How to Make Fruit Roll-Ups With This One Ingredient

Everyone remembers the excitement of opening up their lunch at school to find a fruit roll-up, or a Fruit-by-the-Foot. Unwrapping it was so much fun, as your anticipation grew. It was chewy, sugary, deliciousness. And you enjoyed every bit of it.

But of course, these days you’re probably a little less excited about feeding them to your own kids, and wishing you had been a little less excited yourself. Despite their “fruit” name, few fruit roll-ups contain any significant amount of fruit and instead are packed with sugar, corn syrup, and a hodgepodge of other less than wholesome ingredients.

That’s why I’m excited to share this recipe with you. Because it allows you to get excited about fruit roll-ups again, without worrying about your health. It contains all whole ingredients, and in fact, only contains one whole ingredient – fruit!

A Homemade Fruit Roll-Up Recipe

Ingredients

– Fruit!
– More fruit!

That’s right, the only ingredient you need for this recipe is fruit. You can use any fruit you like, strawberries, mangoes, or peaches, or a combination of two or three. Try bananas and blueberries to burn fat, or apples and grapes to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This is a fun and convenient way to sneak more fruit into your diet.

Instructions

Preheat – to start get your oven preheating to 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
Puree – place your chosen fruits into a blender or food processer and puree away. Usually about 4 or 5 of any given fruit is a good amount, but you can always start small and puree more if you need to.
Pour – take your pureed fruit and spread it onto a baking sheet with a spatula, preferably with parchment paper down first. The goal is to get a relatively even layer that’s roughly an eighth of an inch thick, and that is slightly thicker toward the edges. This will prevent them from drying out too quickly.

Place – the baking sheet into the oven for about 3 hours. All ovens are different, but the aim here is to get the puree to solidify, without becoming hard. The center should be slightly sticky, but not moist. Pop it back in if it needs a few more minutes.
Peel – when your fruit leather is cool to the touch, peel it up and place it on wax paper. Cut it to the desired length and then roll it up.

For additional flavour and health benefits, try combining fruits with different spices, like cayenne pepper or ginger (though then they would technically contain two whole ingredients).

The fruit roll-ups should be good for about a week, or longer if stored in the fridge, though I doubt they’ll last that long. They’re perfect for an on-the-go snack or after lunch treat and, of course, for bringing back that childhood excitement. Homemade fruit roll-ups, but with actual fruit!