I had a lot of favorite snacks growing up. As a child, I remember we always had strawberry fruit roll-ups around the house. I loved them so much it was ridiculous. Years later, I was at the grocery store one day and decided to buy some for old times sake. I got my fruit roll-ups home and unraveled one in anticipation. I was disappointed to find that the roll was full of punch out shapes, maybe animals or something? That wasn’t how I remembered them! I didn’t want to eat a strawberry giraffe, I just wanted my chewy, flavor-packed fruit roll. Later I began discovering other versions of fruit leather in the store which felt less… processed (because fruit animals are processed). But obviously they’re all processed, shapes or not! So I decided to do some research into how to make fruit leather and was surprised to learn that it’s pretty simple! It takes awhile but the resulting treat is very healthy.
I only added one tablespoon of sugar to this cinnamon apple fruit leather and you could probably omit it completely or substitute maple syrup or Stevia. It’s chewy, flavorful and I can rip the fruit from the plastic in long strips like I did as a child. No giraffes!
Note: if you have a large rectangular dehydrator, you can use that instead of the oven.
Yields 8-10 servings
30 minPrep Time
10 hrCook Time
10 hr, 30 Total Time
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Ingredients
- 8 cups sweet apples (I used gala and honey crisp)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (approximately 1 large lemon)
- optional: 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel, core and chop your the apples.
- Add the apples and water to a large pot or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer and cover, allowing to cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Use a potato masher or blender to puree the fruit and add it back to the pot. Add the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar. (note: I used very sweet apples for this recipe. If you use tart apples you will probably want less lemon juice and more sugar.)
- Continue to cook for another 10 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve.
- Use a food mill or fine mesh strainer to create a very smooth puree. It's fine to leave some fibrous apple pulp behind (I lost at least 1 cup in the food mill).
- Preheat your oven to the lowest possible temperature. The original recipes states 140 degrees F. My oven only goes as low as 170 so that's the temperature I used.
- Line a baking sheet with microwave-safe plastic wrap (for reference, mine is 13x18. You can also use two smaller sheets). Pour the puree on top and use a spatula to spread the mixture as evenly as possible.
- Allow to cook in the oven for 8-12 hours until the fruit is completely dried out. Mine took approximately 9 hours, you may need more time if the temperature is lowered. I let it cook overnight.
- Allow the fruit leather to cool. I trimmed the ends with scissors (including the plastic wrap) so they look pretty and then cut into strips of your desired size. I chose to make 3 long, large strips.
- Leave the fruit leather attached to the plastic wrap until its ready to be eaten.
Notes
Adapted from
Simply Recipes
Apples vary by sweetness and tartness. You can omit the sugar altogether if using very sweet apples. Feel free to adjust the lemon juice and sugar to taste.
wow This looks so amazing!
Mm, I loved fruit roll-ups as a kid, though I have to say, anything berry blue is definitely processed :) this cinnamon apple version looks SO good. Bet it smelled nice, too :) I’d take this over the boxed kind anyday!
I remember the day Cap’n Crunchberries went from being reddish to multi-colored. I was so pissed because who wants green and purple berries?!?! How processed. Because when they’re red, they’re clearly natural.
This is such a fun idea! Fruit roll-ups were never allowed in the house growing up – I liked babysitting because then I finally got to try all the snacks I had wondered about!
Oh wow, I HAVE to dust off my dehydrator and make this. The flavor sounds incredible!
I wish I could have used my dehydrator for these! Mine is smallish and round with the heating element down the center. I think that would be a great way to make them.
Mmm I saw these on Facebook and was waiting for your post – does not disappoint :D
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
what a delicious idea! fruit roll ups are so easy and fun to make..
What a creative idea! Beautiful!
Amazing – I’ve never seen that before.
Yum! I love fruit leather! what a brilliant recipe!
What a random recipe ! Looks amazing !
This looks so yummy! And your photographs are perfect. You have really been cooking and baking up a storm lately, I’m loving all your posts!
This is such a great idea and so perfect for fall. I love cinnamon/apple anything. I have two younger brothers (8 and 9 years old) that would absolutely love this. I’ll definitely be trying it!
Fruit roll-ups take me back to childhood! Do you remember the thick versions that had cream cheese stripes? Yours look 100 times better than anything sold in a box! And who knew they were easy to make?! :)
I’ve done this before with strawberries. It’s so good! I’ll have to try your recipe.
What a COOL recipe. I love this idea. I always buy the organic ones in line at the grocery store. It’s my go to 45 calorie treat before I start cooking all night long. lol. I want a dehydrator just to make my own…because something tells me this lady isn’t going to forget them in the oven, possibly for days, and then wonder why the house is so warm :)
This would be a really great recipe to make with children. It’s almost a science experiment watching the apples “change state” and develop into a well-known treat! I love the idea that the recipe is sulfite-free!
I never buy fruit roll-ups but after seeing this I can’t wait to try and make some! Gorgeous photo, Jen!!
OMG!! Brilliant! I will totally take the time to make these! Strawberry was always my fave, too… any ideas on how to make those?
Hi Rachael! You would make them exactly the same way. 8 cups of strawberries and you might need to adjust the quantities of sugar and lemon juice to taste.
Thank you! I’m all over it! I’ll give them a try this weekend and let you know how it went for me :) I have never been more excited in my life! lol
Brilliant!! With all the apples we have in the garden I’ve been hoping a new apple recipe would show up…this recipe will put them to good use. I’ll be making these some time soon. Thanks
Who knew this was actually “makeable” at home?! I totally need to give this a try – thanks for the inspiration! :)
What the FRENCH TOAST? this is awesome.
I’m totally stealing that line.
Hi! I was wondering when you say 140 degrees and 170 degrees… you mean Fahrenheit, right? Low temp, long drying process? Thank you so much for the recipe, i can’t wait to make this for my toddler!
Whoops! I always add in the F, I just forgot so thanks for alerting me! I’ve updated the recipe. Yes, Fahrenheit.
I have always wanted to try making fruit leather at home. Now is the perfect time!!
these sound like such delicious snacks! i might have to make these soon for my little nugget!
I would love to make fruit leather! That looks great and I also love Fruit Roll Ups and have recently discovered Gushers to be much better than I remember. At least this would be healthy candy to satisfy my sweet tooth.
I remember having this sort of thing growing up too but it was store-bought and I love the idea of making these things at home. This is wonderful!
Fruit roll-ups were my favorite as a kid, so these look so good!
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
Where do you find oven safe plastic wrap? I’ve never even heard of it! Would parchment paper work? Because I SO want to try this! Yummy! My kids would love it!
I buy the industrial stuff from Costco. I’d do a little internet brand research. The oven isn’t going very high so if it’s microwave safe I’m guessing it’s oven safe. I think parchment would probably work. A silpat would definitely work.
Really nice – I like fruit leathers, but have never made them (always seemed kinda fiddly). And it certainly takes some time to do, but it’s virtually all unattended! I should bite the bullet and try this. Good post – and thanks for the inspiration!
And this is exactly what I am going to give my kids (hypothetical at this stage..) as treats.
I was just thinking about these fruit leather thingies and remembered that we used to eat them in India. They were little squares made out of mango and were sweet and tangy…it’s amazing what can jog your memory.
Gorgeous photo! I remember having fruit roll ups as a kid too. I have not had them in so long. I love this combination with the cinnamon and apple. Perfect for fall!
I love fruit roll ups as a kid…I just may have to make these! Love the cinnamon apple spin on it!
I have been on the lookout for fruit leather recipes that don’t require a food dehydrator. These look and sound so tasty! It’s the perfect time of year for this flavor combination :) Thanks for sharing!
I loved fruit roll ups growing up!!! Love that it’s possible to make them at home…flavour combination is great!
wow this looks so cool and love the pic
This is just gorgeous!! WOW…I seriously had to tear myself away from looking at your photo. So well done!
I’ve been wanting to try making my own fruit leather after seeing it on a blog a few weeks ago. yours looks great!
I love this version of fruit leather, perfect for fall! Gorgeous photos of a hard-to-photograph food :)
I wish I had time to make these this weekend! I guess they’ll have to wait until next week, but they look delicious!
Yum! I love fruit roll ups too, and homemade (or at least the all natural ones) are SO much better than bright red and blue giraffes. Cinnamon apple is a much better flavor than any fruit by the foot one too.
Love this! What a great snack to have around at work!
Love this photo! I can’t remember the last time I had a fruit roll-up-but I bet it wasn’t nearly as good as yours!
Aaaahhh.. that fruit leather looks too good to eat. Really :D
This is absolutely amazing!! I love that it’s all natural….Thanks for stopping by!! :D
I want to make green fruit leather, can I use unsweetened applesauce & add green food coloring?
I haven’t tried this but I don’t see why not! Let me know how it turns out.
I was researching after this post & found a recipe that uses spinach, another uses gelatin. I think I’ll try these recipes. I did try using food coloring but it was messy.
How would you store these and how long do they keep? Thinking it would be good to do a large batch at one time
I would store them at room temperature in an airtight container. As far as how long, I’m not entirely sure because I’ve never done a large batch (which I think is a great idea, by the way).
I’m definitely going to try out this recipe. My boys will surely love these! Thanks!
I loved fruit leather as a kid! Can’t wait to try this!!!
Do you think you could use honey as a sweetener?
I haven’t tested the recipe with honey but I can’t think of any reason it wouldn’t work! I say try it.