Fruit leather makes for happy, sticky memories: The day you had fruit leather in your lunchbox was a day to celebrate indeed! Giggling over boys and fart jokes on the schoolyard was just so much sweeter with a fruit roll up “thumbsicle” to gnaw on.
This simple recipe for homemade fruit leather recaptures that elementary school sugar high without all the Red Dye #40. Make it with your kids for a fun weekend project or keep your thumbsicles to yourself while you binge on Netflix. We won’t tell.
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fruit leather
4 cups chopped strawberry, cherry or apricot
2 tablespoons sugar or honey (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water, or more if needed
Directions
- Place fruit in saucepan and heat on medium.
- Add water, sugar and lemon juice and simmer partially covered on low for 10 minutes.
- Taste mixture and add more sugar or lemon if desired. If fruit is well softened, remove from heat; otherwise, simmer a few minutes more until it gives easily.
- Remove pan from heat and mash mixture with a handheld masher or large fork, aiming for a thin pea soup consistency.
- Let mixture cool a few minutes, and blend or purée in a food processor.
- Spread in a thin, even layer on parchment-lined half sheet pan, (or two quarter sheet pans) and bake at 150 degrees F or your oven’s lowest temp for 4-8 hours.
- Check after 4 hours, and rotate pan.
- Leather is done when top is still soft and no longer sticky (make sure you check the middle!). Cool for a few minutes, then peel back gently and cut off any rough edges.
- Transfer to fresh parchment paper, cut … and roll!
