These dehydrated cinnamon apple slices with cinnamon are a tasty and healthy snack to take along on a hike, hunt, camping trip, or car ride. They’re also great rehydrated in oatmeal and baked goods or used as part of a homemade herbal tea blend! And the best part? They’re a great way to turn seasonal, organic, fresh apples into a great snack with no added sugar, and thanks to their long shelf life, they can be enjoyed year-round!
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The first time I tried dehydrating I pretty much fell in love. I remember using my oven to dehydrate some orange slices to put in a homemade Christmas potpourri blend I made for family and friends a few years ago. At that time, I had never even considered the possibility of preserving foods by dehydrating them at home. But as soon as I knew it could be done, I was hooked.
The following Christmas, my mother-in-law gifted us the granddaddy of all dehydrators: The Excalibur 9-Tray Dehydrator. And it changed my life.
Today I dehydrate everything from fresh apples and bananas to broccoli and kale, and I’m even playing around with dehydrating whole meals! Yes, Excalibur dehydrators can do that, and it’s pretty awesome.
I haven’t written a lot about dehydrating yet because I wanted to really familiarize myself with the drying process before assuming I had any sort of authority on the subject. But after a few years of successful (and not-so-successful) dehydrating, I am ready to share my favourite dehydrator recipe with you today: Dehydrated Cinnamon Apple Slices.
These are seriously easy (like 3 simple ingredients easy) to make, and pretty difficult to mess up. All you need to do is get your hands on some fresh apples, peel them up, cut them into uniform slices, and toss them in a little bit of cinnamon. Then lay them out on your food dehydrator trays and dry at 135ºF for around 6-8 hours (possibly a little longer depending on the thickness of the slices).
Then you can pack them away in a Mason jar, Ziplock bag or any other airtight container for future enjoyment. These babies have a shelf life of at least a year, but honestly, dried foods last pretty much indefinitely. The quality might degrade a bit after a long time, or they might get “too dry” to munch on without rehydrating them. But they really do pretty much last forever, which means they make a great survival food in addition to your home canned goods and other preserves.
Dehydrated apple slices also make a nutritious, lightweight, and tasty snack to bring along on hikes, hunts and trips into the wilderness. And unlike canned goods, they can safely be stored in an emergency bag in your vehicle or bug-out bag.
They can be enjoyed dried or rehydrated, and they really do rehydrate almost as well as fresh apples! I put mine in oatmeal and chop them up and add them to muffins, and you’d never know I used dried apples.
How Can I Dry Food If I Don’t Have A Dehydrator?
If you don’t have a food dehydrator, my first tip would be to get one. But I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
The second best way would be to dehydrate in the oven, although I’ve had mixed results with this method. If you do go this route, line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set your oven to the lowest setting (often somewhere around 170ºF). Check your fruit every hour or so and rotate or remove pieces as you see fit.
The problem with using an oven for the drying process is that a) most ovens aren’t able to be set at a low enough temperature to dehydrate without the risk of some burning or “crispiness,” and b) it’s difficult to dehydrate food evenly in a conventional oven.
But it can be done if you’re careful and attentive. Remove smaller pieces of dried apples that are dehydrated enough, rotate your cookie sheets or individual pieces to make sure all pieces are dried (but not too dried) and check on your fruit frequently to be sure it doesn’t burn or get too dried out as over-drying can render fruit unpalatable and hard to chew.
If you are thinking about investing in a food dehydrator, I definitely recommend Excalibur dehydrators above all other brands because it’s what I use and love. It’s also well-made, reliable, dehydrates evenly and can dehydrate lots of food at one time.
But you can definitely go for a cheaper option, like this one by Presto. There’s certainly nothing wrong with other makes and models, but my feeling is that the Excalibur is a sturdy built machine that will stand the test of time, and I would rather invest in one thing that will last me a long time rather than pay less but have to trash and replace items every few years. Plus, the Excalibur comes with a one-year warranty on new dehydrators (90 days on refurbished models) so you know you’re in good hands should something go wrong. It really depends on how much you’ll be using your dehydrator though. Think about it and compare prices and models before making your choice.
Okay, enough “sales pitchiness” from me. (If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I don’t do that often. Only when I really REALLY love something:)
Back to dehydrated apples slices…
A Few Quick Tips On Dehydrating Apple Slices
1. Make sure you cut the apples into uniform slices. I like to cut my apples into sixteenths as I find that thickness is best for dehydrating. But that will also depend on the size of your apples. If you’re using small apples, or crabapples, then maybe slice them into eighths. Just make sure the thickness of the slices are more or less the same so that they dry evenly.
2. To prevent browning, place apple slices in a solution of water and lemon juice. The general ratio is 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of water. The citric acid in lemon juice prevents oxidation, which is what turns apples brown when they’re exposed to air, and keep them looking fresh while you slice and process your batch.
3. Once all of your apples are sliced up, drain them well in a colander, then work in batches of about 2-3 cups worth of apples at a time, tossing them in a bowl with cinnamon to coat them. I just sprinkle cinnamon on until they’re evenly coated to my liking, but I find I use about a tablespoon for every 2 cups or so of fresh apples. I like lots of cinnamon, but you may prefer just a little bit. Play around with it until you like it or even omit the cinnamon altogether! You can also add spices like nutmeg, allspice and cloves for a slightly different flavour. You can also add sugar, but I love that these make a sweet treat that is healthy and sugar-free with the added benefits of cinnamon (which has also been show to lower blood sugar).
4. Make sure they are completely dry before storing, otherwise they may mold. They should be dry but flexible and chewy. I dehydrate mine for about 8 hours, but I would recommend drying for a minimum of 5 or 6 hours and then checking on them at each additional hour until they’re finished. The total time of the drying process can change depending on the thickness of the slices.
5. If you over-dry your apple slices, don’t despair! I once made a batch of dehydrated apple slices and dried them for about 10 hours, which, it turned out, was a bit too long. They were still totally edible, but they weren’t as chewy and were too brittle to be enjoyed on their own (to my liking anyway). But they rehydrate really well in oatmeal, cereal and baked goods, so I reserve that batch for those purposes.
Set It And Forget It
Dehydrating might just be the easiest way to preserve food. There’s not a lot of science involved (meaning it’s pretty hard to mess up and even if something goes wrong – like over-drying – your dehydrated food is still safe to eat). It’s also a set-it-and-forget-it process. Unlike canning where you have to process for a set amount of time and remove jars from your canner to let cool, with dehydrating you can pop your fruit (or veggies or meat or whatever else) on your dehydrator trays, set the time and temperature, and then leave them there until you’re ready to store them.
I often dehydrate food when I am going away somewhere for a few days as I can turn the dehydrator on and leave the food on the trays until I get back without worry of it spoiling.
Okay, have I convinced you yet? Good. Now go forth and dehydrate! You may not become a fanatic like me, but you certainly won’t regret taking advantage of this time of year when the apple trees are overflowing!
Dehydrated Cinnamon Apple Slices
Ingredients
- Peeled, sliced apples
- Cinnamon
- Water; Lemon Juice (to prevent browning)
Instructions
- Peel (use an apple peeler if you have one) and cut apples into uniform slices with a sharp knife. Slices should be roughly the same thickness.
- Place apple slices in a mixture of water and lemon juice to prevent browning. Use a ratio of one tablespoon of lemon juice to every one cup of water.
- Once all apples have been peeled, sliced and treated, drain them and, working in batches of about 2 or 3 cups, toss apple slices with a little bit of cinnamon in a large bowl until fully coated.
- Lay cinnamon-coated apple slices on dehydrator trays in a single layer, ensuring slices are not touching each other to allow proper airflow on all sides.
- Set dehydrator to 135ºF and set timer for 6-8 hours. Check on apples after 5 or 6 hours and continue checking every hour or so after until slices are completely dry but still flexible and chewy.
- Once finished, store dried apple slices in an airtight container or Ziplock bag at room temperature.
The best way to prevent cut apples from turning brown is to soak them in a honey and water solution: 2 Tablespoons Honey to 1 cup Water.
A short soak for 30 seconds will keep them brown free for 8 hours.
A longer soak for 2-3 minutes will keep them bright for over 24 hours.
Honey is a great inhibiter of browning. It contains a compound that deactivates the enzyme that causes browning.
I learned this from watching a video by America’s Test Kitchen in 2018. I tried it in November 2021 and it worked beautifully. I like that it doesn’t change the taste like lemon juice does. My apples stayed in the solution a lot longer, however, because I tossed them in the solution as I prepped them.
I recently saw a program on TV where archeologists had found some honey in an Egyptian tomb that was still edible.
That’s a great tip – thanks for sharing! -Ashley (assistant)
I’m going to do it!