Earning-My-Cape: snacks

After making Microwave Sweet Potato Chips, I wanted to see I could make other, similar things in the microwave.
We had a few apples that I have been holding onto for applesauce, but since a certain 5 year old couldn't wait and ate one or three, there just wasn't enough. I still wanted to make something out of the rest.
I saw a post online a while back, I'm not sure where, about drying herbs in the microwave. I figured that if you can use it to dry herbs, you should be able to use it to dry fruit. Logical, right?
Turns out you can! I dried apples and bananas.

I read about 15 or 20 different recipes and methods online, and it turns out pretty much all of them are the same. There were a few slight variations... soak fruit in lemon juice and water, for instance, or use microwave safe plastic wrap... I didn't do either. I experimented on my own with that.

The one consistent thing in the recipes was the time. Ten minutes on 30% power. (I kind of did that.) And let them sit out in the open overnight. I did do that.

First I used a paper plate. I microwaved the fruit for the 10 minutes at 30% power, but I felt they were still a little too... juicy. I flipped the slices over and gave them another 2 minutes, or so. Much better!

The apples did great on the paper plate, but it took a bunch of batches, thus taking quite some time.
Hint: When drying apples in the microwave, do not let them touch each other!
Seriously! (Hence the bold type.)
They will burn.
They will also leave a burn mark on the paper plate.
Like... a very skeptical... "Um, Susie? What's Burning?"
Yeah. That happened.

The bananas kind of stuck to the paper plate a little. You'll want to pry those suckers up right away while they are still warm. I imagine that they will also burn if they touch, but I wasn't willing to test that theory. (Come on now, I already took one for the team with the apples!)

Microwave Dried Apples & Bananas

What You Need:
bananas
apples
a microwave
a mandolin or a sharp knife and some skill

What You Do:

Wash and dry your apples thoroughly. Peel the bananas.
Slice the fruit about 1/4 inch thick.
Place on a paper plate in a single layer, without any pieces touching.
Microwave for 10 minutes on 30% power.
Turn fruit over. Microwave for another minute or two on 30% power.
Place dried fruit in a plastic container or on a rack and allow to air dry over night.
Store tightly covered for up to a week.

Here are some of the ways I use dried fruit: