By Fredrica Syren
My daughter loves fruit leathers, so I’ve been buying them for the kids to have for snacks. However, because I really hate how pricy they are and the fact that they come individually wrapped in plastic, I decided to start making my own. It was much easier than I thought and the kids gave them thumbs up. I used a recipe from Two peas and their pod. It calls for added sweetener but I felt the ripe banana would make it plenty sweet. If you have a sweet tooth, just add sweetener anyway.
Fruit Leather:
- · 3 ripe peaches
- · 1 large ripe banana
- · Sweetener such as agave or honey
Preheat oven to 150 degrees F or the lowest temperature your oven will register. Line an 11 x 17 baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat. Set aside.
Chop all fruit and place into a blender or food processor and blend until pureed.
Pour fruit mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread to about a 1/8″ thick. I always pound the baking sheet on the counter a few times to make sure the fruit mixture is evenly distributed.
Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 6-8 hours, until pan is set and the center is not tacky. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Gently peel off the fruit leather from the Silpat. Using a pizza cutter, knife, or scissors, cut into squares or strips. If you want to make fruit roll-ups, roll the strips in parchment paper. Store in an airtight container.
Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites:
We have had super hot and dry temperatures in San Diego, so I made this snack one day when we were craving a cool but chocolaty treat. It’s much better and healthier than a store bought one.
- ½ cup raw cocoa
- 2 tbsp. Agave nectar
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ vanilla bean — scrape out and use the seeds
- 1 large ripe banana
- Lollipop sticks
- Hemp seeds
Slice banana into coins and stick lollipop sticks into one flat side. Place banana coins on a plate or cutting board and freeze for 1 hour.
Place coconut oil jar into warm water and let it liquify. Blend oil, cocoa power, agave and vanilla bean seeds in a bowl. Place hemp seeds into another bowl and set aside.
Remove bananas from freezer and dip each into the chocolate, then dip the tops into hemp seeds. Place them back onto cutting board. Now they are ready to enjoy or to be placed back into freezer for an ice cold frozen treat.
