Fruit Roll-Ups are a regular fixture on the kid circuit, showing up at soccer games, parties, and even school snack time. But most of them have multiple added sweeteners, oil, synthetic dyes, and juice concentrate instead of actual fruit.
So I make my own in the oven as an occasional treat. I’ve tried all kinds of fruit, including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and apples. I typically use a combination of fruit, lemon juice, and sugar. (Get my recipes for Strawberry Fruit Leather and Apple Cinnamon Fruit Leather).
As a Grapes From California Blogger Ambassador, I’ve spent time tooling around their recipe page. They already have a recipe for grape fruit leathers. But I wondered: Since grapes have such an intense, natural sweetness, could you skip the added sugar completely? I tried it, and it worked! Then I made a second batch without lemon, and my kids gave it the coveted double thumbs-up.
A one-ingredient recipe. Can’t beat that.
But I’m not going to sugar-coat it: Making homemade fruit leather can be tricky. And sometimes sticky. Whenever I post about fruit leathers here or on my Real Mom Nutrition Facebook page, I hear from at least one frustrated reader whose fruit leather flopped. So if you want to try your hand at homemade fruit leather, keep in mind my four top tips:
1. Use a Silpat. I know some people make fruit leather on parchment, but a Silpat baking mat
is ideal for the job. I’ve had my Silpats for more than a decade and they’ve held up well. If you do a lot of baking, it’s definitely worth having.
2. Make it even. This is key. It helps ensure that your edges aren’t crispy while your middle’s still gooey. Use a spatula to spread your mixture on the Silpat. Then, holding the pan at each end, bang the pan on the counter a couple of times to evenly distribute the mixture across the baking mat.
3. Peek. A lot. Once the leather has been baking for about two hours, start checking it every 15 minutes or so. Depending on your oven and the thickness of your mixture, the total baking time may be more than three hours. The leather is ready when it still feels a little tacky but doesn’t come off on your finger when you touch it.
4. Don’t expect perfection. Some batches turn out better than others. Sometimes you’ll have a thick spot that just won’t dry. That’s okay. There’s a reason homemade leathers don’t look like the boxed kind, but in my book, that’s a trade-off worth making!
Homemade Grape Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh seedless grapes rinsed and removed from stems
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (or the lowest your oven will go).
- Puree grapes in a blender until completely smooth.
- Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Spread mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a Silpat baking mat. Holding the pan firmly at each end, bang the pan on the counter to be sure the mixture is evenly distributed across the Silpat.
- Bake for 2-4 hours, checking frequently. The fruit leather is done when it’s sticky but doesn’t come off on your finger when lightly touched. The edges will dry out first and you can remove those with a pizza cutter partway through baking and continue to bake the rest. When everything is dried out, remove from oven and let cool.
- Cut into strips (a pizza cutter works great for this job) and place on parchment or waxed paper. Cut paper into strips and roll up.
- Store in airtight container for up to three days or in refrigerator for up to one week.
Disclosures: I’m happy to be working with Grapes from California as a Blogger Ambassador. I am compensated for my time. All opinions expressed are my own. This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through this link, your cost will be the same, but I will receive a small commission to help with operating costs of this blog. Thanks for your support!
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Kristy @ Chocolate Slopes says
Wow! You can’t beat a 1-ingredient recipe! I personally don’t buy fruit roll-ups of any kind, and since my kids are still young enough, they barely know food like this exists. But of course that won’t last forever, so I will have to give these a try. Thanks for the additional tips!
Kathy says
Try adding a little unsweetened applesauce to your grape puree, it firms them up a little and cuts the sticky factor. I actually add UNSWEETENED applesauce to all my leathers for improved texture. I can replace half the mixture without a noticeable difference in flavor but much improvement in texture. With grapes I puree them in blender, strain them into a pain and reblend the skins to make them a bit smaller (it’s too sticky if you leave the skins out) I simmer it all to reduce the liquid and thicken it up (it makes a big difference in the finished product). The best Raspberry ones I’ve ever made are a mixture of Grape puree (Green, Red or Black) unsweetened applesauce and deseeded Raspberry puree. I simmer 2 cups of Grape puree until it’s reduced to 1-1.25 cups then add 1 cup unsweetened applesauce and 2-4 Tablespoons Raspberry puree and simmer a minute or two more (simmering makes the Raspberries sweeter) don’t be tempted to add more than 1/4 cup Raspberry to this it will be too overpowering because it all gets concentrated as it dehydrates (I use 2TBL most of the time). You will be amazed at the Raspberry flavor using so little Raspberry (think the best Raspberry jam you’ve ever had) These come out thicker than any of the other fruit/fruit combos I’ve made (I’ve made just about every fruit and fruit and vege combo you can think of). Applesauce definitely helps to thicken other flavors and reduce the stickiness of some. Grapes keep them soft or more pliable…I’m experimenting with other grape combos now. Enjoy!
Sally says
Kathy–I love the idea of adding some unsweetened applesauce to make it less thick. Sounds like you’re a pro at fruit leathers. Thanks for your tip!
Cheri says
Tried this two times – one with grapes and no applesause and the second time with grapes, 2 tblsp rasp and 1 c applesause – neither one turned out and cannot taste the raspberries!
Alice morgan says
On step four in your instructions to make the grape leather it would be nice if you would give us the size of your cookie sheet that you used for I believe it was the 3 cups you said 3 cups of grapes that would give me some idea of how thick it should be I’m trying to do that today I’m leaving Tuesday for a trip to see my grandchildren and I’m panicking because I don’t have everything done that I need to
Sally says
It’s a half-sheet pan (same size as the Silpat)–about 17″ x 12″.
Emmett says
I made this with my grandmother as she lives in Chico, CA and has her own grape vines. They had to bake for way longer than it said and the inside wasn’t done while the outside had burnt. I made it exactly as the recipe said and at the temperature it said and checked it often. I’m extremely irritated as I thought this was going to be a good recipe.
Sally says
Hi Emmett–I’m so sorry to hear this didn’t work for you. Homemade fruit leathers are notoriously tricky to make. I’ve personally made them numerous times with all kinds of fruit and had success but I know some people have had problems. You may not be up for trying it again, but here are some ideas if you do: Put your oven at the lowest temperature it will go (even if it’s lower than 170), be sure the mixture is as even as possible on the sheet, and if the edges begin to dry out much sooner than the middle, you can cut those off and continue to bake the rest. Again, very sorry to hear about your experience. I know it’s frustrating to spend time with a recipe and not have it turn out.
Sally says
I’ve added a note in the recipe that you can remove the edges partway through baking if they begin to dry out!