Crafting Easy Homemade Fruit Leather in the Dehydrator

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Making homemade fruit leather in a dehydrator might seem a bit intimidating, but it’s simpler than you think!  This healthy snack uses only a handful of ingredients. The best part is knowing that your homemade fruit roll ups are free from preservatives, excess sugar, and artificial dyes! While there are several methods of drying the fruit, in this post, you’ll learn how to make fruit leather in the dehydrator. It’s the easiest, hands-off method that makes perfect fruit leather every time!

Sourcing Your Fruit

Using the most ripe fresh fruit you can find will make the best quality fruit leather. If you are lucky enough to grow your favorite fruit, fruit leather is a great way to preserve excess fruit. Purchasing fresh fruit from the farmer’s market is another great way to get the freshest fruit possible. I will warn you though that fruit leather never lasts long at our house! Dried fruit doesn’t fill you up the same way as fresh fruit, so you tend to eat more. 

While fresh fruit makes great fruit leather, it’s not always available.  Frozen fruit and canned fruit are other great options, especially for sourcing different fruits that may not be available locally. Each of these types of fruit is typically processed at the peak of ripeness, ensuring the tastiest homemade fruit roll-ups. 

Applesauce makes wonderful fruit leather! Whether you make your own or buy store-bought applesauce, the pureed fruit is an easy fruit to make for your first batch. I prefer cinnamon applesauce with a touch of honey for apple-cinnamon leathers! Fruit leather was the perfect way to transform a canning flop into a final product that we enjoy. I tried a shortcut to make applesauce more quickly and was left with an ultra-fine applesauce that we simply weren’t eating. Using my food dehydrator, I transformed the fruit puree into amazing fruit rollups!

Be creative in your fruit leather flavors. Mix fruits to create different flavors. While strawberry and peach fruit leather is a favorite. Create unique combinations of fruits to suit your family’s tastes. 

On the homestead, we like to be good stewards of our resources. Fruit leather is a great way to use the fruit puree that is left after making juice in the steam juicer. This allows me to get an extra bang for my buck, using the same fruit for multiple preservation methods! 

Best Way to Dry the Fruit

While fruit leather can be made in a conventional oven, the dehydrator makes the dehydration process very simple. There are many options available when choosing a food dehydrator.  I have owned my Nesco dehydrator for about 25 years. The vertical flow of the air makes drying slower than in some models. However, the ability to expand the dehydrator by simply adding trays was a reason I purchased my dehydrator. The one thing that I like the least about my dehydrator is the round footprint. The round donut hole-style trays are less user-friendly to load and work with. However, after 25 years, it still works great! Even today, the Nesco Food Dehydrator is still listed among some of the best food dehydrators on the market.  

Depending on how much you plan to dehydrate will likely determine your budget. Models like the Excalibur dehydrator have a lot of bells and whistles, but the high price tag may not be worth the big investment. If I were to replace my dehydrator now, I would choose a dehydrator with a square footprint that utilizes solid square trays. 

Preparing the Dehydrator Trays

You will need to line the trays of your dehydrator with fruit leather trays to contain the fruit puree during the drying process. When I bought my dehydrator the choices were limited to only plastic liners. A silicone mat is available now which likely makes the removal of fruit leather so much easier!

How to Make Fruit Leather in the Dehydrator

If you are using fresh fruit, wash, and peel when appropriate.   Remove stems or hulls and any unfavorable spots. Puree fruit using a blender or food processor. If the puree seems especially thick, you can add some extra liquid. Use water or fruit juice to thin it down slightly. Fruit juice has the benefit of adding natural sweetness to your fruit leather. 

If you are using canned fruits, drain and reserve the juice from the can. If you need to add additional liquid, use the reserved juice until you reach the desired consistency. 

While most sweet fruits are sufficiently sweet on their own, tart fruits may benefit from added sweeteners. Honey or maple syrup are good options. 

Lemon juice can be added to prevent the fruit from darkening, but consider it optional. 

Pour the puree onto the prepared trays. Be sure to spread the puree in an even layer. The thin layer should be about 1/8″ to 1/4″ in thickness. The thicker the fruit layer, the longer the drying time. The fruit will reduce quite a bit, so you want it to be thick enough to create a suitable layer of fruit leather. Each tray will hold between 2 and 3 cups of puree, depending on the size of your trays and the thickness you pour. If you have square trays you can cut parchment paper to fit the trays and pour the puree directly on the parchment paper making fruit roll sheets. Be aware that wax paper, plastic wrap, and foil are not appropriate for use in the food dehydrator. 

Temperature Setting

Once the trays are loaded, set your dehydrator to the fruit setting which is about 140 degrees. Depending on the thickness of your puree, and the efficiency of your dehydrator will determine how long it takes the fruit leather to dry. Allow at least 6-8 hours for drying, however I find that it takes longer.  To help ensure the trays dry evenly, I rotate the trays from top to bottom. I will restack the trays, putting the trays previously on the top on the bottom. 

Fruit Leather Doneness

As the fruit leather gets close to doneness, you will want to check. Drying time will vary from tray to tray. Look for wet spots. Some areas may remain slightly tacky when dry, which is fine but they should not be soft or wet. 

Removing the fruit leather can be tricky. Sometimes it comes off beautifully in a full sheet when it’s still warm. My cooked applesauce fruit leather works best this way. The fruit that I pureed in the blender seems to come off better once cooled. I work carefully around the edges of the plastic liner to carefully peel the fruit leather off. It may take some trial and error to find out what best works best for the specific fruits you have dried.

Long Term Storage

If you choose, roll the fruit leather into serving-size pieces with parchment paper. While I have rolled my finished fruit leather onto parchment paper, I have mixed feelings about it’s usefulness. Once cooled, the fruit leather does not stick to the parchment paper.  I found the parchment paper tends to come off in my storage container. However, it does tend to store better when rolled, otherwise the pieces stick together.

If you made your fruit leather on parchment paper, it’s not necessary to remove it.  Simply use a pizza cutter, sharp knife, or kitchen scissors to cut the fruit leather into strips. Roll into serving size pieces.

Store fruit leather in an airtight container for short-term storage.  It can be put into the freezer for long-term storage. At our house, long term storage is never an issue, we eat it much too quickly!

Try Some Today

Fruit leather is a great snack at home or on the go. Your own fruit leathers are only limited by your own creativity and food preferences!