Home Made Fruit Roll Ups:

      After making these peanut butter cups for Shahin (of TheJukeBoxGallery.net) for our anniversary, he brought up another childhood treat I always loved. Does anyone else remember Fruit By The Foot? I have very fond memories of lining the top of my mouth with these strips of fruit leather, pretending it was a retainer, and showing everyone how gross I was. I realize that this may be an unappetizing story to some, but it's a fond food memory from my childhood. Looking back, my only problem with Fruit By The Foot was that the gummy fruit strips lacked any fresh or authentic flavor. So, (of course) I decided to make my own! These fruit rolls ups do require you to stay at home near the stove or oven for quiet awhile but this recipe requires very little skill and next to no hard work. The best part? These fruit roll ups can actually be made without sugar if you have overly ripe fruit on hand, making this recipe not only utterly tasty but also extremely healthful!  

Magic Ingredients:

-1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries

-3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

-Sugar to taste (depends on the ripeness of your fruit)

Let's get started!

1: Blend hulled strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until smooth.

2: Transfer mixture to a pot and cook on medium high heat until it boils.

3: Once the mixture has been brought to a boil lower heat to medium low and let reduce for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally in the beginning and frequently towards the end. Mixture should look something like the photo below (sorry for the mess... cooking isn't always clean):

4: Cover a cookie sheet with foil and line it with parchment and pour the berry mixture to the center of the sheet.

5: Spread the mixture to the edges of the parchment paper leaving a small border. 

6: Bake in a 200 degree oven for 3.5 hours. (I know its a long time but using your oven beats buying a dehydrator!). Remove from oven, let cool, and cut fruit leather into even strips.

7: Roll and tie the fruit strips with string:

8: Serve! 

      Store these in a plastic zip lock in your fridge for up to one week! Mine didn't last past day 2.....

Yours,

Nico