Make fruit leather at home! This cinnamon apple fruit leather is a healthy fall treat.
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.
Cinnamon Apple Fruit Leather
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
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
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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!