Source: Ana Maria Kruger
Makes: 8 fresh apples = 4 X-caliber dryer trays
Preparation time: 1 hr. + drying time
Tips: Leave at room temperature uncover for few days before packing them in sealed containers, that evens out the humidity and prevents molding.
Dried Apple Cinnamon Rings
Sweet finger snack
Ingredients
Preparation
8 med. to large Fuji type Apples
1 cup sugar approx.
2 - 3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon approx.
Things you need:
-
1.Food dryer such X-Caliber or oven with low settings (135F degrees.) & trays with teflon sheets.
-
2.Apple core remover. May use a knife instead, not as fast.
-
3.Potato peeler, or pearing knife.
-
4.Good slicing knife, chopping board, and a large bowl for dusting ring before drying.
-
1.Two apples on average will fill up one drying tray. Working two apples at a time works best for me.
2. Core and peel 2 apples. Slice apples across the core hole into thin rings about 3/8 - 1/4 -inch thick.
-
3.Place in large metal bowl 1/8 cup sugar and 1/4 heaping teaspoon powder cinnamon. Using a fork or wisk, mix well until uniform color. Toss the apple rings into mixture, around with you hands. Careful not to break ring, toss on both sides to cover all surfaces as uniform as possible. Making most of the cinnamon and sugar to stick to the rings. Place on teflon sheet cover tray and move to dryer.
-
4.Clean and dry the bowl. Repeat step #3.
Cleaning the bowl every time prevents the bowl to become sticky with the fruit juices. Skip this and you end up with all the cinnamon stock to the bowl and not uniformly into the apple rings.
-
5.When all the apple rings/ trays are in the dryer. Turn dryer to 135F degrees. It will take about 14 hrs. I often place the trays to dry overnight, check first thing in the morning and decide if more time needed.
-
6.Some trays may have excess sugar syrup dripping into the teflon sheet. I often will consolidate into fewer trays as some slices dry faster than others and may remove some of the excess syrup by transfer to clean teflon sheets and trun slices up side down. Rings will be pliable, could be a bit sticky in the outside until they cool completely.
-
7.I like the slices to have a strong cinnamon flavor and a sweet taste. you may adjust the amounts to your taste..
-
8.Leave apple rings in a open container for few days to asure even moisture among the batch, rotate rings a few time. Then you may pack them in sealed container where they will last for several weeks or few months if you do not eat them first!
NOTE: 1) tested recipe using Gala, Honey Crisp, and Fuji apples. I prefer the results using Fuji apples among the 3.
2) A great snack anytime of year.
