Apple and Cinnamon Fruit Leather
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Are you all as excited as I am that fall is finally here? It felt like a VERY long summer.
This past weekend, to celebrate the beginning of fall,we headed to Apple Hill to sip cider and of course pick apples. There may have been a cider doughnut or two as well.
The kids love all things apple, and while I do plan on making some cider doughnuts of my own, I opted to start with a healthier treat.
Fruit Leather
I am always buying fruit leather, and it can get pricey; especially, when it disappears faster than candy.
It is SO simple to make; I wonder why I don’t do it more often. That needs to change.
Along with the apples, we brought home cider. There is nothing better than fresh pressed cider. I’m not much of a juice drinker, but cider I look forward to all year long.
I decided to use cider in the fruit leather, replacing the water and also the need for added sugar. We also LOVE cinnamon with our apples, so I added that as well. Feel free to leave it out.
Ingredients
- 8 cups of peeled, cored, and diced apples
- 1 cup of apple cider
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- place the apples with the cider in a large pot
- simmer over medium heat until the apples become soft {about 10 minutes}
- process the apples until extremely smooth - either in a blender or using a food mill {I use my immersion blender and it works great}
- stir in the cinnamon if using
- line a baking pan with microwave safe plastic wrap
- spread the apple puree in a smooth even layer covering the entire pan
- place in an oven set to 140 - 170{the lowest setting on mine}
- cook until the fruit easily peels away from the plastic wrap {about 24 hours}
- cut into strips, wrap,, and roll
You will find MANY recipes online for fruit leather, and most tell you that it takes about 8 – 12 hours. NOT true. If you want a nice thick piece of fruit leather, you need to let it “cook” for at least 24 hours. I usually will have the oven set to 170 {the lowest setting on my oven} for half of the time, and then I turn the oven off, but leave the light on…this creates a slightly warm oven.
When the fruit EASILY peels away from the plastic wrap, your leather is done.
Then you just need to cut, wrap,and roll.
ENJOY!
I have never made fruit leather but I really want to give it a try! Looks great!
definitely give it a try Nancy, it really is easy
Hi Heather! Stopping by from two cup tuesday, saw your fruit leather and had to come check it out. These would be a great after-school snack or something fun to put in my son’s lunchbox. Pinning!
thanks Erin! they are packed in tomorrow’s lunches:)
Oh my goodness! I love this recipe! Pinning! 🙂
thanks so much Sheena!
Wow, that really is simple Heather. I hate buying this too, and now that I have seen this, I’ll be making my own!
It’s great as long as you don t mind having your oven on for so long 🙂
I’m making some right now when we are having cool fall nights where we need some heat but I’m too cheap to turn on the furnace. The oven heats the house up just enough to keep me from turning it on and I get fruit leather in the process. For me its a win-win.
sounds perfect!
I’m excited that the weather has finally cooled off some to be able to make treats like fruit leather without worrying about heating up the house for so long!
I was happy our weather finally cooled down enough to use the oven!
Awww, these look super cute and so handy! My 24 hours is a long time to cook…Isnt that a lot of electricity??? I guess its better to make a huge batch and get them all done in one go! How many strips did this serving yield?
Pretty pretty clicks.
Shobha
I cut mine into 16 long strips – the oven is only on for 12 – and then just the light. hopefully that is not that much electricity
Hi Heather, This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your recipe. Pinned for later.
thanks so much for sharing Theresa
Apple cider, apples, and cinnamon – yes, please. So easy and such a healthy snack!
thanks Mary Francis – we all rally liked this batch – maybe even bettert han the berry leather I usually make
I definitely need to make this for my kiddo. He goes through the store-bought kind in no time flat (and who knows what’s really in that stuff!).
Hope you like it – my kids inhaled the homemade stuff
In terms of oven-safe plastic, does parchment paper work? Thanks, Maureen
I always use Plastic wrap – I have a feeling that the fruit may stick to the parchment paper – but honestly i have not tried it.
I’m making mine on parchment and then transferring onto new parchment after (since parchment becomes more brittle after baking. I will come back and let you know if it was a total fail, otherwise it did fine. Yes, I am a little weird about heating plastic next to my food as well 😉
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Have you ever tried this in the food dehydrator? Was thinking of making these this weekend, but was hoping someone else has tried the dehydrator before I took a stab at it.
LOVE this post by the way 🙂
I have made berry fruit leather in the dehydrator, but not apple. It works fine
Okay, these must be made ASAP! I finally have a surplus on apples too. Pinning and sharing!
thank you Kristin – we cannot get enough fruit leather
This recipe looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I love the addition of apple cider!
thank you Erin
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how long do they keep? I’m new to all this and this looks great, but I wonder how to keep it and how long?
if wrapped tightly they should keep a weeK or two – but it does need to be airtight. We never seem to have any left after a day or two though
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