How to Make Apple Chips, with Three Drying Options

Making apple chips can be really quite simple. Here’s how to make apple chips with three ways to dry them too.

Have you ever tried making your own apple chips? They are really quite simple to make and so healthy too.

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For this Tuesdays in the Garden, I’m sharing how to make crisp homemade apple chips.

My gardening friends are sharing how to use your garden harvest whether it be food, herbs, or flowers you’ll find more great ideas at the bottom of this post. Be sure to scroll all the way down to find their ideas.

Apples make a great snack. Whether you eat them fresh, add apples into a recipe or make your own snacks with them they are a sweet and healthy treat.

When I find great deals on apples I love to tuck some into the freezer for later use. Or make apple pie filling for the freezer. I also like to dry a few apples for snacks too.

We love apple chips but those little bags of apple chips from the store can be expensive. But making your own apple chips at home is really an easy process.

What You’ll Need to Make Homemade Apple Chips

Apples
Food Dehydrator, Oven, or Microwave
Knife or Mandolin Slicer

As you can see only three things are needed to make your own apple chips at home. If you don’t own a food dehydrator the one I own is a really good one. If you are looking to purchase a food dehydrator the Excalibur is the one I use and love.

What Kind of Apples to are Best for Homemade Apple Chips

I’ve used many different types of apples to make our own apple chips. I use whatever kind of apples that I find on sale. We like Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Golden Delicious apples the best.

Other varieties that work well to make apple chips are…

Gala
Granny Smith
Goldrush
Pink Lady

But really any apple can work for drying. I’ve used many of the varieties and all of them have turned out delicious when dried.

How to Make Apple Chips

Wash the apples and peel if desired. If the apples have a lot of wax on them I’ll peel the apples. If they aren’t too waxy I leave the peel on. Either way works, do whichever you and your family prefer.

Slice the Apples

You’ll want to slice the apple very thin. I like to use a mandolin slicer. The slicer works great and slices them really thin. You can use a sharp knife too. Be sure to get the slices as thin as possible.

Also be sure to try to make the apple slices the same thickness so they will dry at the same rate. If some of the apples are a little thicker, they will need to dry longer than the thinner slices.

Load the dehydrator trays, cookie sheets, or parchment lined plate with apples. Place the apple slices in a single layer with a little room between each of the apple slices. You want the air to be able to move around the apples and dry them well.

Dry the Apples, 3 Options

You can use any one of these three drying methods for apple chips. If you are making quite a few apple chips the dehydrator is the easiest. Just set it and forget it until later.

If you don’t have a dehydrator and are only drying a few apple chips for a snack, the microwave method will work great.

If you are drying quite a few apples into apple chips the oven can work well if you don’t own a dehydrator.

Dehydrator Method, Load the food dehydrator with the apples on the trays. Set the temperature to 135 degrees. Dry the apples until they are crisp and dry.

Oven Method, Place the apples on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper in a single layer. Set the oven to 200 degrees and bake 90 minutes. Flip the apple chips over and then bake another 60 minutes or until crisp.

Microwave Method, Place the apples on a parchment lined plate in a single layer. Microwave for about 5 minutes until the edges of the apple slices start to curl a little. Flip the apple slices over and microwave another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes until crisp.

Storing the Apple Chips

Once the apples are dry take the trays out of the dehydrator and let them cool. If they are warm and you seal them into a storage bag they can sweat. It’s better to let them cool fully before packaging them.

If the chips will be eating soon, place the apple chips into a freezer or storage bag with a zipper top. Remove as much air as you can and seal.

If you’ll be storing the apple chips longer it’s better to vacuum seal the apple chips in a vacuum seal bag or in a vacuum sealed container or jar.

That’s how to make apple chips. It’s a simple process and in the end, you’ll have yummy dehydrated apple chips for you and your family to enjoy.

More Ways to Preserve Apples

Homemade Applesauce
How to Freeze Apples
Apple Pie Filling for the Freezer

Take a peek at all the great ideas from my gardening friends. Just click on the photos below to be taken to the article to read on.