Rhubarb Fruit Leather

Pink fruit roll ups with rhubarb sitting around it.

This strawberry rhubarb fruit leather is an affordable and healthier version of red fruit roll-ups. You can make these rhubarb fruit roll-ups in the oven or a dehydrator. You can also use this method for whatever fruit you have ripe right now!

Prep Time35

Cook Time7

Total Time7 35

Servings: fruit roll ups

Author: Danika Vanderpyl

Equipment

1 blender or food processor
parchment paper or silicone mats
1 dehydrator or oven

Ingredients

6 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup water
3 cups strawberries (destemmed) OR chopped apple (with peel)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoon honey
6 teaspoon chia seeds optional

Instructions

Place your chopped rhubarb into a medium pot with 1 cup of water in the bottom. Boil for 7 minutes with the lid on to soften the fruit.
Place the cooked rhubarb (including the water in the pot) into a blender or food processor and add the apple or strawberry, honey, and lemon juice. Blend until it is a smooth purée. Taste and add more honey if you want it sweeter. Stir in chia seeds if you are using them.
In the oven: 3-4 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Spread the fruit purée as thin as you can without any bare spots (1-2 mm thick). Make it a bit thicker on the edges and thinner in the middle to help dry evenly. Place the cookie sheets in the oven as low as it will go (most ovens go to 180 F or 170 F). If you have a convection fan that will make the leather dry out faster. It can take between 6 to 12 hours to dry. It will look dry and feel tacky when it is ready.
In the dehydrator: Cover your dehydrator trays with parchment paper or silicone mats. Spread the fruit purée as thin as you can without any bare spots (1-2 mm thick). Put the dehydrator on the fruit setting or 135 F to 145 F. It will take from 3 to 8 hours (maybe longer) depending on how efficient your machine is and how thick the fruit is spread. It will look dry and feel tacky when it is ready.
Keeping the parchment paper on the back, roll your rectangular sheets of dried fruit. Use scissors or a pizza cutter to cut into 1.5 inch pieces. Keep the rhubarb fruit leather roll ups in an airtight container.

Notes

Scroll up to see step by step photos.

I tested this recipe in the oven and with two different dehydrators.

The oven: You will need 3-4 large pans to make this in the oven, so you will want 3-4 oven racks to do it at the same time. You can rotate the pans onto higher/lower racks every couple of hours to help the process. It took 10 hours for mine to dry. It turned a bit darker because the oven has a higher temperature and it cooked the fruit more than a dehydrator would. An oven fan will make this process go faster.

The dehydrator: I tested this in a circle dehydrator and a square dehydrator, I liked the square better because I didn't have to cut the parchment paper into a circle, and because I could easily roll the leather into rolls. At 140 F it took 3 hours in one and 5 hours in the circle dehydrator. I made 6 trays with about 1 cup of puree each.

Too crispy: I dried some of my leather too long, which became more crispy. If this happens to you, you can sprinkle or mist a little water on it to rehydrate it until it's softer.

Other fruit: You can make this with any other fruit see the ideas above in the blog post. Unlike this recipe, you can skip the cooking the cooking rhubarb step and go right to blending the raw fruit.

Nutrition