Fruit leathers

[zpzjessica]

I am on a health-kick lately, and have been searching for something sweet, gummy, and fruity to satisfy my cravings throughout the day. Upon entering my local Gourmet Garage, I stumbled onto Stretch Island Fruit Co.'s Fruit Leathers - so far the flavors I have tried are strawberry, raspberry, mango, tropical, and apricot.

They're delicious and very satisfying. They're sweet, using only natural sugars, and are 45 calories a piece. If you've never had them before, they come highly recommended...

[pax]

I'm less than thrilled with fruit leather because I had it pull a filling out of my kid's mouth.

And then I had another kid gag on the texture and I was honestly afraid he'd choke to death.

I know, I know, I wish I had something nice to say. Maybe only feed it to adults? Or maybe all the kids I know are weird? I dunno.

Eat the dang fruit, I say.

[zpzjessica]

Oh I'll be the first to admit it's very chewy and sticky...but the fact that it tastes good and is healthy more than makes up for it...in my book, at least

[Poffertjes]

I wasn't allowed fruit roll ups or any of the other sugar & fruit concoctions in that aisle of the grocery store as a child.

No, I was the "weird" kid at the lunch table.

My mom bought me fruit leathers at the food co-op. Thats what I got.

And you know what? I still love them.

[SuzySushi]

I am on a health-kick lately, and have been searching for something sweet, gummy, and fruity to satisfy my cravings throughout the day. Upon entering my local Gourmet Garage, I stumbled onto Stretch Island Fruit Co.'s Fruit Leathers - so far the flavors I have tried are strawberry, raspberry,  mango, tropical, and apricot.

They're delicious and very satisfying. They're sweet, using only natural sugars, and are 45 calories a piece. If you've never had them before, they come highly recommended...   

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If you're a Costco member, Costco carries them in large boxes, for about half the single-piece retail price!

[feedmec00kies]

Buying a box of fruit leathers was a great way to try and blow through the mandatory meal plan at the end of the semester/year when it was clear I wasn't going to use all the non-refundable meal money...

Yeah, those were the fruit snacks my mom wanted us eating too.

Although... I kind of wish they tasted more like fruits other than the apple/grape juice they use as fillers because those juices are cheap.

[zpzjessica]

i'm eating an apricot fruit leather as we speak. yum!

[Toliver]

Has anyone tried making their own fruit leathers?

I once had a food dehydrator that I used to make beef jerky. It came with a flat plastic circular sheet that was used for drying your own fruit leather in the machine. I never used it though I thought it looked simple enough.

Making your own would allow you to control the ingredients. I suppose you could even use a silpat in a low oven, too, for drying homemade fruit leather.

[hummingbirdkiss]

yes I used to make them all the time ..with any fresh fruit added to an apple puree for a base .. ..my kids loved the blackberry, green apple and apricot the best

you just make low cooked thick fruit puree ...getting a lot of the water out ....it is worth it to go slow because in the end that will lesson the time drying... a little sweetener of choice (I used just enough sugar to accentuate the fruits not much at all)... and then spread it in a think circle and dry it on plastic wrap that has been spread out on a drying screen..... when it is completely dry roll it up in the wrap and store it in a plastic bag... could not be easier .. ..when I lived in AZ I could just do this in the sunshine with a screen over it ..now I use a deyhydrator

tart, unsweetened ..or very little sugar ..and rolled up with a creamy cheese they are really good imho