Make Your Own Fruit Roll Ups

Artificial ingredients, preservatives, & harmful chemicals are everywhere in foods these days. And as a mom, I can't stand the thoughts of letting my kids eating all those additives. So today I'd like to share a kid favorite, but the healthy alternative, fruit roll ups!

Take a look at the ingredient list in General Mills Fruit Roll-Ups: pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, citric acid, sodium citrate, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, dextrose, maltic acid, ascorbic acid, natural flavor and the following food coloring: blue 1, red 40 and yellows 5 and 6.

Here is the ingredient list for my Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups: organic fruit

Which one sounds most appealing to you?! Exactly. 

This recipe is pretty flexible. You have the freedom to pick one fruit or mix different kinds. You can use fresh or frozen fruit. Below the recipe are some fruit combination suggestions, but feel free to try out your own combos too. I suggest making a few different trays of fruit at the same time because these won’t last long in your house and though they are VERY simple to make, they do take a long time to set.

1. Warm the fruit in a pot on the stove and mix it into a puree. If there are seeds in the puree you can pour it into a sieve to get the seeds out (I didn’t).
2. Spread the puree on a oil-sprayed silpat baking mat or parchment paper (BE SURE to spray! If you don’t it will stick!). 1 1/2 cup of fruit puree is enough for 1 baking sheet, and put in the oven on 140°F (or as low as your oven can go. my stove’s lowest temperature is 170). Leave the oven door open a little bit to let the moisture out.
3. They are done when the puree isn’t sticky anymore, you normally need between 5-8 hours depending on the oven and your fruit choices. (If you live in a warm climate, you can just leave the pan in the sun for the day).
4. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut them and roll them with wax or parchment paper when they are still warm. Enjoy this healthy alternative.

You can also use a dehydrator if you have one! Just check your recipe book for heating times and directions. 

Fruit combination ideas:
Yellow: 1 fresh mango, 200 g dried apricots, 1 orange (the juice)
Purple: Frozen raspberries, frozen blackberries or blueberries and 1 banana
Green: Kiwi and mango
Blue: Blueberries and grape juice
Red: Strawberries and banana