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For me, one of the great sites and smells of summer is a big basket of fresh peaches. We love eating them so much in my house that I tend to go a bit overboard at the farmers’ market every Sunday and buy way more than we could possibly eat in a week. As the days go by, some get bruises while others become uber soft and juicy. Unless you want to eat peaches for every meal there’s nothing you can really do with them except….make fruit leather!
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If you think my kids like eating peaches, you should just see how excited they get for this homemade fruit leather. They go through it so quickly I tend to make about three batches a week, but one of the great things about this recipe is that it stays good for weeks, if not longer.
Peach Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 4 ripe peaches (skin on)
- 1 tablespoon honey (optional if fruit isn’t ripe enough)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225 F degrees.*
- Rinse and remove seeds from peaches.
- Place the peaches and honey in a blender and puree until smooth.
- Pour the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and spread with the back of a spoon or spatula in a large rectangle (my rectangle was 11 x 15 inches) making sure that the thickness is completely even.
- Bake for 3-4 hours or until dry and not sticky to the touch. Remember, cooking times will vary depending on how thick you spread your mixture and how much water (juice) is naturally in the fruit.**
- Set aside and cool at room temperature; it takes several hours for the fruit to soften up. Note that when you first take the fruit leather out of the oven, the edges will be a bit dry and crispy, but if you allow it to sit out for several hours it softens up nicely.
- Cut with a knife, pizza cutter or scissors into strips, keeping the paper on if desired, then roll the leather into “roll ups”.
- * If you choose to use a dehydrator, cook the fruit leather at 135 degrees for 5 hours.
- ** Every oven is different, so the cooking time maybe less than 2 hours if your oven tends to run hot.
I haven’t made leather in an oven– but I’ve never had it (or anything else, for that matter) burn in the dehydrator.
The bet part of about a dehydrator is that it cooks foods with a fan at a low temperature. Yes, you can cook it on a silpat which always helps. I made the peach fruit leather 6 times in the oven at various temperatures. The real trick is to keep an eye on it in the last hour of cooking and making sure it’s not to think. Thicker is better then thinner 🙂
I tried this recipe twice with strawberries and it just burned. It was either underdone or burnt. Did I maybe spread it too thin? I also used parchment. Does it make a difference if you use a silpat? I almost don’t want to try again until I get a dehydrator. Does the dehydrator make a big difference?
Sometimes I just leave the entire sheet on the counter, sometimes I roll them up and place the pieces in a glass container or tupperware. The recipe is very forgiving!
What’s the best way to store this if I can stop myself from eating it all at once? Thanks!
I’ve never tried canned peaches. I feel like they need to be fresh.
Will this work with canned peaches in the off season?
Skin on for more fiber 🙂
Do you peel the peaches?
Really?! You’re already past peach season? I’m actually surprised. We had peaches at our farmers market until the first week of November last year and they were still delicious. Different climates I guess.
Saving this for next year – we are way past peach season here in Tx.
You can do this with any berry or stone fruit. Our oven takes a lot longer, so test it on a day you will be around!
I think you can probably use any fruit. I made fruit leather with a bunch of dark sweet cherries and 1/4 cup of homemade (unsweetened) applesauce blended together last week and it was delicious!
Sounds fantastic. Can this be done with other fruits or does the recipie change too much?
Would this work with watermelon? I bought one and my Mom bought me one too. We can’t eat it fast enough, these fruit leathers would be perfect!
LOVE this! Looking forward to trying it tomorrow! 🙂