Homemade Crispy Apple Chips

Looking for an easy to make healthy snack that the whole family can get on board with? Craving that crunch that only a chip can fix? Want a good snack for the trails? Well, have you tried apple chips?

We recently found out that my kids and husband really like apple chips, but we never buy them because they're either not to be found or they are priced too high for a bag of dried apples. My husband put me up to the challenge of making some myself, and that's exactly what I did!

I followed a "recipe", but the amount of time that was stated was NOT enough to give these apples a nice crisp so I thought I'd share what worked for us. By the time they were done in the oven, they were so sweet and had that crunch that could curb any potato chip craving! You can adjust the amount of apples used based on your needs, but for this recipe I used 4.
*4 is enough for a family of 4 to snack for 1-2 days, next time I'll buy a bag of apples and make more.

What you'll need:
Apples (I used Granny Smith and Fuji)
Spiralizer (or a knife and patience)
Parchment paper
Baking pan

I didn't peel our apples, but you definitely could, I didn't want the extra step so I washed them really well instead.

Preheat oven to 200°. The key to a nice crisp is low and slow, and you don't want to overcrowd the pan. Luckily we have double ovens and had plenty of room.

If you're using a spiralizer, cut the bottom of the apples off to make them flat...this makes it easier to place correctly making sure you are cutting off of the core.

Place onto spiralizer (I used my Kitchen Aid attachment) and let it do it's job. Once cut, use a knife to cut the spiralized apple into slices and make sure all the seeds are out. Evenly place onto parchment paper on baking pan.

At this point you can sprinkle them with any seasoning of your choice...cinnamon, sugar, etc., but I left mine plain.

Pop them into a preheated oven and leave them alone. The recipe I used had me flip them after 1.5 hours and cook for an additional hour, but they were still soft!

I suggest cooking them for 4 hours, then flip, and cook for an additional 5-6 hours. I know. A looooong time, but so worth it. Resist opening the oven until you see in the last couple hours that they're getting crisp. I cooked them on Saturday and once I had my oven turned off I let them sit in it over night, then turned it on again in the morning. (This was because I followed a recipe that didn't work.) You can easily see the apples changing with the oven light on, so track the progress that way.

I promise they will be so crispy and you'll please your whole family! We put them in snack baggies for the next day and they stayed nice and crunchy.