I was lucky enough to get to take the kids apple picking from a beautiful tree in a friend’s front yard. Our friends don’t spray the tree, so while most of the apples were delicious on the outside, the cores of nearly apple contained a worm or two…or three. (This is why the ‘organic’ apple is such a magical fruit: When I was growing up, my dad tried EVERYTHING to keep worms away; NOTHING but spraying pesticides worked.) Anyway, we gathered almost a bushel of fruit! So what to do with about 42 pounds of fruit ready to go bad quickly? With it still being ‘Back to School’ season, and nearly 180 lunches left to pack this year, my mind turned to perfect lunch dessert: Apple Blueberry Fruit Leather.
Growing up, my Mom made peach leather, pear leather, strawberry leather, plum leather and more. But she always used applesauce as a base to stretch the fruit. She stored it in the freezer and we ate it all winter long as a fruity snack when fresh fruit wasn’t an option in middle-of-nowhere Montana. But she had no recipe. So of course I turned to my favorite way to research: Pinterest. I found some inspirational photos like this and this. But I couldn’t find a recipe to incorporate applesauce. So I winged it. And in the end, I realized that as long as the fruit is sweet to begin with, you probably don’t need a specific fruit leather recipe. Just puree cooked or raw fruit until it’s a spreadable consistency; sugar is seems optional because drying the fruit will concentrate the natural sugars.
I used a food dehydrator (that I picked up a thrift store – since I wasn’t sure I’d like or be motivated to dry enough food to devote cash to ANOTHER kitchen gadget.) But now I will certainly be in the market for a new one if this dehydrator dies! If you don’t have a dehydrator, follow these directions for drying fruit leather in your oven – and I’d use parchment paper instead of plastic wrap in the oven!
Ingredients
- 16-18 apples, cored, unpeeled if organic
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- 1/3-1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Directions
- Combine apples, lemon juice, sugar and 2 cups water in a large kettle. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to low and cook about 15-20 minutes until apples are very tender. Cool slightly then puree in food processor. Remove most of applesauce from processor, reserving about 1 cup in the processor and add blueberries; puree. Combine applesauce and pureed blueberries; taste and add more sugar/honey/agave syrup if desired.
- Cover food dehydrator trays with parchment paper that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spread apple blueberry puree over trays with a spatula or off-set spatula to about 1/4-inch thickness. Dry in food processor for about 6-8 hours until the fruit leather is not sticky to the touch.
Have you ever used a food dehydrator? Can you recommend a certain one – or feature on a dehydrator?
I don’t have a dehydrator but I use my oven on super low for fruit leather. I’ve never done blueberry before!
Too funny about the worms! I’ve never made fruit leather myself, but come to think of it, my mom made some when I was a kid with fruit from our nectarine and plum trees. This looks very yummy, but I have to say your talk about 180 lunches left to pack this year is really scaring me!
EA- think of it as 180 chances to be creative. Ha! Mmmm plum fruit leather! Great idea! I have some plums frozen from this summer…
This looks delicious and not too hard! I will have to try it.
You must try, Holly, even if you use the oven version. Report back on how it goes!
I have made this fruit leather in a regular oven many times, and when it is done i cut it up with sissors and wrap in seran wrap and tie the ends with colored ribbins and make boquets and stick in glasses from thrift store and give as christmas gifts,
it is great to have a recipe, I just always made it up
thanks Serena,
Aunt BJ
THanks BJ! That’s a fabulous idea…love the thrift store finds!