Dehydrated Apples

Ok, so anyone who knows me well know that I am a bit into food storage. I also like to do anything I can myself. Not only do I enjoy learning how it's done, but I really think that by doing it at home I can get a superior product and as an added bonus, it's just the way I like it because I control what is being put into it. So, the last couple days I've been working on dehydrating my own apple slices. Everyone loves to snack on these and they are as healthy as can be for you. They are actually kind of addicting... I dare you to eat just one. I also love these broken up and put in my oatmeal. So easy and convenient and it really takes my morning oatmeal to the next level.

 I have one of these handy dandy apple slicers that I used to slice and core all my apples. I left the peels on for added flavor and nutrition, but you could take the peel off if you want to. You don't have to use one of those if you don't have one. Just core and slice your apples thinly by hand. They will still turn out just as good! I usually slice and core about four at a time and then cut them in half. After that I lightly spray them with lemon juice (I bought a spray bottle just for this use) so they don't brown and it adds a little extra vitamin C back into them that they will lose during the dehydrating. Then I lay them out on my dehydrator tray. Once I have a tray full I sprinkled very lightly with cinnamon. You don't need much at all to give it a little extra flavor. I think apple pie seasoning would be great on these too, but I didn't have any on hand. You can really do whatever YOU like on your dried apples. That's the great thing about doing it at home.  I only sprinkled a few of my trays with cinnamon because I like them both ways and it's one less step to just leave it off. I set my dehydrator at 110 degrees and it took them about 15 hours to get dried enough.

My house smelled fantastic as these were drying and the kids kept asking what the yummy smell was.  I like doing these types of projects in the winter when there isn't a whole lot of produce on sale, not any produce stands around anymore, and my garden isn't keeping me on my toes with fresh veggies.

These really are simple as can be to make yourself. Next time you see apples on sale (I used fuji here, but you can use any apple you like to eat), grab more than you normally would and put some in your dehydrator. I think you'll be surprised at how easy and good it really is made at home.