Triple-Berry Fruit Leather

SERVES Makes 12 fruit strips

TIME 5 to 6 hours, plus cooling time

WHAT KIDS ARE SAYING “It smelled so good while cooking. It’s amazing how it changed colors.” —Selah, recipe tester, age 10

Why This Recipe Works

Get ready to roll with this fun fruit-filled snack! While this recipe takes a long time from start to finish, it only requires about 1 hour of hands-on time. A mixture of berries, grated apple, and sugar spends 4 to 5 hours slowly dehydrating in a low-temp oven, until it turns into solid, chewy fruit leather. When it’s finally time to cut the fruit leather into strips and roll it up, kids can practice using a ruler. They can use a ruler and butter knife to measure and mark 1-inch increments along the top and bottom of the fruit leather. To cut even strips, they can use kitchen shears to cut from a mark on the top of the fruit leather down to the corresponding mark on the bottom of the fruit leather (make sure they’re cutting the parchment, too). less

Gather Your Ingredients

Vegetable oil spray4 cups mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries—strawberries hulled and chopped)2 large Granny Smith apples (8 ounces each), peeled, cored, and chopped¼ cup sugar

Before You Begin

*

You can substitute frozen berries for the fresh berries if you want.

Instructions

1.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Use pencil and ruler to draw 14-by-11-inch rectangle on large sheet of parchment paper. Flip parchment and place on rimless baking sheet. Spray parchment evenly with vegetable oil spray.

2.

Place berries in blender jar followed by apples. Place lid on top of blender and hold lid firmly in place with folded dish towel. Hold down pulse button for 1 second, then release. Repeat until fruit is finely chopped, about ten 1-second pulses, scraping down sides of blender jar with rubber spatula a few times.

3.

Add sugar and replace lid. Process until very smooth, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of blender jar with rubber spatula halfway through processing.

4.

Place fine-mesh strainer over large saucepan. Pour berry mixture through strainer into saucepan. Use back of ladle to stir and press on mixture to get out as much liquid as possible; discard solids in strainer.

5.

Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and gently simmer, whisking often and lowering heat if mixture begins to splatter, until mixture is thickened, about 30 minutes.

6.

Ask an adult to help pour mixture into 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Mixture should measure 2 cups. If it is more than 2 cups, return mixture to saucepan and continue to cook over medium-low heat until mixture measures 2 cups.

7.

Carefully pour berry mixture onto center of parchment-lined baking sheet (ask an adult for help) and spread into smooth, even layer following photos, “Step-by-Step: How to Shape Fruit Leather,” below.

8.

Place baking sheet in oven and bake until mixture is set, 4 to 5 hours. To check for doneness, use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Gently touch center of fruit leather—it should feel dry but slightly tacky to touch, and fruit leather should peel away from parchment cleanly. (If it’s still too wet, use oven mitts to transfer baking sheet back to oven and continue baking.)

9.

Let fruit leather cool completely, about 30 minutes. Use scissors to cut fruit leather (along with parchment backing) crosswise into twelve 1-inch-wide strips (trimming away any dry edges as needed). Roll up fruit leather strips. Serve. (Fruit leather can be stored at room temperature in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.)

SOURCE AMERICA’s TEST KITCHEN