How to make heathy apple crisps (recipe)

Use any kind of eating apple – just choose your favourite

Drying the apples out will concentrate their natural sugars, so a Cox gives sweeter results than a Granny Smith. Don’t be tempted to try Bramleys; they're too sharp to eat on their own.

You don’t need to add extra sweetness

A lot of recipes sprinkle the apples with sugar or brush with honey before baking, but we’ve found that the natural sugar present gives the perfect amount of sweetness. Plus, adding sugar will make your healthy snack redundant.

Add extra flavours if you like

A sprinkle of ground cinnamon or ground ginger before baking will complement the natural apple flavour.

Use the right equipment

You’ll need a large baking sheet or tray and some baking paper. Greaseproof tends to stick to the apples so avoid using that. If you have a mandolin you can use that to get perfectly thin slices, but we’ve also had really good results just using a sharp knife. Make sure they don’t overlap as this will prevent them from crisping-up.

Cook them low and slow

We’ve tried a few methods including cooking at a higher temperature for less time. But in the end, we discovered that slow cooking on a low heat gives the most crisp results and stops them from catching.

Perfect apple crisps recipe

Step 1

Heat the oven to 120C/fan 100C/gas ½. Cover a large baking sheet or tray with a sheet of baking parchment.

Step 2

Using a sharp knife or mandolin cut your apple into thin slices, about 2 mm is ideal. Don’t worry about getting perfectly round slices (they look nice when they're a bit jagged). Flick out any pieces of pip.

Step 3

Lay the slices on the baking paper and put in the oven for one hour. Take out the tray and turn the slices over then cook for another hour.

Step 4

After 2 hours is up turn off the oven completely and leave the apple slices in there for at least another hour for further drying. If you like you can make them last thing at night then leave them in overnight. Store in an airtight box, they will keep for a few days (if they last that long!).

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