Make your own apple chips at home in the oven! My grandmother always made apple and banana chips with a dehydrator, and they were amazing... so I had to figure out how to do it my own way! Perfect for after school snacks or on road trips.

These chips are thin sliced, soaked in a simple syrup and baked low and slow.

The prep time is around 15 minutes, and cook time is 1 to 1 1/2 hours. This recipe makes about 50 chips.

Step 1: Three Simple Ingredients:

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 large apples or 3 small ones (I recommend gala, braeburn, or fugi)

That's it! You can spice your apples with cinnamon or cloves if you like, but I like them just as they are.

As far as hardware, you'll need:

baking sheets
parchment paper
a small pan to make the simple syrup in
a mandoline or a sharp knife and a cutting board
tongs (though chopsticks would work too)
an oven set to 250 F

Step 2: Make the Simple Syrup.

Pour the two cups of water and sugar into your pan, and bring it to a boil. Stir it once it comes to a boil to make sure there's no sugar stuck to the bottom of the pan and it's all dissolving.

Once it's clear, turn off the heat and let it hang out while you prep the apples.

Step 3: Slice Your Apples and Preheat the Oven!

Set your oven to 250 F.

I'm using a mandoline because that's the easiest and quickest way to go about it - and they can be very cheap - I found this one for $10 years ago. I only use it every now and then, but it's so much better than fighting with knife. :P

You want your slices to be 1/16 of an inch.

You can cut them wider, but they will take much longer to cook, and will not be as crisp. (Though I suppose you could turn the oven up to 300 or so to help out)

Slice off the rounded side of the apple until you get a nice wide piece of flesh (as shown in the second picture.) Then start making your slices for the chips. Discard or eat the other rounded side as well. :)

Keep going right through the center of the apple - don't worry about coring them or the seeds, stem, or woody insides... we'll take care of any problems in a second.

Step 4: Clean Up Your Slices!

Use a paring knife or your fingernails to remove any seed fragments, stems, or fuzzy bits from the bottom of the apple.

Don't worry about the core - since we'll be soaking them in the warm syrup, it'll soften. :)

Step 5: Soaking!

Place the apples in the simple syrup and soak for 10 minutes. I stirred mine a couple times just to make sure everyone was happy.

Step 6: Onto the Baking Sheets!

Using tongs or chopsticks, lift the apples one by one from the syrup, shake off the excess and place them on the parchment paper.

Don't overlap them, but try to get as many on the baking sheets as you can. Flatten them as you go - it might be tricky for some and that's okay. :)

If you would like to add spices, now is the time to do so. Just sprinkle it over the top.

Step 7: Save the Simple Syrup!

You now have awesome apple flavored simple syrup to use in teas, lemonade... or to make another batch of apple chips. You can store it in the fridge.

And the slices that wouldn't fit on the sheet? You should probably just eat those. NOM.

Step 8: Baking.

One baking sheet will go in the middle of the oven, and the other right below that. :)

Cook them for a half hour, and then rotate the trays so the top one is on bottom.

Cook for another half hour and check. Depending on your oven, both sheets might be done - in my case - only the one on the bottom rack was. I have a slow gas oven. :P

If they're done, they should be golden brown and crisp. If they're not, give them 15 more minutes and check again, continuing to do so until they're done. My second tray took an additional 30 minutes or so. Keep in mind that they will harden up a bit once you take them out of the oven.

Or cook them to the level you like - I know some people like them more gummy. It's all up to you!

Hope you enjoy them! :D