Fall Fruit Leather
This time of year apples are at their very best - sweet, crunchy and literally falling off the trees. In fact, if you have an apple tree (or if you've visited your local market and noticed the great prices) you may have so many apples on hand you don't know what to do with them all!
Apple sauce is the standard choice, and making pies & crumbles is always tempting, but one of my favorite ways to preserve apples this time of year is to make fruit leather out of them. As I've mentioned before, I love to get out in the woods and go hiking. Fruit leather is an awesome way to pack along fruit without all that bulk.
Also, now that school's back in session, fruit leather's a great lunch time alternative to a fruit roll-up that's just LOADED with nasty refined sugars like high fructose corn syrup.
I've made fruit leather with a dehydrator and in the oven, and both work perfectly, so no need to buy any new equipment. Just cook down your apples, line your trays with parchment paper, spread it thinly and pop it in the oven for a few hours. Voila! Apples preserved in a sweet, sticky, healthy snack.
Apple Cinnamon Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 4 cups of apples, cored & chopped
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 150 degrees fahrenheit.
Heat coconut oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
Add apples, stew until they begin getting soft (about 5-10 minutes).
Add cinnamon & lemon juice; continue to stew until apples form a thick sauce.
Remove from heat, add chia seeds. Stir until completely mixed.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spread sauce until evenly distributed. NOTE: insure sauce is no more than 1/8 inch thick at the centre of the tray, or leather will not cook evenly. The edges cook a little faster so they can be up to 1/4 inch thick.
Bake at 150 degrees for 4 hours. Remove from oven and let cool; peel off of parchment and slice into long strips. Roll and wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper.