Once again, I’m staring at a bowl of fruit that we just eat before it turns. Sure, I could store them using the Master List for Saving Produce, but I think I’ll turn them into homemade fruit roll-ups, instead. My family loves this healthy snack, and what we don’t eat in the next week we’ll freeze in a plastic bag for up to a year. Why not give it a try yourself? Here’s how.
Note: If you’re not using organic fruit, it’s best to go ahead and peel it. You’ll lose some of the fiber, but you won’t be eating pesticides. Plus, your fruit leather will be more transparent than if it contained the peels.
Homemade Fruit Roll Ups
- 2 cups fresh fruit, chopped
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- Sugar (optional)
- 1. Preheat oven to 180F.
- 2. Line a jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper, and spray with cooking spray. The temperature is low enough that the wax will not melt, so no worries.
- 3. Simmer fruit, water and lemon juice together in a medium sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender.
- 4. Blend mixture in food processor or blender until smooth. Taste and add sugar if necessary. (Note: flavor will be sweeter after cooking, so do not add too much.)
- 5. Pour the fruit puree into the prepared baking sheet and spread with spatula into an even layer.
- 6. Bake at 180F for 10 to 12 hours, or until firm. If the edges begin to look hard before the center is done, simply brush them with water and continue cooking.
- 7. Remove from oven when firm and immediately lift the parchment or wax paper from the baking sheet to cool on racks.
- 8. Cut with scissors or a pizza cutter into strips and wrap these with wax or parchment paper.
- Store in an air-tight container kept in a cool, dark location for up to 1 week.
(Linked to Not Just A Housewife, Mandy’s Recipe Box, Family and Home Life, The Thrifty Home, Raising Homemakers, and Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy, and Mommin’ It Up.)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea!! Love being able to make snacks for my kids at home!
Amber, I love making my kids’ snacks, too. It beats stuffing them full of artificial dyes and fake flavors!
Thanks for the instructions for how to make these without a dehydrator. I like that you can make it on wax paper, I have a really hard time finding parchment paper in our tiny town. I will be ordering some online at some point, but I have a TON of wax paper right now.
Thanks for linking up to Healthy 2Day Wednesday! Hope to see you again tomorrow.
I like this idea. We will try it when school starts. We are getting ready for county fair now.
Do you roll them up with the wax paper on them?
After you cut the thing into strips, lift the strips off and place them on individual strips of waxed paper, then roll. Kids like them just as much as those horrible fake ones from the store!