Ahh, the juicy, sticky, chewy goodness of fruit rollups brings back memories of childhood – twisting and pulling it from my teeth after making all sorts of weird shapes with it. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure how it got that pliable quality, and its probably best I dont know!
But, since I’m living Paleo, and trying to keep my son on the Paleo track too, they aren’t something I let him enjoy. So, when I found this recipe I was excited to give it a shot for him, and excited at how simple and clever the idea is! They take a bit of time to bake, so you’ll have to plan ahead for a time when you’ll be around for a couple hours to let them bake, but they stay good for a couple weeks so go ahead and make a big batch and keep slipping them in your kids lunch boxes and feel good about it!
Note that you can mix and match fruits, spices, sweeteners, and it doesn’t matter if you cook your fruit on the stove top first. So without any further delay, here’s our fool-proof approach to making your own fruit roll ups. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups ripe or slightly over-ripe diced fruit
- sweetener to taste: honey, sugar, agave, etc.
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- optional: seasonings, spices, extracts to taste
Instructions
- Puree cut up pieces of fruit (peels and stems removed) with whatever add-in flavors you like.
- You can add a squeeze of lemon juice and about 1/2 teaspoon of honey if your strawberries aren't very tart or sweet.
- Pour puree onto a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet.
- Cook on 200 degrees for about 2-3 hours. The time will vary depending on how much liquid was in the puree, the more liquid, the longer it will take to dehydrate.
- Remove from the oven when the leather is no longer “wet” and is slightly sticky to the touch. If you allow it to dehydrate too much, you’ll have fruit crunch, not leather.
- Allow it to cool and cut into strips, shapes, or whatever your heart desires (hearts would have been cute, right?)
- These keep for about a month stored in an airtight container. Enjoy!
