How to Make Pear and Apple Chips: Sweet Ginger Pear Chips

Has it begun yet? Lunchbox envy?!

It goes like this, “Mommy, Emily has chips in her lunchbox every day. Why don’t we ever have chips?” I’m not against chips. I just rarely buy them: If they’re not in the house, we have to find something with a few more nutrients to nosh on.

We went apple and pear picking at a friends’ house over the weekend. We got lots of apples and 7 pears: That’s one pear for everyone in our family; plus 1. How would I make the most of that ONE PEAR? Make Pear Chips! And I did…I was able to get 37 almost paper thin slices of pear from one pear (thanks to my cheapy mandoline slicer from a garage sale.) And after 37 minutes (really!) in the oven, we had chewy-in-the-center, crispy-on-the-edges pear chips that were sweet, with a bit of spicy kick.

And the kids devoured all 37 chips in about 3 minutes.

So I made more. I was so pleased with how SUPER simple the Pear Chips were, that we tried a few more combos:

• Sweet Curried Pears
• Cinnamon & Sugar Apples
• Cinnamon, Sugar & Smoked Paprika Apples with a sprinkle of salt – YUM!

Yes, they all have a sprinkle of sugar on top – but remember, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar has only 23 calories – spread among 37 chips. And when the Sweet Ginger Pear Chips in my kids’ lunchboxes go up against brightly packaged, loudly crinkly bags of ‘store-bought’ chips in other lunchboxes, a sprinkle of sugar definitely adds sparkle and pizzaz!

Sweet Ginger Pear Chips

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• Author: by Serena Ball, RD
• Yield: About 37 chips 1x

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Description

Just 3 ingredients and about a half hour in the oven and crispy, sweet pear and apple chips will emerge to make your lunchboxes happy. Kids can make these!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1 pear

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275-degrees F. Place wire rack (like cooling rack) on a baking sheet. Repeat: You’ll need 2 racks and 2 baking sheets.
2. Mix together sugar and ginger in a small bowl.
3. Slice the pear as thin as possibly, preferably with a mandoline.
4. Place pear slices on wire rack. Sprinkle with ALL the sugar/ginger mixture over pears – a perfect job for kids.
5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until dry.

Notes

To make the Cinnamon & Sugar Apples, substitute apple for pear and cinnamon for ginger.
To make Cinnamon, Sugar & Smoked Paprika Apples, substitute apple for pear and cinnamon for ginger and add a few shakes of Smoked Paprika.
To make Sweet Curried Pears, substitute curry powder for ginger.

What do you pack to avoid kids having lunchbox envy? What do kids LOVE in their lunch boxes?