In the past week, I’ve rejuvenated my sourdough starter, made several loaves of bread, simmered vats of stock, and cooked up batches of soup. Today, I’m sharing a recipe for a fruit treat that’s marketed to kids, but proves irresistible to adults — 3-Ingredient Strawberry Roll-Ups.
When I was testing this recipe for The 3-Ingredient Baking Book, I was a bit surprised by the response. I new kids would like it, but the adults? Surely, they’d take a polite bite and hand the rest to their offspring. Nope. They devoured these treats. I even found myself snacking on them every time I wandered through the kitchen. Guess the kid in us never really grows up.
So, feeling up to giving this a try? Here’ are some tips for the uninitiated:
VARIATIONS: Fruit roll-ups can be made with almost any single fruit or combination. You can use fresh fruit in season or frozen any time of year. You can add vanilla to the puree for smoothness, or a bit of ginger for zing. Want to make it vegan? Skip the honey and use maple syrup instead. Just don’t add anything with fat, which can go rancid. So, skip the nuts, coconut, and avocado. Leave those for smoothies.
EQUIPMENT: A roll-up, aka fruit leather, is basically dehydrated fruit puree. All you need is a blender, a rimmed baking pan, and an oven set to its lowest setting. Of course, those of you with a dehydrator can skip the baking sheet and oven, and set your machine to “fruit/135F”. Depending on the model of your dehydrator, you might end up with fruit wedges, not straight strips, but they’ll taste just as good.
TIME COMMITMENT: When you see 6+ total hours on the recipe instructions, don’t panic. Yes, roll-ups take time, but they aren’t demanding. This is bad news for the impatient, but good news for the lazy. During the long oven time, you don’t have to flip, stir, or nurture the roll-ups in any way.
So, got some strawberries? What are you waiting for?
Turns out fruit leather isn’t just for kids. My test batches disappeared thanks to the 40+ crowd. I even found myself wandering into the kitchen for “just one more strip.” Will kids like it? I hope not. The adults around here don’t want to share.
Preheat the oven to its lowest setting, 150°F to 170°F (70°C to 80°C).
Place the strawberries, lemon juice and honey in a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth.
Pour the fruit mixture onto the prepared baking sheets to form a layer between 1⁄8 inch (3 mm) and 1⁄4 inch (0.5 cm) thick. Spread with a spatula if the mixture doesn’t look even. Resist the temptation to make the layer thicker than 1⁄4 inch (0.5 cm), or the leather will crack and not dry out properly. (See Tips for what to do with any excess.)
Bake in the preheated oven, with the racks placed in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, until the mixture is dry yet pliable, about 4 to 6 hours, depending on thickness and oven temperature.
Remove from the oven and place a fresh sheet of parchment paper over the fruit leather. Press to adhere. Flip onto a flat work surface so the fresh parchment is on the bottom. Peel away the layer of parchment that the leather was baked on. Using scissors or a pizza cutter, remove any uneven edges, then cut into strips 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Roll up the strips. Eat immediately or at room temperature.
Notes
You can use fresh or frozen and defrosted strawberries.
Any excess fruit mixture can be used in a smoothie or poured over Vanilla Ice Cream (page 184).
Store the roll-ups at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
