Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Homemade fruit roll ups are surprisingly easy to make and need only 3 ingredients- or less! This version of the childhood treat is full of wholesome real ingredients and sweet delicious flavor.

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Who didn’t grow up eating fruit roll ups or fruit by the foot as a kid?

They were a lunchbox staple and taste just like childhood.

My boys love them and I love to indulge them- especially when I can do it as wholesomely as this!

These natural fruit roll ups don’t have weird ingredients and tons of preservatives or sugar so you can feel good feeding this to your growing brood.

Ingredients

To make homemade fruit leather you need:

• Fruit– Fresh or thawed frozen fruit. Make sure you prepare it based on what kind of fruit you are using.
• Lemon juice– Freshly squeezed.
• Sugar or honey– Optional

How to Make

Place the prepared fruit  in a blender or food processor and puree until the fruit mixture is smooth.

Once you’ve pureed the fruit, transfer it to a saucepan and stir in the lemon juice and sugar or honey if you are using it.

Then, cook the fruit puree over medium to medium high heat for until the mixture has thickened and reached a jammy consistency,

Stir it frequently to prevent sticking or burning.

Once it has thickened, preheat the oven to 170 degrees, or as low as your oven will go, making sure it’s less than 200 degrees at the highest.

Spread the jam into a rectangle shape on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or with a sheet of parchment paper.

Gently spread the fruit puree as evenly as possible, until the rectangle is about 1/8 inch thick.

Cook in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the fruit mixture no longer feels sticky, but just a bit tacky.

At this point, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.

Gently remove the cooked, and now completely cooled, sheet of fruit by peeling it away from the silpat or paper and transfer it to a wax paper lined cutting board.

Use a sharp, metal pizza cutter to cut it into long strips.

Roll the strips of fruit leather up into the fruit roll ups, and enjoy!

What kind of fruit should I use to make fruit roll ups?

You can use almost any kind of fruit you’d like. We’ve done this with:

• strawberries
• blueberries
• raspberries
• bananas
• peaches
• mangos

And sometimes we mix and match our fruits!

Storing

I like to pop the roll ups into a ziplocking bag.

The fruit roll ups will keep for about a month on the counter sealed in a bag.

Are fruit roll ups healthy?

The store bought versions are more sugar than fruit, but these homemade roll ups are almost all fruit!

Why is my fruit leather cracking?

Your fruit roll ups may crack if you spread the fruit too thin before dehydrating it.

You really want to aim for right around an 1/8″ for optimal texture and flavor.

Tips and Tricks

• Our oven goes from the ‘warm’ setting to 200. Setting the temperature in between those two worked out perfectly.
• Keep in mind that the fruit rectangle will get even thinner as it cooks so just try to make sure that none of the jam is so thin that you can see through it as you spread it out on the baking sheet.
• If using lighter fruits like peaches and mangoes, your jam may still be see through in spots so really try to focus on keeping it close to the 1/8″ mark.

Other Homemade Lunch Box Snacks

Homemade fruit roll ups are the perfect treat to pack in a lunch box. Make them and enjoy a healthy version of the popular snack!

Looking for other homemade lunch box snacks? Try these:

• Easy Homemade Kettle Corn
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal Bars
• Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzels
• Mom’s Sweet & Salty Trail Mix
• Healthy Peanut Butter Apple Dip

If you’ve tried this HOMEMADE FRUIT ROLL UPS recipe, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!

Three Ingredient Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Homemade fruit roll ups are surprisingly easy to make and need only 3 ingredients- or less! This version of the childhood treat is full of wholesome real ingredients and sweet delicious flavor.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 46kcal

Author: Meaghan @ 4 Sons R Us

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 2 cups fruit fresh or frozen, but thawed if frozen
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2-3 tbsp sugar or honey optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Place the prepared fruit (i.e. bananas, peeled and sliced, strawberries, washed and hulled, etc) in a blender or food processor and puree until the fruit mixture is smooth without an chunks remaining. Transfer the puree to a saucepan and stir in the lemon juice and sugar.
• Cook the fruit puree over medium to medium high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking or burning, until the mixture has thickened and the excess moisture cooked out. You’re looking for a jammy consistency.
• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees, or as low as your oven will go, making sure it’s less than 200 degrees at the highest. Our oven goes from the ‘warm’ setting to 200, and we found setting it in between those two worked out perfectly.
• Spread the puree/jam into a rectangle shape on a baking pan lined with a silpat or with a sheet of parchment paper. Use a spatula to gently help ‘spread’ the fruit puree as evenly as possible, until the rectangle-ish shape is about 1/8 inch thick- without any spots that are thin enough to see-through.
• Cook in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the fruit mixture no longer feels sticky, but just a bit tacky. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
• Gently remove the cooked, and now completely cooled, sheet of fruit by peeling it away from the silpat or paper and transfer it to a wax paper lined cutting board. Use a sharp, metal pizza cutter to cut it into long strips. Roll them up into the fruit roll ups, and enjoy!

Notes

• Our oven goes from the ‘warm’ setting to 200. Setting the temperature in between those two worked out perfectly.
• Keep in mind that the fruit rectangle will get even thinner as it cooks so just try to make sure that none of the jam is so thin that you can see through it as you spread it out on the baking sheet.
• If using lighter fruits like peaches and mangoes, your jam may still be see through in spots so really try to focus on keeping it close to the 1/8″ mark.

Nutrition

Calories: 46kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 179IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

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recipe originally published June 4, 2015

This post may contain affiliate links. As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my full Disclosure Policy for details.