A great snack for backpacking, hiking, camping, road trips or the kids' lunch box.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information.
Exact amounts are not needed. Just add as much of everything that you want to the sliced apple. One apple with a few walnuts and raisins, make a great little snack for 2 people; however, when I make this for a roadtrip, I use two apples with more of everything else.
Apples - This snack works best with really crisp apples. My favorites are Fuji, Cameos, and Pink Ladies, but you can pretty much use whichever type of apple you like.
Cinnamon - The boring cinnamon that you find at a local grocery store works fine, but if you really want to jazz it up some look for a Chinese cinnamon or better yet a Vietnamese Cinnamon. These really has taken this simple snack and moved it up a notch or two.
No lemon juice is needed to keep the apples from turning brown.
Why do the apples not turn brown? - When an apple is cut, the oxidation process on the exposed surfaces is driven by an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (PPO). The activity of PPO can be reduce with lemon juice or other acidic additives that lower the pH, but it can also be prevented by lowering the exposure to oxygen by immersing the apple slices in water. What I think happens here is, that since cinnamon is an antioxidant (a substance that prevents oxidation by neutralizing free radicals), it inhibits the oxidation process that turns apples brown by somehow neutralizing the PPO and/or by preventing oxygen from reaching the surface of the apple. That's my educated guess.
Walnuts - You could use a different nut if you'd like. I have tried it with pecans, but if you don't eat it right away, the pecans do soften up a bit from the moisture in the apples. Walnuts work best.
Spice - As much as I love cardamom, I didn't like it with this snack. A touch of nutmeg was o.k., but to be truthful, the simplicity of the cinnamon with the apples and walnuts is the best.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen