Homemade Baked Apple Chips

A couple of months ago, I realized that Andrew and I were throwing out about half a bag of apples every other week. It’s cheaper to buy them in a bag than individually where I buy my groceries (roughly $3 a bag as opposed to $1 an apple), but I hate being wasteful. There were just too many apples for Andrew and I to eat before they went bad.

So I started to think of ways that we could use those apples instead of throwing them out. That’s when I remembered my mandolin slicer that my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas, and I started making apple chips!

The whole process takes a bit of time, but it’s so easy that it’s really not a whole lot of work. It took me a couple of tries to get the temperature and the baking time right, but once I got that down it’s almost as easy as pie. ;) All you need is a couple of baking trays, some apples, a mandolin slicer, and some cinnamon and sugar.

You can use pretty much any apple you’d like. I’ve tried making them with Gala, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady apples and they’ve all turned out just fine, they just have different flavors. I usually use Pink Lady apples, as they’re a little more tart and Andrew and I like them to not be quite as sweet.

I highly recommend using a mandolin slicer, as it cuts the apples into thin, even slices. I tried once with just a knife, but my slices were too thick to fully dry and they never got crispy. I use the 1.5 mm piece in my mandolin and found that’s the best size, at least of the sizes I have.

Start by preheating your oven to 225° F and greasing a couple of baking pans with cooking spray.

Next, start slicing your apples. You can decore your apples beforehand to get the stem and seeds out, but I just cut those middle pieces in half and cut out the stem and seeds.

Arrange the apple slices on your baking sheets. You can place them pretty close together since they will shrink as they cook and some overlapping is fine. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top and place in the oven.

Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours. I flip the slices about halfway through cooking and sprinkle the other sides with cinnamon sugar. Then switch the racks that each sheet was on, so that they cook evenly.

I also place an extra sheet on the bottom of the oven so that I can cook more at one time. So that they don’t burn, I switch the sheets every twenty minutes or so to get a more even baking. This isn’t necessary though if you have more racks in the oven or are only cooking two sheets at one time.

The chips should be pretty firm when they are done. They will crisp up more once they are completely cooled. If they are still really flimsy or a little damp, then they aren’t done yet. I always check on them every ten minutes or so the last half hour to make sure they don’t burn. If they’re brown, they are over done!

These are about halfway done, right before I flip them!

Let them cool and then enjoy!

I love to make these apple chips on the weekend. I can pop them in the oven while I’m watching a movie or doing housework and check on them every so often. They’re pretty easy once you figure out how long to cook them as each oven varies.

Plus, the house always smells wonderful as these cook, like apple pie!

15 thoughts on “Homemade Baked Apple Chips”

  1. Oh, my yum! I am not sure if I have the patience to do this, but I can see this being a nice project to do on a rainy day or something. It’s also a good way to not waste those apples! Not only that, but it’s a healthier snack!

    Do you have a crockpot? I can definitely suggest to you to make dump cakes with those apples of yours! I made it once, and it turned out so good! Plus, you just leave it in there and bam XD You really can let yourself do other things and not worry about burning the chips XD; https://aigoo.me/2015/03/17/slow-cooker-spiced-apple-dump-cake/

    Not as healthy as your apple chips, but perfect if you want to try something different :D I’m sure you can also find a way to do it in the oven, too . . .

    1. They do take a bit of time, so I understand not having the patience for these. I can eat a whole sheet once they’re done too since I’ve been smelling them for the last couple hours!

      I love using my crockpot so I’ll have to try this! I love apple anything. :P There are few things that make me happier than dumping everything in and leaving it alone til it’s done!

  2. OMG Becca these look amazing!!
    I love how you’re not wasteful and make these!!

    If you ever have extra spinach, you can make spinach chips too! You just wash the leaves and then bake them and put it olive oil and pepper! They’re good!

    1. Hi Eena! I’d imagine you could do this with pretty much any veggie or fruit, but I’ve only tried it with apples. You’d probably just need to adjust the baking time. The slicer was only $20 from Amazon, so it’s pretty cheap but it works really well! I use it to cut up other veggies and to make french fries. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Mandoline-Slicer-Vegetable-Julienne-Stainless/dp/B013JL2SVU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487776784&sr=8-2&keywords=mandoline+slicer

  3. This looks amazing and looks really delicious too! I don’t know how to do anything in the kitchen but my siblings love to make these things, so I will show this to them! :D

  4. Those apple chips look delicious! What a good, and tasty way to avoid waste! I’ll definitely give this a go next time I have a bag of apples I need to eat. I’m trying so hard to avoid wasting food, but I’m going about it the wrong way. Yesterday I ate four yogurts in a row so I didn’t have to throw them out!

  5. Yum, I’ve never thought of making apple chips! If we have extra apples or pears left, I normally make pie or turnovers. We just got a mandolin too, and apple chips seem like a nifty thing to try it with. The ones you made look so good!

  6. Your homemade apple chips look delicious! It’s definitely cheaper to make food at home than buy it premade in the stores. Only thing that might be costly is your time- depending on how much you value it. Even then, it’s pretty fun to make your own food ;).
    Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! I gotta try it out with apples (maybe other fruits) one of these days ;D.

  7. It’s so funny how apples themselves can go bad but then you make chips out of them and it’s OK and it’s amazing. Kinda like using black bananas for banana bread? Am I right? I mean I don’t know anything about making banana bread but that’s what I remember hearing from friends, haha.

    I really like dried apple, actually, but never really thought about apple chips at all. I would have to make these at a friend’s house because our oven isn’t working (yes, still not, since 1998 or whatever, can’t wait to move out 😆). But what a lovely idea!

  8. Omgosh, I never liked apples until I started craving them recently and your post is making me want some of these so bad! We’re about to get a bit of a snow storm this week and I think I’m going to buy some apples to try these. My husband will love them too. He’s an apple fanatic.

    They look so simple to make. Thanks so much for this!

    Question: Do you think this would work the same in a dehydrator?

  9. Looks delicious, Becca! I have never eaten apple chips though we get variety of banana chips and jackfruit chips here. We even make a sort of dumplings out of bananas if they start going bad.

  10. That’s such a great idea! I never thought of it, and it looks so simple to make. AND I think it makes a healthier snack than potato chips while watching a movie or Netflix over the weekends. ^^ Thanks!

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