Apples are pretty much the quintessential fruit, have all kinds of uses in the kitchen, from a handy snack to a pie-filling ingredient, but just like most things in the kitchen, there are actually a whole lot more ways to use them than you would have ever imagined.
So long as you have a dehydrator, or don’t mind drying some apple slices in an oven for a few hours, you can make delicious homemade apple flour for use in all kinds of different recipes!
How Can I Use My Homemade Apple Flour?
Apple flour is, as you might imagine, incredibly apple-forward in its flavor, and has that light, subtle sweetness that apples give to any sweet dish.
You can use apple flour in place of regular flour to give whatever recipe you use in a huge kick of apple flavor, as well as reducing the gluten content!
You can also use it as an egg substitute, to help thicken and bind your ingredients thanks to all of the pectin found within the apples. Just keep in mind that will obviously give a pretty significant apple flavor to any dish you use it in.
What Kind Of Special Equipment Do I Need To Make Apple Flour?
The only thing you really need to make apple flour is an oven capable of running at a low temperature, and a blender.
You could also use a dehydrator to make the whole process even easier, but it absolutely isn’t necessary.
Ingredients
1 cup of peeled apples (from around 3 medium-sized apples)
How To Make Homemade Apple Flour
Step 1 – Prepare your apples by washing them and peeling the skins off with a peeler.
Step 2 – Slice the apples away from the core, into as thin slices as possible.
Step 3 – Shingle your thin apple slices onto a rack suspended over a sheet tray, and dry them in the oven set to 150 Fahrenheit, or as low as your oven is able to go.
Optionally, if you have a dehydrator:
Step 4 – Arrange your apple slices in your dehydrator according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and dehydrate them on the “fruit” setting.
Step 5 – Dry the apple slices until they are brittle to the touch and totally dry, and then transfer to a blender.
Step 6 – Pulse your dried apple slices in the blender, starting on low speed and moving up to medium speed, until it has a consistent texture and a fine powder.
Step 7 – Store your apple flour in a jar with a tightly fitting lid in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Watch the Video Version
Troubleshooting Tips
• If your apple flour just won’t start to blend into a powder, and instead tries to stick together in clumps, it likely means you haven’t blended it sufficiently. Just take the dried apple bits out of your blender and put them back into your oven or dehydrator and keep drying them until they are properly dried.
• Peeling apples can sometimes be a bit tricky because their skin has a tendency to want to cling to the flesh unless you use an appropriate tool. Try using an actual apple peeler to get the skins off cleanly, but you could absolutely use a paring knife if you don’t mind it taking a long time, as you will need to make a lot of long, thin cuts, rather than the even peels that a peeler lets you use.
• If your apples are starting to get too brown while you are preparing them, don’t worry too much. While brown apples are the bane of apple enjoyers everywhere, but this is one recipe where you really don’t need to worry about it. Apple browning occurs as a result of oxidation and is representative of the apples beginning to break down in sunlight and after being exposed to oxygen. However, since you are going to be drying and blending your apple pieces regardless, any mushiness caused by the browning won’t be noticeable, so don’t worry too much about letting your apples brown.
Nutritional Facts
For the health-conscious out there, here are the nutritional details for 1 cup of Apple Flour:
Calories: 78
Total Fat: 0.1 grams
Saturated Fat: 0 grams
Trans Fat: 0 grams
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0. grams
Monounsaturated Fat: 0grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 594 milligrams
Total Carbohydrates: 17.7 grams
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 grams
Sugars: 4.1 grams
Protein: 1.6 gram
Potassium: 386 milligrams
FAQs
This recipe has you peel all of your apples before cutting and dehydrating them, but if you really cannot be bothered to peel your apples you can just skip this step.
The only real reason to peel the apples is because the skins will have a different texture when dried compared to the flesh.
The other problem is that the skins have a bit of natural oil to them, which can cause the apple flour to stick together a bit too much in the blender, so it is probably easier to just peel them.
While apple flour is dehydrated, it is still made of fruit, so there are plenty of sugars inside of the flour that bacteria could grab a hold of.
This means that it isn’t really shelf stable, so it is a good idea to try and store your apple flour in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, or in a sealed container.
Stored properly, you can expect your apple flour to last for about 3 months in the fridge.
Whenever you are cooking with apples, you need to first decide between cooking or eating apples, as they have totally different flavors.
For this recipe, however, you can feel free to use pretty much any kind of apple you like, because the dehydration process helps to dull down a lot of the excess acid in cooking apples. Plus, any residual tartness in a cooking apple will probably help to flavor the apple flour even more!
How to Make Homemade Apple Flour
Ever wanted a good flour replacement? Why not learn how to make your very own apple flour?
Ingredients
1 cup of peeled apples (from around 3 medium-sized apples)
Instructions
Step 1 – Prepare your apples by washing them and peeling the skins off with a peeler.
Step 2 – Slice the apples away from the core, into as thin slices as possible.
Step 3 – Shingle your thin apple slices onto a rack suspended over a sheet tray, and dry them in the oven set to 150 Fahrenheit, or as low as your oven is able to go.
Optionally, if you have a dehydrator:
Step 4 – Arrange your apple slices in your dehydrator according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and dehydrate them on the “fruit” setting.
Step 5 – Dry the apple slices until they are brittle to the touch and totally dry, and then transfer to a blender.
Step 6 – Pulse your dried apple slices in the blender, starting on low speed and moving up to medium speed, until it has a consistent texture and a fine powder.
Step 7 – Store your apple flour in a jar with a tightly fitting lid in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Notes
Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
