Nutritious Dried Apple Rings

Keep these tasty treats on hand as low-cal, no sugar, low-fat snacks.  They’re fast and easy to make – especially when you use the special apple peeler & corer you can purchase from Excalibur®!  Just a few twists of the handle, and you can peel, core, and slice an apple easily – in minutes!  My 6 year-old son , Nicholas, just loves to use it! It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

After your apples are all ready, you can add some sweetness to the slices by sprinkling them with cinnamon, rapadura powder or agave.   I keep one of my handy fruit jar shakers filled with it!  Next, put the apple slices on the Excalibur® trays and dry them at 135°F until they’re pliable, if you are following a Living Foods diet dry at 105°F - 120°F until pliable .

Delicious Baked Goods

Dehydrated apples taste wonderful in pies, tarts, breads, muffins and cookies.  I dry bags and bags of apples in the fall, then bake with them all through the winter!  You’ll love the two terrific recipes I’ve included here. The Living Foods Apple pie is great served warm with Raw Cashew cream – and the apple crisp recipe is a quick-to-make treat that’s easy and delicious!

Tasty Fruit Leathers

Of course, apples combined with other fruit purees make really tasty fruit leathers.  My family knows they can count on me to keep lots of it on hand all the time.  To make your own, just pour your pureed fruit onto the solid Paraflexx™ sheets and put them into the dehydrator at 135°F overnight.  In the morning, they’ll peel right off the sheets so you can roll them up and store them.

Easy Apple Crafts

Dried apple slices with some cinnamon and spice also make attractive, sweet-smelling decorative rings or wreaths for kitchens.  I often give them as bridal shower gifts.  You can use a hot glue gun to attach the apple rings to each other, or you can string them together with fishing line or wire.

Here are the recipes I was telling you about.  You’ll soon discover how useful dried apples are to have on hand!

Here Some Family Favorite Recipes

Raw Apple & Cranberry Pie

4 apples, chopped fine
1/4 c. Dried cranberries soaked in apple juice for 2-3 hrs., chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Pulse in food processor to mix, press into an 9” pie shell or 8 X 8” Square glass pan.

 

1/2 c. chopped pecans
3/4 c. coarsely ground rolled oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of sea salt
1/4 c. cold pressed oil (mild tasting)
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. raw honey

Mix these above ingredients,  spread over apple mixture. Using your Excalibur Dehydrator, dehydrate at 105 degrees until warm.  Serve w/ Cashew Cream

Easy Apple Crisp (NOT Raw or Vegan)

2 cups dried apples

¼ cup orange or lemon juice

1 cup sugar

¾ cup flour

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ cup butter

Pinch of salt

Reconstitute apples in warm water.  Butter a 9” pie pan and fill with apples.  Sprinkle with juice.  In a separate bowl, mix sugar, flour, spices and salt together; cut in butter until crumbly.  Then sprinkle over apples.  Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes.

Apple Drying Tips

All kinds of apples are great for dehydrating –My Husband Eli’s Favorite is the wonderfully crisp & sweet taste of Honey Crisp.  Winesap, Jonathan, Granny Smith, Rome Beauty and McIntosh Red are excellent choices.  But you can use whatever’s available in your area.

To prevent the browning that naturally occurs when apples are dehydrated – and to retain their fresh colors and nutrients, soak the apple slices in a mixture of 1 teaspoon of Excalibur’s® Ascorbic Acid and 1 quart of cold water before you dry them.  Ascorbic Acid is a food-grade Vitamin C that’s completely safe – and the results are beautiful and delicious!