Apples, apples apples! I feel like I will never run out of apples. Thank heavens, though. I like apples. And so does my picky little miss. With having over 25 cups of applesauce still in my fridge after making apple butter, apple pie filling, apple sauce and apple juice, I decided that we were in dire need of fruit leather. Or at least my apples were in dire need of becoming fruit leather.
We all enjoy fruit leather, as long as it’s done right, but I’ve never actually made it with apples before. I feel that was a major oversight on my part, because if you look at any store-bought fruit leather (not fruit rolls, though. They’re mostly corn or pectin), the main ingredient is apples. Knowing what I know about food science, I’d attribute that to a few wonderful characteristics from the apples themselves. apples make a softer, smoother fruit paste. They have natural pectin, so they can congeal without added ingredients. This also makes them stay softer when they’re dry.
I tried a few different apple leather recipes this year, and I can tell you, I ate the left-overs with a spoon. So yummy. After scouring the web, I came up with 15 different recipes of my own creation, tweaking what I found online to fit my own needs/tastes.
Some are a bit weird, but they’re worth a shot. Truth be told, I actually like the weird ones. I just can’t get my family to try them. They are an “acquired” taste, I suppose.
We took a bunch of the leather on vacation with us, and didn’t come back with any leftovers. They made a convenient snack while waiting in line.
I’ll post this here, though I’ll probably have to mention this in every recipe, as well. My dehydrator says to dry fruits at 135º. The internet says to make it 140º. Following either instruction will leave you with something rubbery and very undesirable. It dries the outside too quickly and leaves the centers still gooey and moisture-laden. Moisture means mold and spoilage. Bad news. I dried my leather between 115 and 125º, depending on the thickness. It actually took less time to dry at that temperature, because the dry was more thorough. It didn’t have to fight a hard crust to get to the moisture.
That brings up another point… Most ovens don’t go below 170°. I’ve never made fruit leather in an oven. I have heard it can be done, but I don’t know what happens to shelf-life. From what I can understand from the process, it will either shorten self-life greatly or it will give you a tough hart-to-chew product. The internet is full of how to dehydrate in an oven. Most say cook at 175º for 2-4 hours, checking after 1 hour. I think the oven is good in a pinch, but you really should consider a dehydrator if you like the idea of homemade fruit leather. It will give you safer results.
Fruit leather Recipes:
Classic Apple Fruit Leather (also known as plain)
Raspberry-Apple Fruit Leather
Pumpkin-Apple Fruit Leather
Lavender-Apple Fruit Leather (I warned you there were weird flavors)
Whole-foods Green Apple Fruit Leather (The recipe looks weird, but try it. It’s one of our favorites)
Cinnamon Spice Fruit Leather
Spiced Blueberry Fruit Leather
Apple-maple Fruit Leather
Apple-Rhubarb Fruit Leather
Apple-Peach Fruit Leather
Cranberry-Apple Fruit Leather
Apple-Pear Fruit Leather
Apple-Almond Fruit Leather
Apple-Coconut Fruit Leather(My personal favorite)
Apple Vanilla Fruit Leather
