Strawberry Fruit Leather

Strawberries are in full swing this time of year here in the South and boy have we been taking advantage of it!  We have attempted to pick some from a local field but they just happened to not be picking that day.  Haha, such is our luck.  We'll definitely try again later.

The only problem I have when we get into this time of year is buying more than we can quickly eat and needing to come up with lots of ways to use them all.  This recipe is one of those examples.  My daughter loves fruit leather, as many kids do, so I thought this was the perfect way to use up some strawberries.

I didn't spread the puree out much on the cookie sheets I had so mine took longer to dry then the recipe below indicates.  It probably took 6 hours for mine to get done.  I didn't mind, it made my kitchen smell incredible and by the time they were done, I had plenty of time to roll them and take pictures. It worked out perfectly actually.

The other little helpful hint I will give you is this, make sure the edges and the middle are all the same thickness.  When the middle of my fruit leather was done, the edges were crispy.  Not that that matters, I just broke them off and crunched on them like little strawberry crackers.  They were quite yummy actually.

These are wonderful for road trips, school lunches, outdoor play or treats at an outdoor barbecue.  Or just to snack on. There are many different flavor combinations you can try, the Internet is magical when it comes to looking for new ideas!

Enjoy the fruits that are ripe in your neck of the woods, and make them last longer by making them into fruit leather!

Strawberry Fruit Leather

Recipe from Baked by Rachel

Ingredients

• 4 - 4 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (12x17 if you have it)
2. Preheat the oven to 170º
3. Puree all of the ingredients until smooth. You can strain to remove the seeds if you want to.
4. Pour half the mixture into each pan and use a spatula to make sure they are level, and thin. The thicker it is the longer it will need to bake. 
5. Bake for 3 hours total, turn 180 degrees half way through cooking and also switch the placement of the trays on the oven racks.  Like move the tray on the bottom to the top, and vice versa with the top tray. 
6. Cook until no longer tacky and move to a cutting board.  Cut into even sized pieces of your choice and then roll in either parchment paper or wax paper.  
7. Store in an airtight container.