Healthy Snack Hack: Raspberry Lemon Fruit Leather
Growing up, I loved fruit leathers as a healthy snack. Who knew they were so easy to make? All you need are 3 ingredients and you’ve got yourself a tasty DIY treat. Your oven acts as the dehydrator as it slowly dries out the fruit – forming a dry, pliable sheet.
Next time, I’ll try making these with peaches or blueberries to capture the season’s bounty.
Ingredients:
– 3 cups fresh raspberries
– 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
– 2 teaspoons honey
Equipment:
– oven (convection a plus)
– baking sheet
– silpat or heavy duty plastic wrap
– blender or food processor
– offset spatula
– optional: parchment paper + baker’s twine for wrapping
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to its lowest temperature (mine only gets down to 170, but set it to 140 if yours goes that low). If you have a convection oven, use it to decrease dehydrating time.
2. In a blender or food processor, process all ingredients until smooth. Adjust sweetness if necessary – this will depend on the ripeness of the fruit you use. If you don’t like the seeds, feel free to strain the mixture.
3. On a baking sheet, use either a Silpat or heavy duty plastic wrap to cover the the pan. Pour the fruit mixture onto the plastic wrap or Silpat, using an offset spatula to make it even. You want the thickness at about 1/8″.
4. Bake for about 5-8 hours (this will depend on your oven) until fruit is completely dried out. Turn the oven off and let fruit cool inside.
5. While still warm, but cool enough to handle, peel fruit leather from baking sheet.
6. With scissors, cut into strips and roll with parchment paper.
7. Tie with baker’s twine for presentation if desired. Use within 4 months.
Preheat oven to its lowest temperature (mine only gets down to 170, but set it to 140 if yours goes that low). If you have a convection oven, use it to decrease dehydrating time.
Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, process all ingredients until smooth. Adjust sweetness if necessary – this will depend on the ripeness of the fruit you use. If you don’t like the seeds, feel free to strain the mixture (I personally like the texture and that it adds a little crunch.)
On a baking sheet, use either a Silpat or heavy duty plastic wrap to cover the the pan. Pour the fruit mixture onto the plastic wrap or Silpat, using an offset spatula to make it even. You want the thickness at about 1/8″.
Bake for about 5-8 hours (this will depend on your oven) until fruit is completely dried out. Turn the oven off and let fruit cool inside.
While still warm, but cool enough to handle, peel fruit leather from baking sheet. With scissors, cut into strips and roll with parchment paper.
Tie with baker’s twine for presentation if desired. Make sure you gobble it up within 4 months!
What types of fruit leather will you try making? Got any other go-to recipes for healthy snacks? Talk to us in the comments below.
