Healthy Apple and Berry Fruit Leather

You’ll love this apple and berry fruit leather treat. Apples and berries as a base add the flavour, and sneaky vegetables bulk it out.

This apple and berry fruit leather with added vegetables is a perfect snack for the school lunch box!

These easy fruit roll-ups are so good and addictive, plus the addition of vegetables in there make them a very healthy snack.

I have to set rules when I make them or else it’s all gone within minutes. The ingredients are simple as anything, and can be adapted to suit your tastes.

The ingredients

This is a vegetable and fruit leather and uses apples and berries as the base, with the addition of mild vegetables like carrot and zucchini. There is also a little coconut cream added.

The coconut cream can be optional but it creates a chewier, better-textured fruit leather. The more you add the better the texture but the stronger the flavour of coconut cream. I find 2-3 tablespoons the right amount to create the texture without changing the taste.

Oven or dehydrator?

Both an oven and a dehydrator can be used to make dried fruit roll-ups. A dehydrator can be easier though as it can often hold more sheets of leather than an oven can and a dehydrator is more energy-efficient than an oven.

To dry fruit leather it needs to be in the dehydrator or oven for 6-9 hours depending on the thickness of the puree and the temperature it’s drying at.

I use an Excalibur dehydrator that has been serving me for over 13 years now. It’s fantastic!

Step-by-step instructions

• Chop and core the apples for the base of the leather and cook them until soft. Any harder vegetables such as carrots, beetroot, or pumpkin should be cooked until soft first too. You could leave the apples raw but I find cooking them makes them much smoother to blend and increases their natural sweetness.
• Tip the cooked apples and vegetables into a blender and blend until smooth. Add in berries and any soft vegetables that don’t require cooking, such as zucchini. Blend along with the apple puree.
• Taste and add any sweetness if needed, such as honey or maple syrup. Blend in the coconut cream.
• Spread it onto dehydrator sheets or on baking paper-lined oven trays. Spread it to about 5mm thick.
• Let it dry in an oven or a dehydrator at approximately 60°C/140°F.
• This will take about 6-9 hours. If drying the leather in the oven, open the door a bit every so often to allow the moisture to escape. You can speed things up by raising the oven temperature a bit too, but the lower the temperature the more nutrients are retained from the raw fruit and vegetables (this isn’t so important if you’re only using cooked fruits and vegetables.)

How to store it

Cut into strips and store in an airtight container. They last for ages if properly dried, but I highly doubt you’ll have them longer than a couple of days!

Related recipes

Interested in more preserving ideas for apples or zucchini recipes?

• Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
• Pure Apple Syrup Recipe
• Apple and Cinnamon Muesli
• Apple Fennel Slaw with Lemon Dressing
• Zucchini Gratin
• Zucchini Pesto Pizza

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