Dried Apple Rings
One of my favorite food moments in the fall is making dried apple rings. The smell of warm apples in a slow oven permeates the entire house, and the end result is a healthful treat that everyone enjoys. Today was the perfect day for making them, 1) because I had some soft apples in the house that needed to be turned into something and 2) because the weather's crisp and begged for something to be baked. If you have a mandoline, it makes the process of slicing the apples much simpler. Some suggest coring the apples before slicing them, but I don't bother. Others recommend adding sugar, cinnamon, or cloves to the slices before baking, but we prefer them purely apple. Because the natural juices are removed during the drying process, it's a good idea to consume water while snacking on these. Happy fall!
Ingredients
Whole apples (Braeburn, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady all work well)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 225ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
If you would rather core the apples, do so before slicing apples. Use a mandoline to slice apples between 1/8- and 1/4-inch thick. (If you don't have a slicer, you can slice by hand.)
Transfer the apple slices to the baking sheet. Bake the apples for 90 minutes, or until they're dried and shriveled but still tender. (I recommend checking them every 10 minutes after they've been in the oven for an hour. The longer you bake them, the crispier they'll get. If you prefer them chewy, you might want to take them out before 90 minutes.)
Note: If I have leftover rings, I store them in a mason jar and snack on them for a few days.
