Fruit Leather Snacks

Yesterday was snack making day again, hubby and the kiddos made some awesome jerky together and I got prepped to make some fruit roll ups. Being the jerky would take all day I let them make theirs and I got my stuff set to go in today. Then I thought, well that works great! 

Make and either freeze or refrigerate your fruit roll up mixture in a containers already measured out so that you have back ups for when you need them but just don't have time. I use frozen fruit anyway and thawing would only take a day if I set it out.... So good tip and great planning strategy if you have time to make them, make some extra so you can squirrel some away for easy pull out and dehydrate fruit leathers later. 

Being I had 2 pumpkins to process I just had to buy apples and make the apple sauce. It worked out great to have that going while everyone was doing their jerky. Have to say it was a well oiled machine... That doesn't happen all the time around here when projects are being done. It was a welcomed treat. My hubby was excited to bring his jerky into work today and as soon as my fruit roll ups are done those will be delivered for him to share also! 

Anyway, back to what I made yesterday. A week or so back I made fruit leathers to get ready for the first week of school. I told a friend that I had tried strawberry honey vanilla ones and they were a hit, so she tried. She loved them also and so I guess I will share that recipe and the one for my no sugar/honey apple pumpkin ones. Both are incredibly easy to make. 

Strawberry Honey Vanilla Fruit Leather 

• 3 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen and thawed
• 2-3 Tablespoons Raw Honey
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2-3 Vanilla Beans sliced down the middle and seeds removed

Mix all ingredients in a blender and purée. There is no need to simmer or cook first unless you would like to so you reduce some of the liquid content. Then place either on Parchment paper (NO WAX PAPER) or a fruit roll up insert for your dehydrator and set to 140 degrees. If yours only goes to 130/135 degrees then it may take a little longer but will still work. Mine takes about 7-12 hours (depends on if I use parchment or the trays and how many) and I take them out when they are no longer sticky to the touch and are rubbery and pliable. You can place them on plastic wrap, parchment or wax paper when done, roll up and cut into whatever size meets your needs. 

If you freeze, this one spreads great once thawed. My suggestion is to pour it along the outer edge and let it flow into the middle. 

No Sugar Apple Pumpkin Fruit Leather

• 1 1/2 cups premade unsweetened apple sauce (I used Fuji and it was plenty sweet),  I season the apple sauce and then add the pumpkin  (I can then omit adding more spices unless needed). All it takes to make the applesauce is 10-15 (sweet) apples peeled and cored, 2 cups water, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon to taste. Bring to a boil, cover, bring down to medium heat until tender and apples can be smashed up.  Then simmer 'til all the water is evaporated. Yup, just that simple. 
• 1 1/2 cups cooked/baked pumpkin
• Pumpkin pie spice (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• Cinnamon (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Mix apple and pumpkin together in a blender and purée. Add pumpkin pie spice (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg) and cinnamon and taste, add more if you want it spicier (know that the dehydration process will bring out the spices a bit more). Then place either on Parchment paper (NO WAX PAPER) or a fruit roll up insert for your dehydrator and set to 140 degrees. If yours only goes to 130/135 degrees then it may take a little longer but will still work. Mine takes about 7-12 hours (depends on if I use parchment or the trays and how many) and I take them out when they are no longer sticky to the touch and are rubbery and pliable. You can place them on plastic wrap, parchment or wax paper when done, roll up and cut into whatever size meets your needs. 

These are really easy to make and the fact my kiddos get such healthy homemade snacks definitely makes up for any time it takes to make these. The strawberry takes me all of about 10 minutes to do. The apple pumpkin takes me longer because I usually make the applesauce and then bake the pumpkin at the same time and then process it all after it's done cooking. :)

(Note: This time I used my new plastic fruit leather inserts and noticed that it took FAR longer than with the parchment paper. I do have to say I picked an incredibly humid day to do them and I am not used to the insert so a couple spots got thicker than others. So trial and error is always involved with new products. My roll ups took 18 plus hours (4 trays) to dry!!! So if you are like me, and planned to have them done at a certain time, know this process has it's own timeline!! :))