Wholesome and delectable, I have been making apple rings for years. There is nothing quite like naturally preserving the bounty of the harvest from your own fruit trees. It is so fulfilling to to grab a handful of homemade dried fruit to snack on or add to other recipes.
Dried apple rings are a perfect natural snack and they are easy to make at home. They are sweet and chewy and full of all-around goodness. Dried apples are a delicious and healthy snack that is easy to grab on-the-go, tuck into lunchboxes or nibble on by themselves.
My apple tree went crazy this year. We had so many apples! It is a Gravenstein tree so the apples ripen early, in the late summer. We have been enjoying apple pie, crisp, pancakes, apple butter and slicing and freezing them for later. Everything that you can think of with apples.
I enlisted help from the kids and got them to help core and slice apples. It was a fast a furious operation but now we have the fridge packed with bags of dried apples and the freezer is loaded with peeled sliced apples. The kids were not thrilled with the extra chore but they do like eating goodies with apples, so all is fair.
I love having dried apples on hand to cut them up to add into muffins or other baked goods. Chop your apple rings into rough chunks and add to a quick homemade trail mix. And of course, they are great just as they are.
Healthy and Delicious
As a healthy, natural snack apples are high in fiber, vitamin c and potassium. Apples are good for your heart, your digestive system was well as your bones. As with many fruits and veggies, apples may help protect against cancer, diabetes as well as cognitive health. They were not kidding when they said an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Using Dried Apples
If you are craving dried apples as a munchy, chewy sweet snack, then by all means munch away. However, there are many other ways to enjoy dried apples. From baked goods and pastries to breakfasts and desserts dried fruits are a quick and easy add in.
Dried apples are a great addition to oatmeal or muffins. They can be added into trail mix, homemade granola bars or even healthy snack bars.
You can also reconstitute them, that is let them soak in water or juice, for eight hours and then use like fresh apples. I have used dried apples in many recipes like apple crisp, apple pie and apple cake.
Directions
To make dried apples start by washing your apples and then remove the core. 8 to 10 apples will probably fill up four rack dehydrator, although if your apples are small you may need a few more.
You could peel your apples if you prefer but I usually save the work and leave the peel on.
Cut into ⅛ inch slices.
Add the lemon juice to water. Drop your apple slices into the lemon water and let them soak for about a minute. This will help keep them from turning brown.
Remove the apple slices and shake to remove the excess water. Place them on your food dehydrator trays. Adjust temperature to the highest setting. Allow the apples to dry for 4 to 5 hours.
Allow to cool then place in an air tight container. You can also store these in the freezer or refrigerator to help them last even longer.
Oven Directions
If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use your oven. You might need to reduce the amount of apples. You will probably only need 6-8 apples, depending on the size. Place your apple slices on lined sheet pans. Heat oven to 180° and place sheet pans on the racks.
Allow your apples to dry for about 4 to 5 hours, flipping the apple slices over half way through the drying time. In addition, move the sheet pan from the top rack to the middle position and move the one on the middle to the top rack. Do this half way through drying to ensure that they dry evenly.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 8-10 Apples
- 1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
- 2 Cups Water
Instructions
- Wash apples and then remove the core.
- Slice into ⅛ inch slices.
- Add the lemon juice to water. Drop the apple slices into the lemon water and let them soak for about a minute. This will help keep them from turning brown.
- Remove the apple slices and shake to remove the excess water. Place them on food dehydrator trays. Adjust temperature to the highest setting. Allow the apples to dry for 4 to 5 hours.
- Allow to cool then place in an air tight container. You can also store these in the freezer or refrigerator to help them last even longer.
Oven DIrections
- If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use your oven. Reduce the amount of apples here, you will probably only need 6-8 apples, depending on the size.
- Slice into ⅛ inch slices.
- Add the lemon juice to water. Drop the apple slices into the lemon water and let them soak for about a minute. This will help keep them from turning brown.
- Remove the apple slices and shake to remove the excess water. Place them on lined sheet pans. Place sheet pans in an oven preheated to 180° or the lowest temperature. Allow the apples to dry for a total of 4 to 5 hours.
- About half way through the drying time move the sheet pan from the top rack to the middle position and move the pan on the middle rack to the top rack.
- Allow to cool then place in an air tight container. You can also store these in the freezer or refrigerator to help them last even longer.
You also might like my healthy snack bars or apple nutmeg pancakes.
Please leave your questions, comments and ratings below!
Emma
Thank you for this idea. I always loved dried apples as a kid but never made them myself until now. What a great healthy snack.