Fruit Leather From a Jar of Applesauce
Unsweetened purée dried into sheets. A jar goes in, half an ounce comes out.
- calories
- 120
- weight
- 1 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Unsweetened fruit purée | 2 jars, about 8 oz each | applesauce, pear, or apple-berry blends all work |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon juice | 1 tsp | keeps light-colored fruit from browning |
| Cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | optional |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- At home, stir the purée, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl.
- Spread it onto dehydrator fruit-leather trays about 1/8 inch thick. Thin edges dry first and turn brittle, so keep the layer even.
- Run the dehydrator at 135°F for 6 to 8 hours. It is done when the center is tacky but nothing sticks to a clean finger.
- Peel the sheet off while it is still slightly warm, cut it into strips, and roll each strip in parchment.
- On the trail, unroll and eat. No water, no stove, nothing to pack out but the parchment.
An 8-ounce jar of applesauce is mostly water. Dry it and you are left with roughly half an ounce of fruit and a recyclable jar you never carried. That ratio is the whole argument: same sugar, same fiber, a tenth of the weight, and no core or peel to pack out at the end of the day.
Thickness is the only thing that goes wrong. Too thin and the sheet cracks into shards in your hip belt pocket; too thick and the middle stays wet, which is how a bag of leather goes moldy in week two. Aim for even, check the center rather than the edge, and give it another hour if you are unsure.
Packing
Rolled strips go in one zip bag with the parchment still on them. Squeeze the air out. Kept dry and dark, they hold for months; a vacuum seal pushes that closer to a year.
Variations
- Blend in a spoonful of chia before drying for a little more substance.
- A jar of baby-food prunes dried the same way is a laxative-adjacent but effective sugar hit.
- Dry sliced tomato, zucchini, and pepper on the other trays in the same run and drop them into couscous later.
https://lesacdurandonneur.com/le-deshydrateur-lindispensable-pour-la-randonnee-en-10-recettes-faciles