Saturday (time) splurge: Apple chips!

When I made kale chips a couple of weeks ago, there were some fans and some... disgusted faces. Dark, leafy greens aren't for everybody. One girl asked, "I wonder if you could do that with apples?" I didn't think it would work in a regular oven, and told her so. Then I went upstairs to my room to find out. Turns out that you can!

A quick search tells me I've only used the word here once, but I should confess: I am terribly impatient when it comes to food. That was a good bit of my motivation starting this blog - find food that doesn't take so long and then write it down somewhere so I wouldn't forget. For this reason, many of the apple chip recipes looked like they took WAY too long for me. When I say many, I mean all that looked viable. It was sad.

So I said, too bad, I'll try it my way anyway! Please note that a key element in this is that my building has a convection oven, which is great at drying things out. Terrible when you're baking chicken or salmon, but great for the chip adventure. I set the oven to 300, thinly sliced my apple, tossed it in cinnamon and sugar, put it in the oven and set it for 20 minutes, expecting to turn the pan then. I went back to my reading.

Was I ever surprised when, at 20 minutes, they all looked close to done. I took one out, shook it like a polaroid til it cooled, and bit into a nice, crispy chip! I was thrilled and pulled the whole sheet out! So, the convection oven gets a major thumbs-up from me on that point. I think they were too dark, though none of my testers thought they tasted burnt, so next time I'll try 275. I *really* wish I had a mandoline or disk for a food processor that slices super thin, because then these would take 5 minutes before the oven, and that would be amazing in my book. For a regular oven recipe, I am copying one (originally from here) for your convenience.

Baked Apple Chips
Serves: 2-3 Time: 1:45 to 2:15

2 apples
approx. 2 tbsp cinnamon
optional: 1 Tbs brown or white sugar
parchment paper (or silpat)
baking/cookie sheet

- Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees F. (LOW SETTING!)
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To prepare the apples:
- Holding the apple steady skin side on the cutting board, with a steady hand and a sharp knife, slice the apples into thin uniform slices. This will be easier if you cut the apple in half first. You want them to be thin, but not TOO thin. You also want them to be as even as possible so that they dry out evenly. Baking the core makes it edible, so remove only if you want to.
- Place the slices in one layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with a layer of cinnamon, and if using sugar this is when you sprinkle it on too.
- Place on the middle rack in the oven, and keep the door slightly open by placing a wooden spoon in the top corner of the door. This needs to be done so that a vent is provided for the moisture from the apples, otherwise the apples won’t dry out properly and you will be left with a mushy and somewhat mouldy mess of apple slices.
- The total baking time will be between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours, depending on the thickness of the apple slices. Check the apple slices at 1 hour to ensure they are not burnt. Check the apple slices again at 1 1/2 hours. (To do this, remove one slice from the oven, and place on a plate. Allow to sit for about 3 minutes, then eat it. If it is crispy, then you’re good to remove them! If it’s still a bit soft, keep the apples in for another ten minutes.) With the slices I baked, at 1 hour and 20 minutes they were almost done. I checked again every 5 minutes, and at 1 hour and 40 minutes they were completely finished.

Note: even when they are finished baking, when immediately removed from the oven, they will still be slightly soft. This is why to test them, you need to allow one slice to cool at room temperature for 3 minutes before testing it.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for about 3 minutes on the parchment paper. Then, remove them from the paper and place on a plate to serve.

For storage, simply place them in an airtight container and store at room temperature until ready to eat.