Fruit Leather (aka Fruit Roll-Ups)

A week or so ago my sister and her stepsons came to visit, and we went to pick blueberries at a local U-pick farm.  Though we would have had slightly more if the boys hadn't thrown so many at each other, we still walked away with around 20 pounds of berries for a ridiculously low price.  The boys asked what to do with all the berries.  I told them that I love to eat blueberries in my oatmeal so we were planning on freezing most of them to have throughout the year.  They weren't too excited about that possibility.  Last year HH made blueberry jam, but he wasn't really in the mood this year, having canned jars upon jars of raspberry and strawberry jam already.  Another favorite way to preserve the "booty" is to make it into fruit leather, which doesn't require any freezer space and is easy to make with a food dehydrator.  The boys were more enthusiastic about that idea, so I promised that HH and I would make a batch or two and mail them some samples.

I made several different types of fruit leather this time around, using pears, apricots, and of course, blueberries.  To sweeten things up, I used honey, granulated sugar, or a combination of the two. 

The process is super simple.  Chop the fruit, if needed, and blend in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth.  Add sweetener until it tastes right (not too sweet, not too sour). 

 

Some food dehydrators come with solid plastic trays to make leather on (which we have) but I prefer to line the racks with plastic wrap.  I like this method better because when the leather is done, it's already mostly packaged for you!

Pour the fruit mixture onto the prepared trays, add some designs if desired (I usually do), and turn the machine on.  To make the designs, I either spooned the different flavors on different parts of the tray and swirled them with a knife, or put some of the blueberry puree in a squeeze bottle and squeezed it on. 

 

We have found that it usually takes at least 10 hours for the fruit to set up.  If we are prepared, this means we can leave it on overnight and check on things in the morning to see if they are done.  

After the fruit is sufficiently dry, I cut them into quarters with a pair of scissors and either roll them into fruit roll-ups or stack them on top of each other flat and put into a plastic bag for storage.  They don't need to go into the refrigerator; just keep them in a cool dry place like a cupboard or pantry.  We have found that our homemade fruit leather lasts up to around a year, but we usually eat them all before that time comes! 

Other varieties we have made include apple-pear (a big favorite with my friends) and cherry-vanilla, but I assume that any fruit would work well.  You could even add some additional flavorings like cinnamon or mint.  HH appears to be enjoying his first taste!