Real Food snacks: Fruit Leathers

Real Food Snacks: Fruit Leathers

When talking with my husband and boys about the real food challenge, and writing about it; they jumped in with a request I post my fruit leathers. According to them, this is the biggest of all the changes. These have been a fantastic snack alternative to candy bars, etc.  Along with simple dried fruit for snacks(banana chips apple chips, dried pineapple), I always keep something of this on the counter readily available for anytime they need it. 

Apple Fruit Leather

1 jelly jar of apple butter (Homemade and canned, gala apples simmered with honey and cinnamon for 10 hours in crock pot until fully reduced, and canned in jelly jars) or 8oz applesauce!

1 7 oz jar homemade plain yogurt

1/4 cup honey

mix well and dehydrated in dehydrator on 135 degrees for 6-8 hours until leathered

pulled off and cut warm, wrapped in wax paper rolls. sent easily in lunches for snack.

Pina-Coco Leather

1/2 pineapple cored, skinned, and cut into chunks

1 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup organic honey

Combined all in food processor  and pulse until smooth,  (this one will always appear slightly chunky- get it as smooth as possible). Spread flat on dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for 6-8 hours at 135 degrees. this one comes out a bit stickier, thicker- remove from sheets and wrap in strips on wax paper while warm. Delicious pina colada flavor.

Pina-coco leathers are not as pretty but just explode in taste:

If you do not have a dehydrator:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with wax paper. Pour out the mixture into the lined baking sheet to about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. Place the baking sheet in the oven. Heat the oven to lowest setting below 140f. Perfect range: 135-140°F. If you have a convection setting, use it, it will speed up the process and help dry out the fruit in half the time.  Let dry in the oven like this for as long as it takes for the fruit mixture to dry out and form fruit leather. We usually keep it in the oven overnight, so about 8-12 hours for the thicker leathers, check at 6 hours for thin leathers like apple. The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky, but has a smooth surface.

From 3 bags of apples...

From 3 large bags of apples I bought- (about 10 gala apples in each bag), I made apple sauce for that night,  canned 6 jelly jars of apple butter, and 2 quart jars of apple pie slices, plus had a quart of fresh homemade apple juice to drink as a goodie.  I felt productive, made some awesome snacks and had juice to drink it down with! Was wonderful! No wasted apples.

 To make apple butter: Wash the apples ( I use a vinegar and warm water bath combo), peel and slice the apples into pan, fill with water and set on stove med heat to boil.

 Let it cook up until apples nearly mush with the spoon. Strain ( I save the juice to fill apple pie jars later, or for apple jelly, or just to drink! Kids love it!)  I take the strained apples and chop them in my food processor until completely pureed. At this point, I have ready to eat applesauce! You can stop here and can/serve this as is, or you can move on to apple butter!

Return apple sauce to pot, and Stir in 3 Tbsp Cinnamon, 1 tbsp Nutmeg,  (Some people add in cloves -I don't). Taste test at this point- I don't add sugar, apples are really sweet but this is when you add it. 1 cup sugar should be plenty if you do. Put back on stove at  low heat, stirring frequently, and boil down until  it pulls away from edge as you stir -leaving tracing-resembles paste, sticks to spoon like jam would and when you stir it leaves permanent traces in the mix .

Now it's ready for canning or to serve! A fantastic site to use as a resource for canning is http://www.pickyourown.org/   A wealth of information and how to's are provided!

 As an added benefit, this morning I took the left over apple butter and made apple cinnamon leather in the dehydrator! I spread out onto fruit leather tray, and set the dehydrator on 135 degrees, for about 6-8 hours.

 Super yum! Will cut into strips and wrap in parchment paper for snacks!
Yay!! So fun! felt so productive, and have enough to enjoy for a while. Healthy, sugar free, no waste, and loving it!






You may also like the links found in:
Frugal Days Sustainable Ways #73