Looking back at elementary school, some of my happiest days were ones where my mom had hidden a cavity-inducing, red dye #5-filled fruit roll up in my lunch box. Of course, now that I look back it probably explains why I spent so much time in a dentist’s office growing up, too. For those of us that would love to relive that childhood nostalgia then here’s a guilt free homemade alternative. We decided to do a strawberry-mango flavor but feel free and choose any fruits you love (accept bananas, anything but bananas).
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4-6 hours
Total Time: 5-7 hours
Ingredients:
photo by Haley Durham
2 mangos
1 package of strawberries
2 cups of water
Special Tools Needed
Blender
Parchment paper
Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 200˚F.
2. Peel and cube your mangos.
photo by Haley Durham
3. In a small sauce pan put all your mangos and one cup of water (or enough to partially cover the fruit).
photo by Haley Durham
4. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the water begins to bubble.
5. Remove from heat and pour the mangos and water into a blender
6. While it cools; rinse and cut your strawberries into halves, removing the leaves as well.
photo by Haley Durham
7. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with your strawberries
photo by Haley Durham
8. Pour your strawberries and water into the blender
photo by Haley Durham
9. Blend on high until the mixture is a very smooth consistency
TIP: for an extra smooth texture you can put the mixture through a sieve to remove all the seeds and large pieces of pulp
10. Take out a baking sheet and lay parchment paper over it, being sure to cover the whole sheet.
11. Pour a thin layer of your fruit mixture onto the paper, making sure it is even through out.
photo by Haley Durham
12. You will probably have extra left over, feel free to either make a second batch or a smoothie, whatever you prefer.
13. Put the sheet in the oven and allow it to cook for 4-6 hours.
14. Test the fruit rolls by checking if they are tacky to the touch, it should not have a liquid consistency at all.
15. Once fully cooked remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly
photo by Haley Durham
16. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter slice the fruit sheet into strips
15. Roll up the strips and serve
TIP: these can also be put in a Tupperware and eaten through out the week, they should last a good while since virtually all moisture has been removed from them.