how we take things for granted sometimes. Moving into my house in the suburbs I discovered a wonderful bonus in the backyard- the neighbors directly behind me have a fabulous old apple tree but for some reason they never picked ANY of the apples. Literally just had rotting apples everywhere. This meant lots of treats for the chickens because a good third of the tree hangs over the fence into my backyard. I’ve never met these neighbors and in the two years I’ve lived here I have only seen people in their backyard twice so I decided to look up if it was legal for me to grab some apples and turns out anything over the fence, I can! So for years I had more apples than I could handle- apple butter, apple chips, applesauce, dog treats, everything apple! And then this year NOTHING. No blooms, no apples, and no more source of wonderful apples for free. ::Pouts:: So this year I headed to the farmer’s market and grabbed a ton of different apples to play with- so apple chips two ways!

One of my favorite things about apple chips is that you can easily tailor them to your taste! I have two separate pairings here, but to make a pairing that you’ll love you need to taste the apples first! The sweeter red and pink apples I have here pair well with spices that cater towards sweetness, cinnamon, cloves, etcetera, and the more tart Granny Smith apples tend to pair better with things that will tone down their tart and sour qualities like salt and rosemary! So have fun, make your apple chips how you like them (and then let me know your favorite combinations over on Instagram!)

Apple Chips Two Ways Ingredients

For Autumn Spice Apple Chips

Sweet Apples
4 Parts Cinnamon
2 Parts Cloves
1 Part Ginger

For Sea Salted Rosemary Apple Chips

Tart Green Apples
2 Parts Fresh Rosemary
1 Part Himalayan Sea Salt

Apple Chips Two Ways Instructions

1. Apple chips are all about dehydrating apples. So, depending on which tools you have at your disposal you can either pull out your dehydrator (I use my favorite nine tray Excalibur, but any will work!) or preheat your oven to the lowest heat setting it can get to!

2. Because I am not using any citrus to prevent browning in this recipe I make the spice rubs first. In small bowls mix each of the rubs thoroughly (using a mortar and pestle to combine salt and fresh rosemary) and set aside. Note: If you aren’t used to using ‘parts’ it is just an easily scalable measuring system. For instance if your parts are teaspoons you’d use 1 teaspoon ginger, two of cloves, 4 of cinnamon!

3. Using either a very careful hand and a sharp knife or a mandolin (I use this Chef’s mandolin and love it) slice the apples into very thin rounds. In order to make this easier I remove the stem first and then when I hit core, use a knife or a toothpick to pop the seeds out!

4.Place the sliced apples either on your dehydrator sheets or lined baking sheet and then sprinkle with the spice mixes!

5. For the dehydrator pop onto your ‘fruit’ setting (usually about 135 degrees) and allow to dehydrate overnight for at least 8 hours. The longer you let them go the crunchier they will be! I love about 12 hours. If you are using an oven it will take less time because the temperature will be higher, but it should take a few hours. But because every oven is different, watch your chips and check on them in intervals! They should have a great crunch to them and peel off your lined baking sheet when they are done.
Keep your apple chips fresh in an airtight container and enjoy!

I’d love to know your favorite ways to use apples in the autumn! Do you like making apple chips like I do or do you have a different recipe to preserve your bounty! Let me know your favorites over on Instagram. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!