So I’ve made Raspberry Peach Fruit Leather. And then I made Mango Fruit Roll-Ups. But I’m not going to rest on my delicious fruit snack laurels! No! I’ve been floating around ideas and trying to think of something that would work during winter and then it hit me: banana fruit leather. So I made it and it was good. And then I made it again and it was still good. Good enough to share, in fact. Here’s how to make banana fruit leather without a dehydrator:
Before you start, you will need 4 ripe bananas. You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 175ºF and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. (Don’t spray on too much–you don’t want oily banana fruit leather.)
Peel your bananas and cut them into large chunks.
Now you need to puree your bananas. I like using an immersion blender, but a food processor or regular blender is fine. Make sure there are no large banana pieces. It needs to be smooth!
Try not to eat the puree. It’s delicious! It’s almost like banana pudding. (Okay, not really. But I try to convince myself it is.) Pour the puree onto your greased baking sheet. Hopefully your baking sheet is in better shape than mine–oh, the shame!
Using a spatula, spread the puree to cover the baking sheet. It’s really important to make sure it’s spread evenly, otherwise you’ll end up with parts that are crispy and parts that are chewy. If this happens, it’s not the end of the world though–the crispy bits are good too.
Bake at 175 degrees and keep an eye on your fruit leather’s progress. Mine took 2 1/2 hours to cook. (If parts on the edges are done and the center is still wet, you can cut those parts off and return the baking sheet to the oven.) When the fruit leather is done, you should be able to easily lift it from the pan–it should be pliable, but not wet. Use a pizza cutter or kitchen scissors to cut into strips or shapes.
Your fruit leather is unlikely to last very long. It’s just that good! But if you do have leftovers, you can wrap it in plastic and store it for 1 month at room temperature or 1 year in the freezer. (Note that I haven’t actually tried storing my fruit leather this long, but that’s what the National Center for Home Food Preservation says.)
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