Make it Yourself: Apple Snacks

We recently picked up more Ohio apples from a farm stand in north east Ohio while visiting my uncle.  (Our nearby local fave, Charlie's, is sold out until next fall.) apple-stand We put some in the fridge for storage.  Charlie taught me last year how to keep apples fresh for months: 1) Wash apples. 2) Place wet apples in a plastic bag (like a grocery sack). 3) Gently close sack but don't let all the air out. 4) Place in refrigerator. 5) Every month or so, re-wet apples.  I was able to keep Charlie's apples from October - February this way until we ate them all up!

Our produce drawer isn't big enough to contain all the apples we bought, so Lil and I set to work making dried apples.

I used two Christmas gifts to help out: an apple corer and mandolin.  I peeled the apples, cored, and sliced with the mandolin.  Lil is in a 'peeled' apple phase, although I left some with skin on for me.

apple-slicing-setup

Lil took the apple slices and arranged them on the dehydrator.

apples-in-dehydrator-lil

We 'cooked' them for about 5 hours at 145 degree F and viola: apple snacks!

apples-dried-and-drying-angle

Alas, we took tons of these on our trip to Florida and they are almost gone already!