Easy Baked Cinnamon Apple Chips

My chip fixation continues.

I know what a process it can be to make exciting, tasty, remotely nutritious party food for one kid with food allergies, but with an entire classroom of allergies to contend with, it can be next to impossible. Just try to come up with a safe, healthful "treat" that a bunch of 6-year-olds with candy and costumes on the brain will actually want to eat. I don't want to pull a muscle patting myself on the back but I contend these baked apple chips do the trick.

I made these for Looly's first grade class Halloween party a couple of weeks ago. The kids took them down and came back for more, which considering we were less than 3 hours away from official trick-or-treating time, was freaking amazing.

Better yet these are so easy to make they're really more of a non-recipe. In fact, it didn't even occur to me to post them here until a few adults at Looly's party were stunned that I had made them, automatically assuming that I must have used a food dehydrator or some other obscure gadget. No, friends. Assuming you have an apple, a mandoline, and an oven at your disposal, the process is embarrassingly simple. 

Baked Cinnamon Apple Chips

4 apples, sliced thin on a mandoline, or if your knife skills are that good, have at it that way.*
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the apple slices in a single layer on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and sugar.
2. Bake for about 2 hours, turning apples over after the first hour. After 2 hours, turn the oven off but leave the apples to continue to crisp up until the oven is cool.

*Leave the skin and core intact. It's just prettier that way. Choose any apple variety you like just keep in mind that the juicier the apple the longer it will take to dry out. For reference, I used Granny Smiths and Honey Crisps.

There you have it - allergy-friendly, kid-approved, healthful, seasonally appropriate baked cinnamon apple chips. They'll keep for several days in an airtight container, but my advice is make them on the day of your shindig. Your house will smell amazing and everyone will assume you're a domestic goddess. Save your leftovers for lunchboxes!