40+ Fantastic Fruit Leather Recipes | Backpacking Chef (2024)

Lookingfor a homemade fruit leather recipe?

Explore this Backpacking Chef collectionof healthy and delicious fruit combinations that you can blend anddehydrate into amazing fruit leather snacks and smoothies.

Learn how to make fruit leather, how to store and pack itfor home and trail, and how to turn fruit leathers into fruit puddings andsmoothies with hot or cold water.

Startwith your favorite fruits…

Photo: Banana and pineapple for making fruitleather.

Blendfruit and dehydrate on nonstick sheets…

Photo: Dehydrating strawberry fruit leatherfaster with the flip-trick.

Packand store fruit leather for home and trail…

Photo: Folding up mixed-berry fruit leather inparchment paper for storage and transport.

Enjoyfruit leather as a healthy snack, or rehydrate it with hot or cold water intopuddings and smoothies…

Photo: Banana split pudding made by rehydrating banana-pineapplefruit leather with cold water. Garnish with chopped nuts, shredded coconut, andchocolate shavings.

Howto Make Fruit Leather

ChooseOne or More Fruits to Blend:

Photo: Mango and pineapple make a deliciousfruit leather.

These fruits aregreat for making fruit leather:

Apple, apricot, banana, blackberry,blueberry, cherry, cranberry, grapefruit, grape, kiwi, lemon, nectarine,orange, peach, pear, persimmon, pineapple, plum, pumpkin, raspberry, rhubarb,strawberry, and watermelon.

Choose perfectly ripe fruit for best flavor and quality—notunder-ripe or over-ripe fruit.

There is no rule that says you can’t add a vegetable likecarrot, beet, or sweet potato to your fruit leather recipe. You will want tocook root vegetables first to soften them up, although you could use raw gratedcarrots. This might be a chance to use up some of those cucumbers from thegarden, too.

Wash fruit and remove cores or large seeds. You can leavethe skins on fruits like pears and apples since they contain healthy nutrients,but peel if you prefer. Discard any portions of fruit that appear dark or bruised.If you see signs of mold, which is common in strawberries, don’t use them.

Cut fruit into smaller pieces for the blender.

Ifnecessary, add 1–3tablespoons of fruit juice to make it easier for the blender to blend the fruitto a smoothie-like consistency.

Watermelon and strawberries are 92% water, so if you makefruit leather with either of those, you would not need to add additional fruitjuice. When making fruit leather with strawberries orwatermelon, you may want to add a banana, which is 74% water, to thicken themix. Apples and cherries are also good for thickening fruit leather.

Clickthe photo above to see a list showing the water content of fruits andvegetables. Source: Urbanwormcompany.com

FruitLeather Sweeteners & Flavorings

Fruit is already sweet, so go easy on extra sweeteners, orjust leave them out. Instead of sugar, try adding a teaspoon of honey, maplesyrup, or fruit preserves.

Seasonings which can be used sparingly include vanilla oralmond extract, brandy, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Fresh grated ginger or mint add a refreshingzing to fruit leather.

Photo: Trail pudding made by rehydratingginger-mango fruit leather with added pineapple pieces.

Fruit juices help to blend fruits into perfect smoothie-likeconsistencies. Try adding 1–3 tablespoons of apple juice,cranberry juice, lemon juice, grape juice, orange juice, or pineapple juice to3 cups of diced fruit (approx. 500 g) before running the mix through a blender.Go easy on lemon juice as it will add tartness to fruit leather. Grape, orange,and pineapple juice can make fruit leather stickier, but this is not a problemas long as you are dehydrating fruit leather on nonstick sheets.

For protein, try adding yogurt in a ratio of 1part yogurt to 3 parts fruit. Dairy products can spoil, so store fruit leathercontaining yogurt in the refrigerator and eat it the first day out on a hike.

OptionalFruit Leather Garnishes

Tryshredded coconut, chopped nuts, seeds, or granola. Sprinkle garnish on top ofthe mixture after you spread it on the dehydrator tray. Coconut, nuts, andseeds may shorten the shelf life of fruit leather since they include fats thatcould go rancid. Store in an airtight container.

Howto Dehydrate Fruit Leather

Combine fruits and optional flavorings and juice in ablender and blend until smooth.

Spread thinly, about ⅛ inch thick on dehydrator trayscovered with nonstick sheets or parchment paper. Don’t use waxed paper—thewax melts.

Dehydrate fruit leather at 135° F (57° C).Drying times usually fall in the 6–12hour range, depending on the juiciness of your fruit leather recipe.

Photo: The flip trick. Flip the leather overonto a mesh sheet and peel off the nonstick sheet.

After 6 hours or so, the leather may be dry enough to peeloff the nonstick sheets and place directly on the mesh trays. This speeds upthe drying by exposing the bottom side of the leather to hot air, whichcirculates better inside the dehydrator after nonstick sheets are removed.

Leather will be pliable when done. Be sure tocheck spots where the mixture may have been spread thicker to make sure thereis no moisture.

Howto Pack Fruit Leather

Because fruit leather can be sticky, fold or roll it up inparchment paper or plastic wrap. This is especially important when vacuumsealing leather with other backpacking food rations. The pressure of vacuumsealing causes fruit leather to stick to itself, and it's very difficult topull apart pieces of fruit leather that are stuck together.

Wrapped fruit leather that is rolled can be cut into smallerstrips, aka fruit roll-ups.

My preferred method of packing fruit leather isto fold it in parchment paper. It forms creases at the folds, which makes iteasy to tear off sections to eat while you’re hiking down the trail. One sheetof fruit leather folded up in parchment paper fits neatly into the pocket of ahiking shirt or hip belt. Several folded sheets of fruit leather can be packedin 1 Ziploc sandwich bag and vacuum-sealed with other dehydrated food rations.Once the fruit leather is eaten, the parchment paper can be used as a sanitarysurface to prepare your evening trail meal.

Thephoto above shows how to fold fruit leather with parchment paper. Place thefruit leather on the parchment paper, leaving an empty column of paper 3 incheswide on 1 side. Fold the paper over the leather, and continue folding in thismanner. Once you have folded the leather 4 times, fold it in half the otherway. This neat little package is now ready for vacuum sealing in with yourdaily rations for a backpacking trip.

Howto Store Fruit Leather

The most important thing to get right about fruit leatherstorage is to make sure it is sufficiently dry. It should be in the range ofpliable to not-quite-brittle. If it cracks, it might be a bit over-dried, butit will still taste good. If fruit leather is not sufficiently dry, it couldgrow mold.

Wrap up and store fruit leather as soon as it is dry andcool. If you let it sit out, it will absorb moisture from the surrounding air.If the fruit leather finishes drying during the night, dry it for another 30minutes in the morning.

For home use, store fruit leather in an air-tightcontainer. Large, wide-mouth canning jars work well for sealing out moisturefor several months, but Ziploc bags are sufficient for storing fruit leatherthat will be eaten within a week or so. For longer term home storage, placepackaged fruit leather in the refrigerator.

Photo: Wrapped fruit leathers in Ziploc bag.

Whenpacking fruit leather for long backpacking trips that may include food maildrops, place several wrapped fruit leathers in Ziploc bags and vacuum seal themto block out air and moisture.

FruitLeather Shelf Life

Well-driedand properly-packed fruit leather can easily last a year in Chef Glenn’sexperience. Rarely does one need to store it that long, so shoot for using itwithin 6 months as a best practice, and 3 months if the leather includes nuts,seeds, or coconut. Fruit leather containing yogurt should be used within a fewdays after taking it out of the refrigerator.

FruitLeather Recipe of the Month

Peach-PineappleFruit Leather

Servings: 2 fruitleather sheets

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups peeled and diced peaches (225 g)
• 1½ cups diced pineapple (250 g)
• 3 Tbsp. pineapple juice

Instructions:

Canned pineapple in its own juice works great for thisrecipe.

Run ingredients through a blender using the smoothiesetting. This recipe produces 2 cups of blended fruit. Spread thinly on 2dehydrator trays covered with nonstick sheets.

Dehydrate at 135°F (57°C) for 7–9 hours to the range betweenpliable and not-quite-brittle.

After about 5 hours, when the leather is substantially dry,flip it over onto a mesh dehydrator sheet, peel off the nonstick sheet, andfinish drying directly on the mesh or wire dehydrator trays.

Tip: Backpacking Chef tested dehydrating this fruitleather recipe in a Cosori dehydrator using the plastic trays that come withthe dehydrator. The fruit leather stuck to the tray and could not be peeled offin 1 sheet.

Photo above: Fruit leather does not peel off in 1 piece using the plastic tray in a Cosori dehydrator.

Forthe second test, a nonstick sheet was placed in the tray and the leather peeledoff easily.

Photo: Nonstick sheet cut down to fit insideCosori dehydrator tray. Fruit leather peeled off easily.

MakingFruit Leather with Cooked Fruit

Most of the time, you will dry the fruit raw, but you canalso create a masterpiece by cooking the fruit to intensify the sweetness. Try theapplesauce fruit leather recipe or the Concord grape fruit leather recipe below.

Photo:100% Concord grape fruit leather cut into strips after drying.

Concord grapes are small but have 2 or 3 hard seeds insidethem. The seeds are packed with healthy nutrients, but they aren't all that funto eat. To break-up the seeds, run the grapes through a blender to asmoothie-like consistency, and then cook them. This intensifies the naturalsweetness of the grapes and releases the nutrients from the seeds.

Bring the grapes to a boil for a couple of minutes, then simmerthem on the lowest setting for 1 hour.

If it looks like you still have a lot of whole seeds, runthe cooled mixture through a blender again.

Spread the grape slurry thinly on dehydrator trays coveredwith nonstick sheets. Dehydrate at 135°F (57°C) for approximately 10 hoursuntil almost snappy.

When the grape leather is substantially dry after 6 hours orso, peel off the nonstick sheets and cut the leather into strips, like fruitjerky. Spread the strips out directly on mesh sheets to finish drying.

The resulting Concord grape fruit leather, withno other ingredients added, is sweet and delicious with crunchiness from theground up seeds.

Sweet Potato Taffy Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by DaFisherman from Bessemer, MI

Ingredients:

• 1 can of yams (29 oz.), drained
• 1 medium banana
• ¼ cup maple syrup

Instructions:

Drain yams, peel banana, puree all ingredients in foodprocessor until smooth. Spread on nonstick sheet and dehydrate for 7–8hours at 135°F (57°C). It should betaffy-like consistency when done. Peel from nonstick sheet and cut intosquares.

The extra sugars in the maple syrup keep thisflexible like taffy. I like bananataffy, but have had success with strawberries as well.

Apple-Banana-BlueberryFruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Logtec fromOntario, Canada

Ingredients:

• 4 medium apples
• 6 small bananas
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 large orange
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

Blend until smooth. This may require more thanone blender load. Spread thinly on dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 135°F(57°C) until leathery.

SweetPotato-Cranberry Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Laurie fromEl Mirage, AZ

Ingredients:

• 1 can sweet potato/yam chunks, drained
• 1 can whole cranberry sauce
• ¼ cup white grape juice

Instructions:

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree untilit's completely smooth. Spread evenly and dry at 145°F (63°C) for 6–8 hours.

EasyApplesauce Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by HeatherKelly from Fort Collins, CO

Ingredients:

• 1 jar applesauce
• Cinnamon and sugar if desired

Instructions:

Pour homemade or jarred applesauce onto dehydrator tray withnonstick sheet. Spread thinly and dehydrate at 135°F (57°C).

Onthe Trail:

Combine1 cup of pieces of applesauce leather and 1 cup water. Let sit for 10 minutesto rehydrate. Bring to boil and stir. Heat over medium flame until it is backto applesauce consistency. Add dash of cinnamon and enjoy!

Pineapple-CoconutFruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Steve Hfrom MN

Ingredients:

• 1 can crushed pineapple
• ¼ cup coconut flakes

Instructions:

Mix crushed pineapple and coconut together.

Spread thinly on dehydrator tray covered with a nonsticksheet. Dehydrate at 135°F (57°C) until crisp.

Break into large pieces and bag. Eat as a snack ormeal. Great pineapple coconut flavor andcrunch! May be added to dried vegetables, meat, and rice for a Tropical VeggieRice dinner.

Jell-O& Applesauce Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Barbarafrom Ocala, FL

Ingredients:

• 2 Quarts applesauce or other pureed fruit
• 1 3-oz. Box of Jell-O, any flavor, sweetened with sugar orsugar free

Instructions:

Combine ingredients and dehydrate, roll inplastic wrap and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Kids especially love this combination; greatsnack or dessert for Scout camp outs.

Mulberry-SourCherry Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Patricefrom West Brandywine, PA

Ingredients:

• Mulberries
• Sour Cherries

Instructions:

Puree and strain a mixture of sour cherries and mulberries.I don't usually add sweetener because the mulberries are large and sweet. Thetart cherries add an interesting contrasting flavor. I use an oven dehydratorso I cover a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and then add about 2 cups pureedfruit, making it thicker at the edges. It usually takes about 4–6hours until it's no longer sticky. When it's done, I put a piece of wax paperon each side and roll it up to cut it, slicing each sheet into several 1–2inch strips. These will last for a few days. I freeze what I want to save forlater. They will last for 6 months to a year frozen.

VanillaStrawberry-Rhubarb Fruit Leather Recipe

Shared by Michellefrom Eagle, ID

Ingredients:

• 4 quarts ¼ inch sliced rhubarb
• 2 quarts strawberries
• 3 cups vanilla sugar, more or less depending on tartness ofyour fruit

Instructions:

Put fruit into a large Dutch oven and add waterup to the level of the fruit. Cover and cook on medium-high until fruit is verysoft. Stir in the sugar. Puree mixture with an immersion blender. Continue tocook until reduced to the same thickness of applesauce. Remove from heat. Iladle the puree into small oblong shaped rectangles on a parchment-lined sheetpan. Since my oven has a dehydrate setting, I can fit a lot in there. Whenthey're dry, I simply cut the parchment paper with the fruit leather remainingon it and stack in a sealed container.

JustBananas Fruit Leather Biscuits

Shared by Bev K. ofQueensland, Australia

Instructions:

Peel and chop 5 or 6 ripe bananas into chunks. Mash bananaswith whizz stick or food processor until thick and creamy.

Spread spoonfuls of mixture on nonstick sheets or parchmentpaper on dehydrator racks.

Dehydrate at 135°F (57°C) for 8–10 hours until firm butflexible.

After about 6 hours you can remove parchment paper and placebanana biscuits upside down on trays to speed up drying.

Store biscuits in zip bags until ready for use.

Eat banana biscuits as high-energy snacks while hiking orwith tea or coffee. Alternatively, rehydrate a single banana biscuit with 2–3tablespoons of water and stir until a smooth consistency. Use as a dessert orfruit to add to cereal at breakfast.

Sometimes I add 4–5 spoonful’s of Greek yogurt to the bananamixture before drying for a change.

RhubarbRounds with Krisps

Shared by Amy fromTacoma, WA

Ingredients:

• Rhubarb
• Splenda or sugar

Instructions:

To make rhubarb rounds, wash rhubarb stalks and cut offthe leaves which are not edible. Slice rhubarb into ½-inch pieces and put in potwith enough water to cover about a quarter of the rhubarb. Rhubarb is so fullof water that if you add too much you will end up with soup.

Add sugar orSplenda to sweeten to taste, however sweet or tart you like your rhubarb. Cookuntil rhubarb falls apart when stirred with spoon. If you find you added toomuch water you will want to cook it down to it is thick.

Drop it on thedehydrator sheet by spoonfuls so that they spread to the size of a quarter or a fifty-cent piece. Dehydrate on nonstick sheets. They should pop off when you bend the sheet.

I carry whole grain Rye Krisp for my morning toast and make “jam”at breakfast using thin rhubarb rounds. The rhubarb leather is sweetened withSplenda, so it isn’t real sticky. I carry the rounds in a baggie with myother dehydrated fruit.

At breakfast, I dunk some of therhubarb rounds in my tea and then lay the wet rounds on the Rye Krisp,spooning a couple more drops of hot tea on it, but not so much that it makes theRye Krisp soggy. I let it sit while I eat my morning gruel and then I have mytoast and jam with my tea.

Al's AppleJerky

Shared by AlRutherford of Ontario, Canada

This one has lots of photos. Explore Al's Apple-Jerkyrecipe.

MoreEasy Fruit Leather Recipes from Readers:

Add 1–2 tablespoons of fruit juice to any of these fruit leathercombinations to achieve a smoothie-like consistency in your blender.

Banana-Lemon-Honey:1 banana, ½ lemon, 1 Tbsp. honey

Banana-Orange-Cranberry:1 banana, ½ large orange, 1 Tbsp. Cranberry Sauce

Pineapple-Banana-Coconut:1 cup pineapple pieces, 1 banana, shredded coconut

Apple-Banana: 1apple, 1 banana

Blueberry-Banana:1 cup blueberries, 1 banana, 1 Tbsp. blueberry jam

Banana-Orange-Yogurt-Vanilla: 1 banana, ½ large orange, ½ cup plain yogurt, ¼tsp. vanilla extract.

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