Oven Apple Chips Dairy-Free

Got an apple on its last leg or a bunch of apples you can't possibly eat up before they go bad?

In both cases, we love turning those apples into homemade apple chips!

Dried fruit chips are so expensive at the store. But they are easy to make at home.

Let no apples go to waste. Here's how to make your own delicious apple chips in an hour!

TOP APPLE CHIP TIP

The top tip for making the best dried apple chips is to keep a close eye on them while they bake. They can turn from golden perfection to burnt brown very fast. But it's worth perfecting the art! 

That's right, we love making our own dried apple chips at our house.

There are just certain situations when the time is right.

One, apple season in the fall definitely calls for apple chips because they are less expensive and easy to stock up on.

During that time, we love making pies and cobblers and crisps because the ripe, crisp fruits are just perfect.

But during apple season, the family may eventually get tired of all the fresh apples, and baked apple chips are a nice reprieve.

Two, another great time for apple chips is when you buy them off-season and realize when you bite into them that they are...well...not real fresh anymore. 

In that case, they usually don't make for the best baked goods, either. Because when they aren't crisp, they bake into mush. Nobody likes mushy apple pie. 

So yet again, you have yourself another splendid reason to make apple chips. 

It's always better to find a way to use less-than-ideal apples than to throw them out. 

One delicious use of subpar or overflow of apples is slow cooker applesauce.

We love that, too.

But today, we are here to talk dried, homemade apple chips. 

These are so tasty, easy, healthy, and quite quick to make, too.

Let's get to it.

DO I HAVE TO SEASON APPLE CHIPS

We don't.

Our family enjoys baked apple chips as they are in their natural, sweet flavor.

But feel free to sprinkle with cinnamon or even a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking. 

CAN I MAKE APPLE CHIPS IN THE TOASTER OVEN

You bet! This is my favorite way to make them. 

Typically, our toaster oven only fits one apple at a time. 

So it's best to use the toaster oven when you have that one lone apple that nobody wants to eat. 

If it's apple season and you have a large excess of apples to use up, however...

using the actual oven will be more efficient. 

The toaster oven is great for a single serving, one apple batches of dried chips.

Now here's how to make them!

HOW TO MAKE APPLE CHIPS IN THE OVEN

Use as many apples as you want.

Just make sure you choose a baking pan that will fit the slices in a single layer.

Oven 275

1. WASH APPLES - I really like soaking mine in an apple cider vinegar bath and then scrubbing them under cold water. Pat dry and move onto step 2.

2. PEEL & SLICE APPLES - An apple machine (affiliate) will make it super easy to peel and slice at the same time when you have a lot of apples dry. If I'm just doing an apple or two, however, I peel and slice by hand to save mess and clean-up. Slice apples about ⅛ inch thick. If they are too thick, they won't dry as well. If too thin, they burn easily. 

3. PREHEAT OVEN TO 275

4. COVER BAKING SHEET IN FOIL

5. LAY APPLES IN SINGLE LAYER

6. BAKE 10 MINUTES TWICE - Check the apples every 10 minutes to make sure they aren't brown yet. 

7. BAKE 5 MINUTES TWICE - After the first 20 minutes of baking, start checking the apples every 5 minutes to catch them before they get too brown.

8. FLIP & BAKE 5 MINUTES MORE - Once the first apple start lightly browning, flip all the apples and bake them 5 more minutes...keeping a close eye that they don't start turning dark brown.

9. REMOVE FROM OVEN & LET SIT - When most of the apples are starting to become golden brown, remove the pan but keep the apples on it. Let them cool on the pan to finish drying. They won't all be completely brown. That's ok. Dried apples aren't totally brown. 

10. REMOVE APPLES FROM PAN & ENJOY - Once the apples have cooled, remove them from the pan and enjoy. Or store in an airtight container for a couple days. 

If some of the apples didn't totally crisp up, that's ok. Some may be softer and chewy, those are good, too. That's better than them being dark brown and burnt tasting.

The most important note with this recipe is to keep an eye on the baking apples and remove them at just the right time. With some practice, you'll become a pro and enjoy dried apple chips on the regular. YUM!

Hope you enjoy these simple apple chips as much as we do.