Fruit Leather: Frozen to Chewy in One Day

April 27, 2012 at 6:49 am (Cooking)

We’re doing some spring cleaning…of the freezer. Not so much the house. We are eagerly anticipating growing season and in preparation are quickly working our way through our stash of last year’s strawberries

Outside, they are springing back to life:

Blueberries are getting started too!

Smoothies, jam, waffle topping, angel food cake sauce…We have lots of ways to use up frozen strawberries. Today’s project was fruit leather. It’s sweet and chewy, made with ingredients I can pronouce; a snack I’m highly OK with.

Cook it, puree it, spread it on dehydrator trays. I’ve made fruit leather in the oven, too, and works just fine.

One day ’till dry:

Peel it, pile it, tear it up.

It’s was way too much work to cut them into strips…have to get them all, you know, even & nice-looking. We opted for tearing.

Quite a lot of leather went into our bellies as we worked, but there was enough left to fill up a jar for the snack shelf.

It might last us the rest of the day!

Homemade Fruit Leather

1 ½ pounds fresh or frozen berries (any kind)

1 ½ pounds apples, cored and chopped

1 Tbs. lemon juice

7 Tbs. honey

Cook fruit and lemon juice together in a saucepan on med-low until apples are soft, 20-30 minutes. Puree mixture in a blender or run through a food mill. Stir in honey. Dehydrator: Spread puree 1/8-inch think onto dehydrating sheets. Dehydrate on low (105) overnight or until dry. Oven: Spread puree onto silicone baking sheets or parchment paper. Bake on low (170) until no longer sticky, about 10 hours. Tear or cut into strips. Store in an airtight container.