I’m a snack person. You will never find me without at least two different kinds of snacks in my bag at all times. If the subway breaks down and we’re stuck underground for 3 hours, I’m the girl you want to be with. The one downside to my snacking ways, however, is that I get bored with them easily and am constantly searching for new snacks. I also have high ingredient standards to make sure I’m noshing on nourishing nibbles and not junk. Snacks are an opportunity to squeeze in more nutrition to your day, not take away from it. That’s why these cinnamon apple chips are my current snack of choice, among many, many other reasons.
First, apples are in season! If you were lucky enough to get out of the city and go apple picking this fall, I bet you have a LOT of leftover apples and have since run out of ways to eat them. You can only eat an apple a day so many ways before getting sick of them, so switch it up!
Second, these apple chips are perfect for traveling because, unlike a banana or some snack bars, they taste just as good after getting crushed in your bag/pocket/bra/wherever you keep your snacks – no judgment! And, there’s no messy peel or melty chocolatey wrapper that you have to stuff into the airplane backseat pocket until the flight attendant comes to collect the trash (or, if you’re like me, you forget about it until the next day and get litterers’ remorse).
Lastly, these are made with all simple, wholesome ingredients and are chock full of fiber, leaving you nothing to feel bad about. Just apples, lemon juice, and cinnamon – that’s it! Plus, there’s something amazing about a snack that gives you that satisfying crunch of a chip without all the added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium.
It’s time to whip out that stash of apples hiding in the back drawer of your fridge and make some apple chips this weekend, just in time for Thanksgiving travel craziness. Holiday travel is stressful enough without showing up to the airport empty-handed and having to buy overpriced, packaged airport food. Happy snacking!
- 3 organic apples (I prefer McIintosh or red delicious)
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees, or set up dehydrator if you have one
- Wash and de-stem apples.
- Core the apples if you wish, or leave the core for fun star patterns in your chips
- Using a mandoline or knife, carefully slice apples into ⅛" slices
- Place all apple slices into a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice, carefully tossing so all slices are covered
- Arrange apple slices on a dehydrator tray or on a lined baking sheet
- Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon, flipping to cover both sides
- Dehydrator: turn on to 135 degrees for 6 - 8 hours, until crispy
- Oven: bake for 2-3 hours, flipping once, until chips are crispy