Apple-Ginger Fruit Leather

A yummy homemade snack filled with fresh fruit and grated ginger. MORE+ LESS-

By Girl Versus Dough

April 25, 2017

Ingredients

large Gala or Granny Smith apples

1 1/2

teaspoon grated ginger

3/4

cup granulated sugar

tablespoons fresh lemon juice

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1

Peel, core and chop apples and place them in a blender. Add grated ginger, sugar and lemon juice. Blend into a puree.
2

Pour the puree into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring just to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Continue stirring occasionally, then more often, until mixture is very thick and has lost most of its moisture, about 35 to 40 minutes. NOTE: Mixture may splatter if you don't stir often enough, so don't walk away from the stove. Remove saucepan from heat and set aside.
3

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a 13-by-17-inch baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and spray with cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Pour mixture onto prepared sheet and, using a spatula, carefully smooth out into a very thin, very even layer.
4

Place sheet in oven and bake until mixture is firm and barely tacky (but not crunchy), about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
5

Remove from oven and allow leather to cool completely. Peel off very carefully and place, smooth-side down, on a sheet of wax paper.
6

Use scissors to cut the leather into strips of desired width (recipe makes up to 16).
7

Roll up strips and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 9 days.

No nutrition information available for this recipe

If there’s a shortcut or a more convenient route when it comes to recipes, I’m all for it. But if I’ve got the time and I’m in the mood for making something homemade – even if it’s readily available at the grocery store – I’ll do that, too, especially if it renders flavors I can’t necessarily find anywhere else. This Apple-Ginger Fruit Leather is one example. While I have absolutely loved Fruit Roll-Ups ever since I could wield a backpack and a lunchbox, there is something about making my own version from scratch every once in a while that’s fun for me. And I can make crazy flavors, like apple-ginger or strawberry-lime or blueberry-banana. Consider it the “fruits” of my labor, if you will – things that take extra preparation just taste better sometimes. Sure, it’s a bit time-consuming, but most of that time can be spent playing Scrabble or taking a nap or having a staring contest with your cat. And whatever active time there is in the recipe is spent mostly whirring a blender, staring at a stovetop and using a spatula to spread out the leather very, very thin. Here’s how you do it: Voila! Homemade fruit leather. Now go enjoy while you finish the staring contest with your cat.