It’s back to school week this week and I’ve been trying to think of some easy school snacks that I can make ahead for the kids. Well, we happen to have had a pretty steady amount of peaches and plums coming in, so why not? Let’s make some fruit leathers!
These are pretty easy to make, and you can decide if you want to sweeten them up or not. If you’ve got a bunch of ripe peaches or plums laying around and you don’t need any more jam or canned fruit, then this is a fun way to use them up. Plums are a bit easier because you don’t need to peel them (you don’t HAVE to peel the peaches, but ours were pretty fuzzy straight out of the orchard so I wanted to do a quick dip into boiling water anyway to remove the fuzz).
TIP: The measurements for the fruit and sugar are guidelines. If I have an extra bowl or tray of fruit laying around, I don;t really measure it, I just use what I have. And you don’t have to add any sugar if you don’t want to, otherwise sweeten your puree to taste.
If you prefer to use apples, check out our apple fruit leathers.
Homemade Fruit Leathers: Peach or Plum
Ingredients
- 7 lb plums or peaches, around 5 quarts bowl*
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar*
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400° F.
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Wash, cut in half and pit the plums. Lay halved plums out on rimmed cookie sheets with cut side up and place in the oven for 20 min. Check every 5 minutes to avoid burning the plums.
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After 20 minutes, remove plums from the oven and let them cool. Using blade attachment in the food processor, or a Vitamix blender, blend plums until smooth and pour finished mixture into a large bowl.
- Reduce oven temp to 170° F. Use the convection fan if you can.
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Add 3/4 cup sugar (optional) to blended plums and stir well. Add more or less sugar to taste if needed. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper covering the walls of the baking sheet as well, or use a nonstick baking mats. Pour the purée in to about an 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness.
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Let dry in the oven for as long as it takes for the purée to dry out and form fruit leather, about 4-8 hours, more or less depending on the thickness of your fruit leather. The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky and has a smooth surface.
*TIP: The measurements for the fruit and sugar are guidelines. If I have an extra bowl or tray of fruit laying around, I don;t really measure it, I just use what I have. And you don’t have to add any sugar if you don’t want to, otherwise sweeten your puree to taste.
