Fruit Leather

  4.4 – 31 reviews  

On a chilly night, a hearty, tomato-based pork stew is the perfect comfort food. Cook this on the stovetop in a Dutch oven or in a slow cooker.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 5 hrs
Total Time: 5 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 16
Yield: 1 sheet

Ingredients

  1. 1 cup sugar
  2. ¼ cup lemon juice
  3. 4 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple
  4. 4 cups peeled, cored and chopped pears

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). Cover a baking sheet with a layer of plastic wrap or parchment paper.
  2. In the container of a blender, combine the sugar, lemon juice, apple and pear. Cover and puree until smooth. Spread evenly on the prepared pan. Place the pan on the top rack of the oven.
  3. Bake for 5 to 6 hours, leaving the door to the oven partway open. Fruit is dry when the surface is no longer tacky and you can tear it like leather. Roll up on the plastic wrap and store in an airtight jar.

Reviews

Aaron Martinez
I made some strawberry syrup with some fresh strawberries and didn’t want to just throw out the left over strawberry mash and then I saw this recipe. It came out really nice but I wasn’t able to roll it very well. Even if it didn’t have the consistency results I hoped for, I still loved the flavors and it was still the same chewy texture I hoped for.
April Miller
So delicious! I used asian Apple pears from my tree and omitted the sugar since those are super sweet. I boiled them first- skin and cores minus the stems. Then I threw it all into the Vitamix blender with a handful of raspberries for color- which really augmented the taste considerably… so I made sure to do that again the second time around as well. I overcooked the first batch, so it ended up kind of crispy, which my 10 year old prefers. The second batch turned out just like a store bought fruit roll-up which my 8 year old loves.
Nicole Williams
This is a good recipe, but I use a food mill, and have apple puree, which is great. I also like to add different flavored extracts to have different flavors, which helps to not add too much sugar. Honey is also a great alternative, and adds a unique flavor to the leathers. I also use a dehydrator, it is much easier than an oven if you happen to have one, and they are fairly inexpensive to purchase. But this is a great recipe to start with.
Lori Wilson
I tried the honey with 1/2 cup sugar! Tastes awesome, but doesn’t have the consistency of leather. Probably my fault, I should have blended better.
Paul Cardenas
Great recipe! I didn’t have apples and just used pears. I didn’t spread out over the sheet and it took longer, longer than 6 hours, I did let it cool over night in the oven, but turned out great! Oh! I used parchment paper with some Pam spray for just in case stickiness. It tasted great.
Kelly Ochoa
I have made this a few of times and the kids love it! I blend my fruit in my Ninja until it looks like Applesauce, then ad the rest of the ingredients, taste it and ad Sugar accordingly, then throw it in the oven. Mine seems to cook forever though. My oven only goes down to 170 and so at first I kept the door cracked and watched over it for more than 16hrs. The last times I left it at 170 with the door closed and it takes about 10-12hrs. Turns out perfect!
Sheri Frey
My kids LOVE these and will not touch the store bought ones now, which makes me very happy as a mommy! I NEVER put sugar in these, however I will add a little bit of honey to taste, depending on what fruits we are using. This weekend we made strawberry/blackberry mix together, And My kids along with my husband were eating them before I could get them rolled!
Jennifer Robinson
I did this with VERY ripe pears so I used about half the sugar. I did use my vitamix and it does make it easier. It’s not really necessary to peel the fruit, but you do need to remove the seeds, especially apple seeds as they are pretty toxic. My 19 month old grandson loved it. His Mommy liked it too! At first I was unhappy because I didn’t get it super evenly spread, but the edges got a little cripsy while the middle was chewy. It was two foods in one, fruit leather and fruit chips! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Terry Brown
I tried this recipe with strawberries and raspberries and it was not good. May be I should have used different fruit and added more sugar, but it took nineteen hours to dry the fruit and it was not good. I’d rather buy the fruit roll ups in the store. I usually love the recipes from this web site.
Lance Martin
Tastes great, but the time to cook it is a lot longer than it states in the original recipe. I poured it into a large cookie sheet and a 9×13 pan on parchment paper. It turned out to be a nice thickness.
Lisa Robinson
I give this four stars, because I took instructions from another recipe & made in into one. I used 8 pears & 4 apples, since that’s what I had. Chopped them up & placed in a large pot with 2 tbsp water, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2- 1 cup of honey (I added a little to start and taste tested along the way, and added a bit more until it was the right amount of sweetness), a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and about 1/8 tsp of cloves. Cooked over medium until fruit was very soft, smashed with a fork, and let it cook down until almost no fluid was left. Then puréed it in the food processor. Then spread over cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Placed in oven at lowest temp (mine is 170f), closed the door all the way & let bake for about 7-9 hours.
Elizabeth Lewis
Every time I make it I use a different combination of fruit. So far the family favorite is 4c. Apples 4c. Bananas and a handful of raspberries. I use the lemon juice but no sugar, and my boyfriend loves that he has the same snack for dieting and exercising!
Brittney Rogers
I used strawberries, raspberries, apple sauce, & lemon juice. The apple sauce makes them sweet enough by itself. Cooked about 5 hours on 170. The raspberries & lemon juice kept them from looking too brown. I baked them on parchment paper. When they were done and cooled I cut them into strips, while still stuck to the paper. Then I just pressed a owl shaped cutter into them
Amber Pope
Delicious! I have made this about five times so far and following the reviews and others I made a few changes. To keep it clean, I added honey instead of sugar. I used my new Silpat baking mat instead of the plastic wrap and it worked out great. I puree the fruit first (always apples but I think berry-apply blends are best: apple-blueberry has so far been my favorite, followed closely by pine-apple-apple-raspberry)then cook it over a medium heat for maybe 10 minutes or so. I find the cooking helps bring out the flavor in the fruit. My gas oven does not have markings below 265, so I just get it as low as possible so that does not go out and leave the oven door about halfway open. You should be able to put your hand in the oven and its warm but not hot. About 4 hours average time in oven. I am making these as christmas presents for friends and family…i have a lot of dehydrating to do! Great concept to be expanded by the adventurous! I am going to try a mango-chili-lime!
Michael Lee
You can use bottled or canned fruit for this recipe too. Drain the juice and puree. It’s so much easier to eat a fruit roll-up than a bowl of drippy fruit.
Austin Alvarez
For getting the most out of a pile of apples – after you’ve made apple sauce, juice the cores and peels, leave liquid overnight to settle, skim off the thick stuff and use for leather the juice can be left as juice or used for jelly. The little bit of pulp left goes in the worm bin. All good – no waste.
Veronica Thomas
Awesome, but time consuming. Need to try to find another way to dry the fruit.
Amber Maldonado
I just popped this in the oven but had to come rave. The puree from the fruit (I used apples, pears, and strawberries) is absolutely DELICIOUS by itself. I did not bother to peel (more fiber!) or precook the fruit, omitted the sugar, and used the juice of one large lemon. The blended mixture becomes amazing apple/pear sauce and would make a great snack or smoothie on its own. This is also highly adaptable- use any fruit you have on hand. Taste the fruit before adding extra sugar.
Laura Sanders
Delicous and healthy recipe! I was so excited when i found this because my nutritionist put me on a strict diet where i cant have cake or chocolate. I was craving somthin sweer so i made this
Philip Thomas
I used five pears which I did steam to soften for blender and three cups total of raspberries and blackberries. Used the lemon juice but no sugar of any kind. Blended them all together and then put through a strainer to remove seeds. Cooked at 170 degree for six hours on wax paper (don’t spread too thick). It was great – my boys LOVED it!
Mathew Roberson
I made this for my diabetic mom and adapted this recipe for my NuWave oven. I pulverized the fruit in the Cuisinart with 1/8 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of Splenda, 1/4 cup of raw honey and a couple tbls of soy protein powder. Mix it really well then cook it for 4-5 hours at about 160. No added sugar and packed with protein!

 

Leave a Comment