Homemade Fruit Roll-ups {a recipe}

If there was one thing I loved growing up, and still do for that matter, it was a good ole fruit roll-up.  I used to fold it up as small as I could and pop the whole thing in my mouth. So fruity and tasty!  And I am pretty sure packed with sugar.  And a bunch of fake stuff.   Not these babies!

I've had this recipe tucked away for awhile and finally got around to trying it out.  Actually, I was waiting until Max was old enough to eat them.

mmmmmm!

These are super easy HEALTHY and as you can see, super yummy.  

And most importantly, kid approved.

all gone!

HOMEMADE FRUIT ROLL-UPS

As I stated, these are beyond easy.  All you need is some fruit and something to sweeten the fruit a bit.  Be creative on the fruit!  Peach, raspberry, strawberry... so many yummy possibilities!  Mix and match and even use frozen fruit.

Start off with 3 cups of your fruit of choice and add about 3 tablespoons of honey and 3 squirts of lemon juice.  You can use sugar if you would like but I used honey because it is delish and a little bit good for you!

In a food processor, puree the fruit and honey mixture.  Once again, I do not own a food processor so into the trusty blender it all went.

Let's play a game.  NAME THAT KITCHEN APPLIANCE I WILL BE PURCHASING NEXT.

How beautiful and scrumptious does this look?!  I could drink it.  This however is not a drink recipe, so  don't drink the blended fruits.  Thank you.

Taste the blend to see if it is sweet enough for your liking.  If not, add some more sweetness.

Now loosely line a pan with cling wrap, leaving about an inch overhang on all sides.

I'm not really sure if this picture could be any more boring, but I needed to show you how to line the pan.  Do not press the wrap down around the sides.  The overhang is also important because the cling wrap will shrink in the oven (yes, this is all going in the oven) (no it won't burn or melt. the oven isn't hot enough for that) and you want some to stay left out.

Ahh.. before all this you need to turn on your oven to 140-170 degrees.  For me, that meant barely even turning the oven dial.

I know, another fascinating picture but do y'all have one of these?  If not you really should get one.  Your oven's built in temperature gage is probably off, ours is by 125 degrees, and most ovens, when it says is preheated, is actually not at the full temp you set it to yet.  So if you are having issues with over or under baking when you cook go get yourself a oven thermometer.

Now pour your fruit puree onto your lined pan and spread evenly with a spatula.  Try not to stick your face in the stream of fruit as you pour.

Put the pan in the oven and just let it sit in your 170 degree oven for about 6 hours.   Yes, it's awhile,  but go do laundry or something.  You are basically drying out the fruit and well, that takes time.  It smells fabulous though.

After about six hours, check your dried fruit. You will know it is ready when the fruit will not stick to your finger or leave an indention when you touch it.  Take it out and peel it off the wrapper and transfer it to some parchment paper.  Slice off the outer edges because those are hard and crunchy and pretty much don't taste real great.

Slice into strips and roll them up.  I used regular scissors for this. I found using them was much easier than cutting with a knife or even a pizza cutter. Tie the roll with a piece of string and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!