How to Dehydrate Apples in the Oven

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I will show you how easy it is to dehydrate apples in the oven at home! These dried apples turn out soft and chewy with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon and no added sugar or preservatives. They are the perfect healthy snack when apples are in season!

Every time fall rolls around, I’m all about the pumpkins and APPLES!

This past week, I enjoyed making my German Apple Pancake Recipe for breakfast, and also making my own dehydrated apple rings.

You can make dried apples without a dehydrator, it just takes some time in the oven set to a very low heat to make them soft and chewy.

If you have an abundance of apples this autumn, this might be the perfect way to preserve the ones that you can’t eat up right away.

Since you’ll need the oven on for much of the day, I would recommend you save the project for a chilly day when you could use the extra heat anyway.

It will be most economical if you make a lot of dehydrated apples at once!

Tips for Dehydrating Apples in the Oven

• Cut all your apples the same thickness so they dry evenly. Cutting the apples in rings works great for this reason (I’ll explain different ways to do this below).
• Any variety of apple will work. I used Fuji apples for sweeter dried apples.
• You can dry them with or without the peels.

Recommended Equipment

• Johnny Apple Peeler (Apple peeler, corer, slicer) (You can alternately use an apple corer to remove the core before peeling and slicing by hand. A mandolin would be another option for slicing.)
• Half sheet baking pans
• Parchment paper to line the pans

How to Dehydrate Apples in the Oven – Step by Step

I’ll reiterate, peeling and coring by hand is a little tedious. It’s much quicker with a Johnny Apple Peeler or at least an apple corer to remove the cores before slicing.

But I’ll show you how to process the apples by hand in case you need to do it this way!

You can leave the peels on your apples, if you like, or remove them.

To peel by hand with a vegetable peeler, start at the top of the washed apples and work your way down the apple in a circular motion. I found this to be the fastest way.

Before or after peeling is when you’d employ the apple corer.

Then slice your apples into rings.

If you really can’t get ahold of a gadget to remove the cores quickly, you can slice the apples first and then punch out the cores with a small round cookie cutter or the round base of a piping tip.

You could also simply cut the apple away from the core on the individual slices. You’d just have smaller pieces of dried apples, but it would be easy to do.

After you slice your apples, simply arrange them in a single layer on parchment paper-lined half sheet pans.

Leave them plain, or sprinkle the slices with ground cinnamon (or other spices).

Preheat your oven to 135°F. My oven only goes as low as 170°F, so I leave the door cracked open to keep the apple slices at the right temperature. If your oven will go as low as 135°F, you can leave your oven door closed.

Bake the apples in the preheated oven with the trays staggered on the racks. Flip the apple slices over after 3-4 hours (2 hours for thinner apples) and continue to dry them until they are shriveled to your liking.

They will make your house smell amazing!

How long does it take to dehydrate apples in the oven?

The time it takes will depend on how thinly you slice your apples.

I sliced mine a bit thicker than 1/4-inch. They took about 8 hours to dehydrate, but they were perfectly chewy and soft this way.

If your apple slices are thinner than mine, check them after 4 hours to see if they are close to being done.

They will shrink quite a bit as they dry out.

What to Do with Dried Apples and How to Store Them

We love to eat dried apples as a snack! They don’t last long around here.

You can also use them in certain baking recipes or chopped up over oatmeal, cold cereal, or a green salad.

Remember that since they don’t contain preservatives, they won’t last as long as store-bought dried apples.

If you don’t consume them within a few days, you’ll want to store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Happy apple season!

If you make this recipe and love it, I would be so grateful if you would come back to leave a star rating and a comment. Your feedback is very appreciated!

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