Fruit and vegetable leathers make super treats for the lunch bag brigade or lightweight energy for hikers and long-distance walkers. Bulkier, less sweet leathers are also an effective and delicious way to add fiber to your diet. These tasty chewy dried produce products are easy to make at home. Simply mix pureed fruit, vegetables, and spices, pour it into a lined tray, and placed in your oven or food dehydrator. When dried, the leather is pulled from the surface and rolled. Fresh, frozen or canned produce can be used.
The advantages of making your own leathers are to save money; control the use of sugar, mix flavors, and add vegetables to your treats. Leftover fruit pulp from making jelly can be blended and made into fruit rolls. This is also a great way to use up the fibrous bits leftover from juicing! For the diabetic adult or child, fruit or vegetable leathers made without sugar may be a healthy choice for snacks or desserts.
Leathers are simple to make but can be time-consuming if you include the drying time.
Basic leather making process
The basic steps are: make a puree, spread it, and dry it. To begin, select ripe or slightly overripe fruit and vegetables. This is a good time to clean out your produce drawer of bruised apples, limp spinach, abandoned sweet potatoes or whatever else you want to sneak into the mix. It’s surprising just how much spinach one can hide under a berry or apple flavour! We’ve included a few recipes below, but feel free to experiment. You’ll be pureeing all of the produce together so you can taste test as you go. Remember that flavour intensifies when dried so keep that in mind, especially if you choose to add spices to your mix.
Before starting your puree, wash and then prepare your produce. Remove peel, seeds and stem if necessary. It isn’t necessary to remove seeds from strawberries, but if you’re using raspberries, highbush cranberries, or sour cherries push the berries through a sieve to remove excess seeds. For larger pieces like apples, sweet potatoes or rhubarb, cut them into chunks.
Now that you have the fresh stuff ready, pre-cook anything unlikely to puree well. Firmer fruits and vegetables like apples, pumpkin, carrots or sweet potatoes should be baked soft (or simply start with a canned option). Soft fruits and vegetables like strawberries, tomatoes or spinach can be used fresh.
Puree your selected fruit and vegetables until smooth. Add 10 mL (2 tsp) of lemon juice or 1 mL (1/8 tsp) ascorbic acid for each 500 mL (2 cups) of light-colored fruit to prevent darkening. This is only necessary for fruits that tend to oxidize such as apples or pears. If you want to use flavourings such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mint, or lime juice add them now. Adding sweetness to your mix is optional and how much you need really depends on the ripeness and proportion of fruit. To sweeten, add corn syrup, honey or sugar. Corn syrup and honey are best for longer storage because they prevent crystal formation. Sugar is fine for immediate use or short storage. Use about ¼ to ½ cup (50 to 125 mL) sugar, corn syrup or honey for every 2 cups (500 mL) of puree.
Runny purees take a very long time to dry. If your puree is too runny, consider adding applesauce, banana, or up to 1 tablespoon of powdered vegetables to it.
Once your puree is prepared, you can expect to use about 500 mL (2 cups) of puree for each 25 x 38 cm (10 x 15-inch) leather. Want to add something special? After spreading your puree on sheets (directions below) but before you begin drying it, consider sprinkling the puree with a bit of shredded coconut, granola, sunflower seeds, or small nuts.
Oven drying
Set your oven temperature to 60ºC (140ºF). Choose a cookie sheet that leaves at least one inch of clearance around all sides when it’s in your oven to allow for good air circulation. Line your cookie sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper, careful to smooth out any wrinkles. Pour puree into the prepared sheet and spread evenly, about 3 mm (1/8-inch) thick. Avoid pouring puree too close to the edge of the baking sheet/tray. Place cookie sheet in oven. Open your oven door slightly to increase air circulation. You may need to put a wooden spoon in it to keep it propped open. Oven drying usually takes 4-6 hours, but can be significantly higher sometimes up to a full day. Setting up a fan in the kitchen to keep the air moving will help speed up the process. Try to turn your sheet every hour or so to ensure even drying.
Dehydrator drying
Set temperature to 55 to 60 ºC (130 -140ºF). Spread puree evenly over tray designed for fruit leathers (or use parchment paper to line a normal tray). Make sure the puree is no more than about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick and does not rest against the sides of the tray. Dry according to the manufacturer’s directions. Expected drying times are 3-6 hours, or sometimes higher.
How dry is dry enough?
How long it takes to turn your puree into leather really depends on how moist it is, how thick you spread it, and how efficiently you dry the air around it. You can tell your leather is done when it’s well… leathery looking. It will be a dull color (not shiny) and be dry enough to tear. You don’t want any dark spots, which indicate moisture. Press the leather with your finger, if you leave an indent the leather is not dry enough. Fruit and vegetable leathers should have a chewy consistency. Try pulling one edge from the drying tray. If it comes off easily, holds its shape and is still pliable then it is ready. Should the leather crack or chip, you have over dried it, but will still be good in breakfast cereals and baked goods.
Storing leathers
Lay a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of a cutting board. Place leather flat on top. Cut paper and leather together into strips with a pizza cutter or scissors. Roll up strips. The paper will keep leather from sticking together in storage. Place rolled leathers in a food-grade plastic bag in a cool location or in your refrigerator for up to 4 months.
Recipes
Please see our dehydration page for recipe ideas! We have the typical sweet leathers, but be sure to check out our veggie leathers for a more savoury snack.