Banana Chewits

One of the most joyful mental arithmetic pursuits when growing up was working out how many penny chews you could get for your pocket money.  Back then, pocket money was ten pence and to make matters more tricky, all the penny candies didn’t cost a penny.  We would stand for ages in front of the counter looking at the mesmerizing array of confectionary, working out which combinations would give us most for our money – and negotiating swapsy deals with our friends.  Looking back, I wonder why it was never part of the national curriculum. It was a serious matter.

The banana chews were four for a penny. If you had 10 pence you had great riches and could come away from the corner shop with your pockets stuffed.

This is a healthier version of that soft fruit taffy candy. Depending on how thickly you slice the bananas you will get a chewy or a crispy chip. Slice them at about 1 cm for a chewy banana or 0.5 cm for more of a crisp.

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe bananas,

½ lemon, juiced

A sprinkle of ground cinnamon, if liked.

METHOD

Slice the bananas into thin rounds of about 0.5cm  - 1 cm thick. If you are using cinnamon, add a dusting to the lemon juice. Dip each slice of banana into the lemon juice. Lay each slice of dipped banana on a teflex sheet.

Dehydrate the sliced bananas for 12 hours and then turn each slice over and continue to dehydrate for a further 12 hours until dry.

Allow to cool and store in an airtight jar.  Store in a cool place. Use within 4 weeks.