Dehydrated Cinnamon Apples (with Honey)

Drying or dehydrating apples is a great way to save the Fall harvest. But, you can make dehydrated apples with cinnamon and honey any time of year. This recipe uses the natural preservative powers of honey, cinnamon and cloves to bring out the best flavor in this tasty snack. Best of all, you can make them in a dehydrator or the oven. Follow this simple, step by step process and you will have a healthy snack to enjoy for months to come.

As you visit more pages on my website, I think you will be amazed at the many different honey recipes. Honey is great straight from the spoon but it has so much more to offer.

Why Use Honey in Dehydrating Apples?

Using honey in this recipe not only enhances the flavor, it allows you to reap the benefits of raw honey too. Richer in vitamins and minerals than normal granular sugar.

Honey acts as a natural preservative and adds a bit of sweetness to complement the tart apple flavor. It also enhances the spiciness of cinnamon.

Of course, you don’t have to use cinnamon – a wide variety of spices can be included to create different taste experiences.

Dried fruit is not only tasty – it is also very nutritious. In most cases, a piece of dried fruit offers the same nutrition as fresh-in a smaller package. 

Apples

When making dried apple rings or chips, you have several varieties to choose from. Some varieties tend to be sweet: Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious etc.

Others are not sweet but retain a tart flavor – especially when they are fresh apples. Granny Smith is a variety know for having a sour-apple flavor.

Personally, I rarely buy apples with the main idea of dehydrating them. We love Fuji and that tends to be what ends up in the dehydrator. In my kitchen, honey dried apples are made from whatever is on hand at the time.

Raw Honey

When choosing honey for dehydrating apples, or cooking – I always prefer raw honey. It has not been micro filtered or heated and retains all the natural goodness of raw food.

Regular Wildflower honey is a made from many different nectar sources. This is the most common variety seen in the supermarket.

However, variety (or type) of honey for pretreating your apples. Perhaps you have some clover honey on hand – great – use it. But, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on something extra special.

Equipment Needed

• dehydrator or oven
• optional apple processing items (corer, slicer, gloves etc)

The easiest way to dehydrate apples with cinnamon and a honey glaze is to use a food dehydrator. While not an appliance you will use every day, it is a very handy item to have. I love my Excalibur dehydrator but other brands work well too.

You can create some very nice snacks with one. I have even dehydrated honey with mine! It is delicious on ice cream and can be used in diy beauty products too (But it is a lot of work to make).

Of course, you don’t have to have a dehydrator. Apples can be dehydrated in the oven too. Thin slices are baked at about 225° F for a couple of hours.

Preparation & Dehydrating

1. Prepare apples by washing them and drying. Then, use a knife or apple corer to remove the core. I choose to leave the peel on for extra fiber but you can peel them if you really want to.

2. In a medium sized bowl, prepare your pre-soak. This is what adds a bit of flavor to your dehydrated apples but also helps prevent a lot of browning.

I used lime juice as part of my soak but you could use lemon juice – or forget all the juices and just use honey and water.

3. Use a mandolin slicer (unless you have a steadier hand than I do) or a sharp knife to cut the apple slices into uniform thickness (1/4″ – 3/8″).

A slicer and the special glove to prevent cuts is a wonderful addition to my kitchen. Place cut apple rings or slices in the soak mixture for several minutes.

4. Remove apple slices from soak and let drain on a baking rack (or similar) for a few minutes. Then, place apple slices in a single layer on the dehydrator rack (on in a pan for the oven). Sprinkle with desired spices and dry in the dehydrator until the fruit becomes crips.

Expert Tips

Here are a few tips to make your recipe a success:

• use any variety of apples but no brown spots
• lemon or lime juice is not required but okay to add
• if your apple rings break – that’s okay – you just made apple chips.
• if storing in glass – get a wide-mouth jar – my big apple rings wouldn’t fit LOL!

Storage

Once your dehydrated cinnamon apples reach room temperature, you are ready to store them. They will keep for months in a sealed ziplock bag.

You can also store them loosely packed in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. This is important to preserve their texture, flavor and nutritional value. For long term storage, I recommend using a vacuum sealer.

Other Ideas to Try

Now that you have the knack of dehydrating fruit, consider trying these honey glazed pineapples they are outstanding.

Another quick snack that is healthy and easy to keep on hand – try these honey roasted pecans. I warn you they seem to disappear in a hurry!

If you find yourself looking for more Fall season ideas – a honey sweetened Pumpkin Pie is delicious and you can taste the honey flavor too.

And if you find yourself needing a cool sweet treat, try this honey recipe for Greek yogurt popsicles.

Final Words

Dehydrated apples with cinnamon and honey are a delightful, healthy snack that is easy to make at home. Try this simple recipe and have tasty snacks that last for months.