Apple Leather

As many of you know, we went apple picking yesterday.  As a result, my house is now bursting with apples.  My intention in gathering so many apples was to make applesauce, then can it.  My girls LOVE applesauce, and can easily go through a jar in 3 days.  I would much rather can it then run to the store every 3 days for a $3 jar of the stuff.  Additionally, I had hopes and dreams to make apple pie, apple fritters, apple bread, apple butter, and apple preserves.  Today I made apple leather and apple fritters.  The leather takes 11 hours overall, so it's definitely something you'll want to plan to make on a day when you will be home all day.  You can pop it in the oven and let it cook overnight as well.  Like the majority of kids on the planet, my kids LOVE fruit roll ups, however I do not like what many of them are made of.  I'm a picky mom, and I don't allow high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, artificial anything, and definitely no preservatives.  I thought what better way to give my kids the opportunity to have the yummy fruit roll ups without feeding them the yuckiness, then to make them myself.  So here we go-------------------->

To start, gather approximately 30 apples.  You can cut this in half if you don't want to make this much.  The amount of apples you use will not affect the recipe at all.

 Peel and core your apples.

Take them off and place them in a large bowl.

Once all of your apples are peeled and cored, place them in a large pot.  Run water over the apples until the water covers the top layer of apples.  Cook the apples on medium heat for 15 minutes, or until they're soft enough to mash.  Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to cook your apples in several batches.  While your apples are cooking, set your oven at 170 degrees F.

Once the apples are done cooking, drain the water from your pot.  Transfer the apples into your blender or food processor, and puree until the apples are thoroughly blended.  Add nutmeg, cinnamon, and 2-3 tbsp local honey to taste.  Give it a good blend one last time to mix all of the spices and sugar.

Grab a baking sheet and place a sheet of sturdy, microwaveable plastic wrap down.  Pour the apple puree onto the baking sheet, and spread to about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.  Make sure that none of the plastic falls over the puree, this could cause it to not dry out.

Place your baking sheet in the oven at 170 degrees F for 11 hours. 

Once your Apple Leather is done, let it cool before you try to peel it off of the plastic wrap.  You'll know it's ready when it peels off easily.  You can wrap the leather up in the plastic wrap it was cooked in, then place it in an airtight container to store.  

Since I just started my Apple Leather at 11am, I don't have a picture of a finished product, but will post it this evening as soon as it comes out of the oven.  You can make fruit leather with any of your favorite fruits.  That's a wrap =)

Recipe Ingredients:

30 Apples of your choice

Cinnamon to taste

Nutmeg to taste

2-3 tbsp. local honey

30 apples makes 2 large baking sheets, and 1 small sheet.  

4 cups of fruit = 1 baking sheet of fruit leather.

Alternatives to cooking in the oven for 11 hours:

Dehydrator

Lay fruit out on a tray, place outside on a hot, sunny day, and tent with cheese cloth.  The fruit will dehydrate over the course of the day.