Challenge: Apple Crisps

So there I was at my local Waitrose, perusing the crisps aisle, hoping to find something both healthy and satisfying. When I discovered the apple crisps, I thought I had hit the nail on the head - until I saw the price. At £2.79 for just 52g worth of crisp, I was shocked. That works out at £5.37 per 100g. When you can get a whole 1kg of apple for just £2 at asda (so just £0.20 per 100g),  I felt a challenge coming on. I would make my own.

I looked through a few recipes and asked for advice from friends until I came up with the one that I feel works the best. Some tell you to core the apple, so you get ring like crisps, and others tell you just to slice as normal but very thinly. I felt coring was the most uniform and 'crisp like' so went for that.

However, I do not own a corer (I refuse to pay for something that only needs a little bit of effort and brain power) but don't let this stop you! Also, if you want to make them extra crispy you can use an oil spray which you can either buy from the shops or do the scrimpers way by making your own: simply find a clean miniature spray (the holiday minis are perfect) and fill with the oil. Done.

I show you how to make these delicious, healthy snacks below. WARNING: your house will smell gorgeously cinnamonly.

Ingredients:

1 Apple of your Choice (I went for Pink Lady)
Cinnamon
Oil (optional)

Method:

1) Set the Oven at 160C (or 140C on a fan or gas mark 3) and line a baking tray with some baking paper

2) Core the apple either using a corer or a knife. If using the knife, carefully push the knife down through the apple making a square around the core, making sure the knife goes all the way down through the other side. The simply push out the core from the bottom:

3)Slice the apple into thin (1 -2 mm is perfect) slices, and put onto the baking tray you set up earlier:

4) Add a sprinkling of cinnamon for some extra flavour (and it smells so good when it's baking!)

5) Then simply pop into the oven for around 40- 50 minutes. Check on them after 20 minutes and turn them over. Some may have gone brown and crispy already if they are thinner, so take them out and put them into a container (or just eat them, I know I couldn't resist)

6) Keep checking up on them until you feel they are the right crispiness for you. I like them slightly browned on the outside (as shown below) as then they are crispy, but not dry.

7) The simply enjoy or put in a sealed container (once they are cool) to enjoy later, I have found they last a couple of days, if you can resist eating them (who am I kidding I ate them all in about 5 minutes) 

So there you go, for the cost of an apple and heating the oven ( I often do this if I am using the oven anyway to save even more money) you have some delicious home made apple crisps that you know exactly what's gone in them. A win win in my opinion!

If you see anymore expensive buys in shops that you would like me to try and make at home, just comment below and I will give your challenge a go! 

Enjoy!