How to Make Dried Apples {Step by Step}
Dried fruit is such a delicious and healthy snack! Learn how to make dried apples in a food dehydrator or in the oven. Making dried apples is a great project for kids to try!
Dried apples are a favorite snack in the Cook household. My kiddos and my nephew are officially obsessed with them. I can feel pretty dang good about them snacking on fruit, and even better it is motivating to force encourage them to help me make them!
The best part of homemade dried apple slices? They’re so simple, and you only need two ingredients – apples and lemon juice. And love.
Wait. No, that’s some cheesy kid’s movie my punks made me watch.
Apples and lemon juice. Yep, that’s it.
What Are The Best Apples For Drying?
Easy to find varieties such as Gala, Fuji, Gravenstein, and Honeycrisp would all be great. Our local apple farm sells one called Burgandy that is my favorite and responsible for some of the pretty pink dried apples you’ll see in the photos in this post.
How Long Does it Take to Dry Apples?
The length of time they will need to dry out will vary based on how many trays you have going at once, and how thick your apple slices are. On average, it takes 4-8 hours for up to nine trays of apples.
Helpful Dried Apples Supply List
- Dehydrator (I have this one)
- Lemon juice or citric acid
- Vegetable peeler and a sharp knife, or be lazy like I am and use this peeler/corer
- Large bowl for soaking the apples
- Refuse bowl for skins and apple cores
How to Make Dried Apples
Fill a bowl with cold water and 1/4 cup of lemon juice (or 2 tsp of citric acid). Set up your workstation with a peeler, cutting board, sharp knife, and a bowl for the peels and cores.
Pro tip: you do not have to peel the apples, but the peels may get very hard during the drying process and could detract from the taste.
Clean your apples, and peel, core, and slice the apples thinly. If using a hand-cranked peeler, put the apple on the spikes and lock the peeler into place. Turn the crank slowly, and the peeler will begin to remove the skin.
Place the peeled apple on a cutting board and cut down once the middle. You’ll now have perfect apple slices.
Using a normal vegetable peeler? Cut the top and base off of the apple and remove the peel. Core the apple and make thin uniform slices.
Place the slices in the water/juice mixture.
Arrange the slices on your dehydrator so that there is space around each slice, and the slices are not touching. Set your dehydrator to the “fruit/vegetables” setting (135 degrees F).
The length of time they need to dry out will vary based on how many trays you have going at once, and how thick your apple slices are. If you think about it, rotate the trays every few hours.
Apples are done when they don’t feel wet anymore (4-8 hours). Some apples will finish before the others on the same tray. Remove those that are done and set aside.
How Do You Dry Apples in the Oven?
Follow the peeling and soaking instructions above and then place apple slices on baking drying racks. Place in the oven at the lowest temperature possible (usually 140-170 degrees F) and prop open the door with the handle of a wooden spoon. This allows condensation to escape instead of just settle back onto the apples.
Bake for 5-8 hours.
How Do I Know if Dried Apples are Done?
Even finished apples might feel a bit sticky when warm. Allow the apples to cool for an hour and then fold a slice between two fingers. If the apples aren’t sticky/tacky and there is some give when you fold it, it’s done. If the apples fold in half like a piece of paper, they are overly dried. Still edible and delicious, but likely a little tougher.
Store them in an air-tight container like a mason jar. If you see any condensation inside the container after a day or so, the apples were not dried long enough. It would be best to store them in the fridge or freezer at this point.
Dried apples will last for up to a year if stored in a cool dry place.
More Recipes Like This
- Canning Applesauce – How to Can Applesauce
- Canning Apple Butter
- Homemade Peppermint Extract
- Canning Peaches – How to Can Peaches
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Have you ever made dried apple slices? Any tips or tricks to share? What is your favorite way to utilize them?
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Dried fruit is such a delicious and healthy snack! Learn how to make dried apples in a food dehydrator or in the oven.
- 10 Apples preferably firm apples like Fuji
- 1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
Fill a bowl with cold water and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Set up your workstation with peeler, cutting board, sharp knife, and a bowl for the peels and cores.
Clean your apples, and peel, core, and slice the apples thinly. If using a hand-cranked peeler, put the apple on the spikes and lock the peeler into place. Turn the crank slowly, and the peeler will begin to remove the skin.
Place the peeled apple on a cutting board and cut down once the middle. You’ll now have perfect apple slices.
Using a normal vegetable peeler? Cut the top and base off of the apple and remove the peel. Core the apple and make thin uniform slices.
Place the slices in the water/juice mixture.
Arrange the slices on your dehydrator so that there is space around each slice, and the slices are not touching. Set your dehydrator to the "fruit/vegetables" setting (135 degrees F).
The length of time they need to dry out will vary based on how many trays you have going on at once, and how thick your apple slices are. If you think about it, rotate the trays every few hours.
Apples are done when they don’t feel wet anymore (4-8 hours). Some apples will finish before the others on the same tray. Remove those that are done and set aside.
Store in an air-tight container. They will keep for at least a year if not exposed to too much light or heat.
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This recipe was originally published in November 2014. It has been retested and updated with reader feedback. New photos have been added and the recipe has been made printable. For reference, this is one of the photos from the original post:
I received a lovely gift of schnitz foldovers for Christmas, made with rehydrated dried apples and spices. Oh, they are so delicious – taste a bit like mincemeat. They were so tasty that I just had to find out how to dry apples without a dehydrator. I look forward to trying your recipe as well as the one reader’s suggestion for the cinnamon sugar apple peels.
Thank you!
That sounds absolutely delicious Jean! Do you top it with ice cream or anything like that?
No ice cream. Just enjoy it as it is!
Delicious!!