Strawberry Fruit Leather (Fruit Roll-ups)
This homemade Strawberry Fruit Leather is made with 3 simple ingredients and is much healthier than any store-bought fruit roll-ups! You can make this recipe directly in your oven or in a dehydrator.
Homemade fruit leather
One of my favourite snacks growing up was fruit roll-ups. Do you remember them? Those little packets of sugary fruit leather rolled up between a piece of wax paper. I remember all the different flavours and all the ways to eat them.
Fast forward to today, and I’m still a huge fan of fruity treats, but prefer to enjoy homemade fruit leather that is made with fresh and natural ingredients and isn’t loaded with corn syrup and sugar.
This recipe for homemade fruit leather is like a mega-healthified version of the store-bought snack without any artificial flavours or colours and makes for a fun activity you can do with your family or kids.
If you own a dehydrator, you can go ahead and make these fruit roll ups in there, though if you’re like me and you don’t have a dehydrator, you’ll be making these in the oven. Luckily, you can actually dehydrate recipes in the oven by setting the oven temperature very low, (in this case 170 degrees F) and letting the recipe dry out for a few hours.
Why you’ll love these fruit roll ups
- Easy to make. This recipe is made with 3 simple ingredients and is actually really simple and easy to make. It’s a fun recipe to make with your kids too.
- Made with real fruit. grab some fresh strawberries from the market (or any other berries you love) to make this homemade fruit leather!
- Refined-sugar free. This recipe is lightly sweetened with a hint of maple syrup. if your fruit is already very sweet, you may not need any maple syrup in the recipe at all!
Homemade fruit roll ups ingredients
- Strawberries: this recipe is made with fresh strawberries, but you can also substitute with any other type of berries you love or use a mix of different berries. I recommend using fresh fruit for this recipe, not frozen fruit.
- Lemon: just a small squeeze of lemon juice to help brighten up the flavour. This will also help keep the fruit from oxidizing.
- Maple syrup: you can substitute with honey, agave syrup, sugar or just leave this ingredient out.
How to make fruit leather/fruit roll ups
Step 1
Add the strawberries, lemon and maple syrup to a blender and blend until smooth. You can also use a food processor if you don’t have a blender.
Step 2
Add the strawberry pureé to a saucepan and cook on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes until the pureé beings to thicken like in the image below.
Step 3
Poure the pureé onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat. (if you don’t have a silicon mat it can also work with parchment paper, however a silicon mat works best.) Then bake in the oven at 170 degrees F for about 4 hours, or until the fruit leather isn’t sticky to touch.
Step 4
Gently peel the fruit roll ups off the silicon mat and use a knife to cut it into slices. Then roll up each slice up into a roll.
How to store
Store the fruit roll ups in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 weeks. Make sure to keep out of sunlight and store in a cool dry place.
Expert tips for making fruit leather
- Use fresh fruit, not frozen. Frozen fruit tends to have more liquid in it than fresh fruit and also tends to be blander. Make sure to use fresh fruit in this recipe.
- Use sweet ripe fruit. The sweeter the fruit the better the fruit leather will turn out!
- Spread the fruit pureé as evenly as possible. Make sure to spread out the fruit pureé on the baking sheet as evenly as you can. If the fruit pureé isn’t even, it won’t cook evenly and may end up being soft in the center. If anything it’s better to make it slightly thicker around the edges ad thinner in the center as the edges tend to cook more quickly.
- Check on the fruit roll while baking. Depending on your oven, the cooking time of the fruit roll-ups can vary. Check on the fruit roll-ups in the oven every hour or so to make sure it’s not overcooked.
Fruit Roll Ups FAQ
Store-bought fruit roll-ups aren’t the healthiest snack since they’re loaded with corn syrup and sugar. But these homemade fruit roll-ups are healthy and made with fresh fruit!
When it’s spread thin and dried out the fruit becomes firm when you touch it but still bendable, making it similar to the texture of leather.
Yes! Fruit leather is just dehydrated fruit.
You can use raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, peaches, pineapple and many other fruits. It’s just important to remember if using a very watery fruit to cook the fruit pureé down so it thickens slightly.
Yes! This recipe is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
More strawberry recipes to try
- Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles
- Strawberry Chia Seed Smoothie
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Pudding
If you tried these Strawberry Fruit Roll Up/Fruit Leather or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
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Strawberry Fruit Leather (homemade fruit roll-ups)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 1/4 hours
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
All you need is three ingredients to make these delicious and healthy homemade fruit roll-ups!
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh strawberries, stems removed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (can omit if your strawberries are very sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Pureé the strawberries, lemon juice and maple syrup in a high-speed blender or food processor until smooth.
- Add the strawberry pureé to a saucepan and cook on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes until the pureé begins to thicken.
- Pour the strawberry pureé onto the baking sheet and spread evenly to coat the silicon mat. Try to spread the mixture as evenly as possible.
- Bake for 3-4 hours, turning the pan halfway.
- You’ll know they are done when you touch them and it’s no longer sticky. If it’s still sticky put the fruit leather back in the oven for another 30-60 minutes.
Notes
Cook time may vary depending on your oven. Check on the fruit leather every hour or so.
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll up
- Calories: 25
- Sugar: 4g
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 6g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 0.5g
Keywords: fruit roll up recipe, homemade fruit roll ups, fruit leather, homemade fruit leather, fruit strips
I also did use parchment paper so iccan have them separated . I forgot to add. I didn’t have silicone baking sheets. 😉
★★★★★
SO tasty and way healthier than the store bought ones!
★★★★★
Happy you enjoyed the recipe Jay!
Homemade fruit leather is the best. This looks yummy! I’ve usually made it in my dehydrator, but it takes days. I’m going to try it in my oven!
Hope you enjoy!
I have a couple of questions. One can you cook this in an air fryer. Two can you make it with any other fruits?
Hi Diane, you can 100% make these with other fruits! As for the air fryer, I haven’t tried that out so I can’t say
Can one use wax or parchment paper in place of silicone mat?
Hi Gabby, it should technically work, but parchment and wax paper are very thin so it may be a bit more difficult to lift the fruit roll up off the paper
Can you use frozen fruit?
Hi Erin, for this recipe I recommend fresh fruit
Can I add carrots or other veggies? Would I steam or cook the veggie to soften it first?
Hi Will, absolutely! I would recommend to steam the veggies like carrots to soften them, and then blend them up with the fruit.
I would love to try this recipe but my cooker doesn’t go low enough 🙁 gas mark 1 is like 275°F! Oh well….I can dream!!
Hi Raboosha, that’s a shame! I hope you can try them and make them at someone else’s house!
These look sooo yummy Jess! Must try to make these!
Thank you Cat! I hope you enjoy the recipe!