The DIY Pantry (4 page)

Homemade fruit leather is notorious for ending up extremely chewy or brittle due to overdrying. By adding yogurt, you not only get the benefits of the probiotics; you also soften the leather and make it a bit more manageable.

1. If using an oven to dehydrate the leathers, preheat it to 140°F.
   
2. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If the mixture gets foamy, set aside for a minute or two to let the bubbles subside. If you want a seedless leather, pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve.
   
3. To dehydrate the fruit mixture in your oven, line the bottom of a large baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the purée onto the paper. The purée should be about
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₁₆
   " thick, and there should be a 1" border around the edge of the paper. Place the purée in the oven and cook until completely dry, about 8–12 hours.
   
4. If you’re dehydrating your leather in a food dehydrator, line a few dehydrator trays with parchment paper. Pour the purée onto the parchment paper and spread thin, preferably about
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₁₆
   " thick and leaving a 1" border around the edge. Dehydrate at 140°F for 4–8 hours.
   
5. The fruit leather is done when it is no longer sticky to the touch and the edge easily lifts up from the parchment paper. Roll the parchment paper into a tightly rolled tube, preferably while still warm, and slice or snip it into 1" strips.
   
6. Once cool, store the fruit leather in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
   

Fruit snacks are great anytime snacks because they can go anywhere. Whether you’re packing a child’s lunch, needing something to tide you over during an afternoon slump, or wanting a quick burst of energy when you’re out on a trail, these fruit snacks are certainly one of the best treats to have on hand. Due to the high percentage of gelatin, they’re firm enough to put up with travel and also provide you a good dose of protein. For the best flavor, choose very full-flavored fruits and fruit juices, such as berries, cherries, pomegranates, or blueberries.

1. Place fruit in a blender and purée until smooth. Make sure the final puréed product is equal to 1 cup.
   
2. Add the fruit juice and honey to the blender and purée again until smooth. Pour mixture into a large bowl and set aside. Have a whisk or a large spoon at the ready.
   
3. Fill a saucepan with 1 cup cold water and stir in the gelatin until combined. The mixture will be very thick and will want to congeal.
   
4. Place over medium-low heat and heat the mixture until the gelatin is dissolved, stirring occasionally, 3–4 minutes. With this amount of gelatin, it can sometimes be difficult to see whether all the gelatin is dissolved, but you’ll be able to make an educated guess by stirring it gently and observing whether whole granules are moving around in the mixture or not.
   
5. Pour the dissolved gelatin into the fruit mixture and whisk well to combine. Quickly pour the mixture into an ungreased 9" × 9" cake pan or into candy molds and allow to cool in the refrigerator uncovered for 2–3 hours. If you’re using candy molds, know that you must work extremely fast or the mix will set before you can pour it all.
   
6. Allow the fruit snacks to set completely before removing them from the cake pan or molds. If using a cake pan, place the fruit snack mixture on a cutting board and cut it into 144 pieces by cutting 12 strips, then cutting each strip into 12 pieces.
   
7. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 days, or in the refrigerator for 1–2 weeks.
   

Who doesn’t love indulging in this classic snack? While such guilty pleasures certainly are delightful, the store-bought versions of these popular sandwich cookies are filled with artificial ingredients, chemically refined flours, and high fructose corn syrup. This homemade recipe takes that ubiquitous childhood snack and turns it into delicious cookies that you don’t have to feel bad about eating! Also, if you make your own powdered sugar (see the recipe in
Chapter 7
), you’ll be using a less refined sugar, which at least provides a few minerals in your sugary indulgence.