Chef Alyssa: Apple Chips

I'm always looking for a healthy alternative to potato chips. Over the summer, I was really into kale chips (link to my recipe here) but as fall approaches, I've become obsessed with apple chips. Typically I will make a ton of these (think five-six apples worth) on Sunday to have them ready for the whole week (they are the best to take to class!), but today I was low on apples, so I made a much smaller batch.

My biggest tip when oven baking chips like these is low and slow. These are perfect to make in the colder months when your oven will warm up your whole house, not so much when it's ninety degrees with a thousand percent humidity.

You Will Need:

• 2, medium sized apples. This will make a decent amount of chips, enough for a few snack sized portions. If you want to make these in bulk, double or triple the recipe. 
• 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of white sugar, mixed together in a small bowl
• Honey

Start off by cutting your apples into thin slices. Ideally, you'd use a mandolin, but I went with my trust old knife and cutting board. Apples are easier to thinly slice than potatoes or zucchini, so this part is comparatively easy. 

Here is a failed attempted at a nice, angled shot of the sliced apples and the cinnamon-sugar mix. You can see the width of the soon-to-be chips, though. They're not all perfectly the same size, but that's perfectly fine! These aren't going to burn as easily if you overcook them.

Dump the apple slices into a large Ziploc bag. Drizzle a little bit of honey over the top (just a small drizzle, don't overdo this!), which allows the cinnamon-sugar to stick a bit better and adds another depth of sweetness. Sprinkle on half of the mixture, securely close the bag, and shake until every slice is coated. Open the bag and repeat with the rest of the mixture (note: you do not need to add any more honey!).

Place apple slices on a lined baking sheet coated with baking spray. Make sure that all of the pieces are laying flat and none are overlapping! Bake in 225 degree (F) oven for about two hours, flipping halfway through. Let cool for a few minutes before removing. I store mine in a Ziploc bag, making sure, of course, that it's always tightly sealed!

And that's it: a delicious, healthy, fall appropriate snack that is a great alternate to potato chips, and bonus, tastes great, too! Feel free to use whatever kind of apples you want (these are Gala) and if you want more or less topping, you can adjust that, too! This is a pretty moderate amount, in my opinion. 

What do you like to turn into chips?

Alyssa