Fruit Leathers are such a great way to eat fruit. The kids love them, and they are never left in the lunch box like other fruits you try to feed them....
They are also a great way to have fruit on hand if you are on a hike or somewhere when weight and space are at a premium.
Method
Place all of your fruit into a blender and blend until you have a sooth puree. Add honey or some other natural sweetener if you choose, and also the juice from half a lemon.
Spread the fruit puree on the solid fruit tray of the food dehydrator. If desired, you can cut some parchment paper to size and lay that on the tray and then spread the fruit on the parchment paper. Otherwise you can spray the solid tray with some olive oil to help eliminate any sticking.
The fruit roll ups are done when they look like leather. This can take anywhere from 4-12 hours at 55°C. I usually find that it is somewhere in the 8-10 hour mark.
The fruit leather should have a deep bold colour and not be sticky to the touch. If you touch it with your finger and it feels sticky, then it still needs some more drying time.
The best way to store the fruit leather is to cut them into strips and roll them up in parchment paper. That way, they do not stick together.
I cut them into lunch portion sizes. That way, when I am packing lunches, I can quickly take them out and place them into the kids lunch containers.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of fruit - (In this case 1 Banana and a Cup of Strawberries - but you can use any fruit combo that you like)
- Natural sweetener (optional) - ( I use honey - Personally, I find fruit like raspberries can be quite tart and they benefit from a little bit of sweetness).
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon