Making Strawberry Fruit Leather in the Dehydrator couldn’t be any easier, and it’s the perfect use for summer strawberries!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Simple and Versatile: You can turn almost any fruit into delicious fruit leather. While we love experimenting with different flavors, Strawberry Fruit Leather is a classic favorite in our kitchen.
- Naturally Sweet: Made with fresh summer strawberries and a touch of honey or agave, this recipe creates a naturally sweet snack that’s far healthier than store-bought fruit roll ups that are loaded with sugar.
- Great for Using Seasonal Fruit: This recipe is a perfect way to use up extra seasonal fruit and reduce food waste while making something your kids will love.
- Kid-Approved: My kids love the fun, strip-form presentation of homemade fruit leather, and I feel good knowing it’s made from simple, wholesome ingredients.
- Endless Flavor Options: If strawberries aren’t available, you can easily switch it up with other fruits and make Peach Fruit Leather, Persimmon Fruit Leather, or Pineapple Fruit Leather. The possibilities are endless, and each variation makes for a delicious, on-the-go snack!
The Ingredients
- Fresh Strawberries: The more ripe the berries, the more naturally sweet they’ll be. I often use strawberries that are about to go bad so that we minimize food waste!
- Honey: Having additional sweetener is optional. If you feel your strawberries are sweet enough, leave it out. You could also use agave instead of honey if that’s what you prefer!
How to Make Strawberry Fruit Leather in Dehydrator
This strawberry fruit leather recipe is made in a countertop dehydrator. If you’re going to be making fruit leather often, a dehydrator is worth the investment. It prevents the need to turn on your oven, and you can set it and forget it for several hours. If you don’t have a dehydrator, here’s a recipe post on how to make strawberry fruit leather in the oven!
Step 1: Prep the strawberries by washing and remove the stems. I used this strawberry huller!
Step 2: Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Drizzle a bit of honey or agave if you want to sweeten them up a bit. This is optional, and if your berries are very sweet, you can skip the additional sweetener. Blend until smooth.
Step 3: Pour the strawberry puree onto a dehydrator sheet. Use a spoon or offset spatula to spread the mixture in a completely even layer. You don’t want the mixture to be too thin or too thick – this is where the experimenting comes in to play!
Step 4: Place the sheets in the dehydrator, set to 135°F for 3-4 hours, until the fruit leather is dry to the touch, and no longer sticky. Cut the fruit leather into strips and roll them up in parchment paper.
Tips for Making Homemade Strawberry Fruit Leather
- Storage: Fruit leather can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few months, although ours are usually gone much faster than that!
- Use Ripe Strawberries: For the best flavor and natural sweetness, choose ripe strawberries. The riper the berries, the more vibrant and delicious your fruit leather will be.
- Spread Evenly: When spreading the strawberry puree onto the dehydrator trays, aim for an even thickness. This ensures consistent drying and prevents some areas from becoming too brittle while others stay too moist.
- Check for Doneness: Your fruit leather is ready when it’s no longer sticky to the touch and peels easily from the tray.
FAQs
Cracking can happen if the fruit leather is too dry. Next time, check for doneness earlier or spread the puree slightly thicker on the tray. Homemade fruit leather can be a bit of trial and error!
Absolutely! You can blend strawberries with other fruits like raspberries, blueberries, pineapple or peaches to create unique flavor combinations.
The drying time can vary depending on the thickness of the puree, the dehydrator you use and the settings you have it on. Typically, it takes anywhere from 3 to 5, sometime up to 8 hours at 135°F to achieve the perfect texture.
More Recipes Using Strawberries
Whip up this easy, healthy Strawberry Fruit Leather in your dehydrator for a snack that both kids and adults will love. Feel free to experiment with different fruits, and enjoy a treat that’s as fun to make as it is to eat! If you have any questions, leave a comment below!
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Strawberry Fruit Leather – Dehydrator Method
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups strawberries
- 1 tablespoon honey or agave, optional
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries and remove the stems.
- Place strawberries in a blender. Drizzle with honey or agave if you want to sweeten them up a bit. This is optional, and if your berries are very sweet, you can skip additional sweetener. Blend strawberries until smooth.
- Pour the strawberry puree onto a dehydrator sheet. Use a spoon or offset spatula to spread the mixture in a completely even layer. You don't want the mixture to be too thin or too thick – this is where the experimenting comes in to play!
- Place the sheets in the dehydrator set to 135°F for 3-4 hours, until the fruit leather is dry to the touch, and no longer sticky.
- Cut the fruit leather into strips and roll up in parchment paper. Fruit leather can be stored in at airtight container at room temperature for a few months, although ours never last that long!
Video
Notes
- Storage: Fruit leather can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few months, although ours are usually gone much faster than that!
- Use Ripe Strawberries: For the best flavor and natural sweetness, choose ripe strawberries. The riper the berries, the more vibrant and delicious your fruit leather will be.
- Spread Evenly: When spreading the strawberry puree onto the dehydrator trays, aim for an even thickness. This ensures consistent drying and prevents some areas from becoming too brittle while others stay too moist.
- Check for Doneness: Your fruit leather is ready when it’s no longer sticky to the touch and peels easily from the tray.
[…] purchasing Weelicious by Catherine McCord, I’ve been eying her Strawberry Fruit Leather recipe. Always skeptical, I end up cutting up the fruit and eating it raw, rather than wasting it […]
This was AMAZING!!! 😀 I think due to the different temperatures at which our ovens cook, the best way to do this is to keep checking on the leather every 20-30mins or so. I caught mine browning at the edges at 1.5 hrs, with the centre still squishy, so I lowered the temp and kept it going for another hour and it’s turned a beautiful dark red. Love it!! I even ate the slightly browned sides. It tasted like strawberry honey crisps! 😀
Thank you, Catherine! Loved fruit leather from the store as a kid.. And was always deprived by my mum cuz of the colouring.. Now i know how to make this! And my dear daughter can enjoy em! 😀
Just made this and it worked out well! I took some suggestions from other reviews and poured the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat. I rotated the tray several times and dryed it for two hours. Then I turned off the oven and let the tray sit for awhile. The drying process was perfect, but I think I’ll make more mixture next time because it ended up to be thin and the edges crisped up. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve only done it once, but I think it was too juicy, I used frozen strawberries, and had to add some water to get it to puree correctly, but I think I added too much, and it was too thin, so it spread over the whole pan, and burnt… I’m hoping to try again, so we’ll see how that goes! I baked it for 2 1/2 hours, before that the rim was done, but the middle was still liquid.
3 cups of strawberries, before pureeing! Also, it doesn’t really matter how much puree you make. The trick is to get it completely even!
I tried this recipe, as well as watched the video. The first batch didn’t come out so well, ended up burning the whole thing. In the the recipe it calls for 3 cups of strawberries but in the video, it looks like you’re using more than 3 cups. So is that meant to be 3 cups of pureed strawberries or 3 cups of dry strawberries.
Catherine, I saw you on the chew last week and ever since then I’ve been on your website. I love it! I have an 18 month little girl and love to make everything for her…your recipes have been so helpful and your videos are helpful and so fun! Anyway I made the fruit leather this morning..grocery store organic berries…3 hours…and got a small patch of actual fruit leather..the rest burnt bitter nastiness!,! I will try again next weekend!
my leather is stuck to the parchment paper! how do I get it off? it looks and smells delicious but I cant eat it since I cant peel it off the paper.
Awesome! I love everything you make!
Fahrenheit!
Is this oven temp in degrees F or C?
I think they might be too juicy.
Do you think I can take frozen strawberries (that I froze fresh last summer) out and thaw them and use for this? I am just worried that they will be too juicy?
I love these fruit leather recipes. Could u please make more of them?
so excited to try some of these for my uber-picker 4 1/2 year old!
Nope, I store it on the countertop!