Apricot Leather

I have made apricot leather for years, and kids (and adults) love it. I do not add sugar, but add a banana to a blender of apricots. This gives sweetness without added sugar.

I was looking for fresh apricot recipes to use up all the fruit my tree produced. This one is the best I've found. My kids (except the one who doesn't eat things that don't come from a box) LOVED it - thought it was a fruit roll up. I lowered the sugar to 1/3 c. on the 2nd and 3rd batches because our apricots are really sweet by themselves so the first batch turned out a bit too sweet for me. My oven only goes to 170, but I just left it on and cracked open for the whole day. It took about 6.5 hours.

Very tasty! I didn't want to leave my oven on for hours while making several batches of leather, so I froze the apricot mixture in 2 cup pkg. so I can make the leather in the winter time whenever we want.

This recipe was very simple to put together and tastes wonderful! The only reason it received 4 out of 5 stars was because after 8 hours in the oven, I had to put it in my dehydrator to finish up. The lowest my oven goes is 170 degrees. I started it, set the timer for 6 hours and walked away. Apparantly because my oven is one of the newer models, it turns off the heating element when the door is open. The fact that when I followed the recipe and stuck a spoon in the door to keep it open, it turned off the heating element and didn't bake the leather :( A note to all who might have a newer model oven, check the users manual to see if it turns off the heating element when the door is open. If that's the case and you dont have a dehydrator as a backup, this might not be the right recipe for you. For everyone else, this is a great recipe. My kids loved every bite and I felt good about giving them something healthy without all of the additives most "fruit snacks" contain. Thank you for a great recipe!

This is great as is. I feel a little dumb that I didn't think of it myself. The pilot light in my gas oven with the light on for a little extra heat makes a great dehydrator. I didn't have to turn the oven on at all.

I couldn't wait so I used a 250 degree oven for 2 hours. Used a wooden spoon to keep oven cracked to allow moisture to escape. Awesome!

This was wonderful! Made as directed, except used a jelly roll pan, covered with saran wrap, and spread the mixture slightly thicker. I dried two batches at a time, rotating the pans every hour. It took 6.5 hours in my oven at 150 degrees. Great recipe for using up large amounts of fruit that might otherwise go bad. Thanks for sharing, Cheri!

you can also dry it in the sun, but it is nice to have some kind of net over it so that you don't get a lot of flies or other insects in it.

For those whose oven can only set to 170 degree the lowest, there is a way to trick the oven. There is a light button on the corner of your oven (mine is one the left hand side). You can see it when you open your oven door. When you use a long wooden spoon to keep the door ajar, make sure the spoon is also pushing that light button down, it will "fool" the oven to think the door is closed and the oven will keep running.

I'm not sure how to rate this recipe!! Taste wise - I would rate higher. However, my lowest setting on my oven is 170F so I had to keep turning it on briefly then off again!! Lucky I was home all day because that is how long it took.

Turned out great! Instead of sugar, I used 1/3 cup of raw agave syrup. I didn't need to dissolve the sugar so I put it directly into the blender.

It was delicious, but it took 12 hours to cook. It was very very good.

I have 2 huge apricot trees so I prepare gallons of apricot puree. I set up my 10 person tent and I have lots of plastic shelving and I lay plastic grocery bags out on the shelves as flat as I can get them and pour the puree onto the bags. Then I have 30-50 sheets of fruit leather in 2-3 days depending on humidity and heat. Also you don't have to worry about bugs.

made this with apricots from the freeser last week and trying it with fresh plums this weekend. The only difference I see is that the plum mixture is thinner but that may be because they are fresh as apposed to frozen. Kids loved it last week, made 4 pans of it and it's all gone!

My whole family loves fruit leathers including the hubby. Depending on the fruit's sweetness I normally don't add any sweetener and if they do need a bit of sweetness I add about a teaspoon of honey at a time until it reaches my desired sweetness. I find that baking them consolidates their sugars and they come out sweeter after baking than they did when I put them in the oven. I cook mine at my oven's lowest temp which is 170 and I do not prop the door open and they always come out great. I use silicone mats vs the plastic wrap and they peel off beautifully. I also triple the recipe so I can get the most bang for having my oven on for that long, just recommend rotating the pans every couple hours for even cooking. Enjoy these great treats that you don't have to feel guilty feeding your family.

I haven't pulled this out of the oven yet but I thought the idea was so good I should comment. I did change it a but... I followed the sans-sugar, banana instead suggestion and blended everything before putting it on the stove for 5 minutes. (I have this thing against blenderizing scalding hot items...) I'm sure this will turn out wonderful! Thanks again!

This is one of those "why didn't I do this sooner?" recipes. I love fruit roll ups but really hate the amount of sugar that goes into them - never mind the artificial stuff that a lot of them seem to have. I would suggest using parchment paper sprayed with vegetable oil instead of plastic wrap, especially if your oven only goes down to 170 like mine!

This is a delicious snack alternative when you have a sweet tooth. I tried using up some of my canned fruit the first time I made it. That wasn't the best idea-too much liquid in it-and it took forever for the fruit to dehydrate. The finished product however, was delicious. I am off to make this again, and will be trying it in the future with all different fruits.

This seemed like a great recipe, but after several batches/days I could never get the middle to dry out or the plastic to not melt. If I turned up the heat as others did then the plastic wrap would melt into my pan. Sigh. I really wanted this to work - but I think I just need a dehydrator.

Please note! it should say 150F and 65C not 165C! Love the taste!

This looks like a good recipe but i have my own for pineapple/apricot great idea for dehydrating!! by the way 150 deg F is 66 deg C most ovens only go down to 170 deg F which is 77 deg C

I blended the apricots first , they started turning brown pretty fast added the lemon juice and sugar and brought to a slow boil . Removed from heat . I filled my vitamix up to about 4 cups of apricot halves..it blended down to about 2 cups. Used sugar and lemon juice as in recepie. I used my old dehydrator and lined the trays with Glad press and seal wrap. Cut out the middle and rolled the sides to make a gap for circulation around the edges. Only filled two trays.

My mother and I have made this for YEARs...we cover the trays with cheese cloth and set them out on the roof of the house...they dehydrate by the heat of the sun...yummy

So super easy and kids loved it...It did take longer for mine to set up and cook but I left it overnight and it was fine.

not sure yet,I goofed and pureed so many batches I was tired.I forgot you have to cook it first but it has been in the oven 8 hrs. now and getting dryer so I still have hope.Especially after reading the post from one who set up a tent and let hers dry and took 2-3 days.Have my fingers crossed.......

Kids love it! I have to do things differently, so I sprinkled coconut flakes on top before drying in our dehydrator. We also used agave, but the original recipe is still very good.

Very nice when finally dehydrated. It took 12 hours at 200 F. Very tasty!

in a dessicator for 10 hours and you end up with a crunchy fruit crisp - very addictive!

I don't know what I did wrong, but after 1 hour in the opened oven it was completely burnt to a crisp.

Very good. I want to try with other fruit.

This is a fun recipe. I live in Arizona and set them outside to dry with a cheese cloth covering them. It worked surprisingly well.

It turned out terrible. The sugar caramelised leaving it with a burnt flavour. In wondering whether drying it at 150 in a fan oven was the right thing to do. I clearly did something wrong.

This is a fun recipe. I live in Arizona and set them outside to dry with a cheese cloth covering them. It worked surprisingly well.

not sure yet,I goofed and pureed so many batches I was tired.I forgot you have to cook it first but it has been in the oven 8 hrs. now and getting dryer so I still have hope.Especially after reading the post from one who set up a tent and let hers dry and took 2-3 days.Have my fingers crossed.......