Still having a bounty of peaches and needing a way to use them up I made a different batch of Homemade Fruit leather. Using both peaches and berries in the fruit leather. The berries gave a different flavor and texture. We really enjoyed it! This time because I was making so much, I did a slightly different recipe in the oven.
Did you realize your oven can be a dehydrator? You use cookie sheets to pour the blended fruit, and they dry in the oven. It’s great if you don’t have a dehydrator or have an large amount that you are making.
I didn’t have berries handy (the chickens and bunnies eat any we end up growing) so I just used 2 cups of store bought berries for each batch. Making one batch strawberries and peaches while the other batch mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries and raspberries) with the peaches.
I made the sauce the same as previous recipe, in the slow cooker . Removed the skin, pit and any bad parts of the peaches and likewise from the berries if necessary. To keep the peaches from turning brown I covered them in lemon juice. Then in the slow cooker I added the sugar and berries. After 4 hours of cooking I used my immersion blender to pulverize them (can also use a regular blender). I prepare the cookie sheets with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and pour the sauce in. Spread the sauce to even it out. “Bake” at 140 for at least 8-12 hours. If you have more than one tray in you’ll want to rotate them. The more you have in your oven the longer it will take.
They’re ready when the leather is no longer sticky or mushy. Give them just a few minutes to dry on the stove top, and rip into sections that you can then wrap up in either Reynolds Wrap or Sarah Wrap. Turning up the heat, although making the dehydrating process go faster, also risks the fruit leather burning, so I would highly suggest you not raise the temperature.
Be sure to check out our original Peach Fruit Leather recipe! As with our original recipe, this is a very open ended timed recipe. The length of time will depend on your oven or dehydrator, the temperature, how many trays or cookie sheets you are using. As long as they haven’t burned, if they are mushy or sticky, they are not ready.
Homemade Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Peaches
- 2 Cups Strawberries Can use mixed berries too.
- 1 Cup Sugar
- Lemon Juice
- Crock-Pot Liner If you choose
- Parchment Paper
- Cooking Spray
- Reynolds Wrap or Saran Wrap
Instructions
- Peel and core the Peaches, remove any buggy or bad spots. As you prepare the peaches, put them in a bowl or the slow cooker and periodically lightly coat them with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Add to the slow cooker.
- If using fresh berries, wash and remove stems. If you are using frozen you can eyeball to make sure no stems are on any of them, measure them and add them to the slow cooker.
- Add your 1 cup of Sugar. Mix well. Remember this is a bit of an open recipe. Exact measurements of fruit or sugar is not necessary. You can taste test before drying to make sure it tastes how you want.
- Cook on low for about 4 hours. Stir once or twice to help the cooking process. Once cooked use your immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the fruit mixture to a smooth consistency.
- If you are using the oven, you'll need cookie sheets, covered with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. If you are using a dehydrator, you'll cut the parchment paper to the size of the tray, and then spray with cooking spray.
- Pour the fruit blend carefully onto the parchment paper and spread so that it's not too thin or too thick.
- I used the oven for this batch. I preheated at 140 degrees and then cooked at that same temperature for 8-12 hours. Rotating the cookie sheet around so that it would cook move evenly. If you are using a dehydrator put it at a similar temperature, it will be similar time frame and several times you'll want to move the trays around so they fully dry.
- Once the fruit leather is ready, pull it out and let it sit for about 5 minutes. I would rip off a section and then wrap them up with the Reynolds Wrap, while rolling it. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.