I told you guys about all the strawberries we bought a little while ago. Well, after making 3 batches of jam, I decided to make some fruit leather too.
I love fruit leather! It is extremely simple to make and so tasty. My kids all love it and love to “help” me make it too. It also makes your house smell so good!
I make mine in our food dehydrator, but you can easily make it in your oven as well. I will tell you how to make it either way.
Easy Strawberry Fruit Leather
**Note: I like to add applesauce or pear sauce to all my fruit leathers. It adds a lot of sweetness and sturdiness. If you look at the ingredient list on the fruit leather you buy at the store, you will see apples or pears are added to most of them.
You will need:
- Equal amounts of strawberry puree and applesauce (I used about 4 cups of each one.)
- Sugar, honey or agave necter to taste (optional) **I didn’t add any sweeteners**
Cut off the stems and wash strawberries thoroughly.
**I soaked my strawberries for about 20 minutes in a big bowl of water with a little bit of vinegar and lemon juice added (about 1 Tablespoon of each one.) Then I rinsed them with clean water. Easy and effective.
Puree strawberries using a food processor or blender.
Mix strawberries and applesauce together in a large bowl. **Note: I used homemade applesauce that we made last fall. It’s also super easy to make.
Spray a dehydrator fruit leather tray with cooking spray or line a baking sheet with parchment paper or plastic wrap (sprayed with cooking spray.)
Pour fruit mixture onto dehydrator tray or baking sheet.
Fill all the trays on your dehydrator (mine did 4) or fill as many baking sheets as you like.
**Puree should be about 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick, evenly spread.
Dry at 130-140 degrees in dehydrator or at 170 degrees (or lower if you can) in the oven for 4-8 hours or until fruit is leather-like and pliable. **Mine was ready in about 6 hours**
Remove from dehydrator or oven and let cool until room temperature.
Gently peel fruit leather from tray or baking sheet.
Cut into strips and roll in plastic wrap.
Store fruit leather in an air-tight container for up to one month (it’s usually gone in a week at our house!)
I hope y’all love this as much as we do. You can use just about any fruit you like. You really can’t mess it up!
Enjoy! xoxo
When my peaches are ripe and I am up to my eyes in peaches, I make peach leather. To one blender-full of fruit, I add 1/4 teaspoon crystal light powder (we like the red ones the best–fruit punch, cherry, etc.). Blend to a puree, then pour onto 3-4 non-stick spray dehydrating trays. The added flavor and coloring makes the kids eat up all my extra peaches. Works great for just about any fruit–apricots, plums, applesauce, etc.
That sounds amazing Tamra! Thanks so much for sharing. I will definitely try it this summer. Fresh peach leather sounds so yummy and I love the crystal light powder idea! Awesome.;-)