Apricot-Plum Fruit Leather

I heart fruit leather. And to my great delight, I discovered that it's ridiculously easy to make. AND since I have a neighbor with a tree full of apricots, it's very cheap. And tasty. 
 

The "recipe" that I posted here I feel guilty even calling a recipe. Notice I didn't claim it as my own. There are fancier recipes for fruit leather out there, but the most basic type involves picking, cleaning, and blending your fruit together. Then dehydrate, end of story. You can use any variety of fruit in any combination; the important thing is to make sure you have about 1/4 inch of puree in the pan before you start to bake. If you have a dehydrator, you can use that instead of your oven. My dehydrator is teensy weensy so I opted for the oven.

Your fruit leather should be a little more...picturesque than mine. I may have slightly burned this batch that I photographed (I ate the other tray before realizing it would have been much more photogenic), and then I let it sit too long before peeling it off the foil, which meant all the pieces came off in shards rather than nice strips...I realize it now looks like beef jerky, but it tastes significantly better. Just don't overcook yours.

Apricot-Plum Fruit Leather
Picture by Kelly

makes 2 large trays
5-6 medium sized plums*
8-10 cups apricots

1. Wash, pit, or core your fruit. Peel, if desired (I like to leave it on- it's faster and more nutritious). Puree the fruit.
2. Pour about 6 cups onto a large cookie/jelly roll pan lined with foil or parchment paper (the fruit puree should be about 1/4 inch thick on the tray). Bake 8-12 hours at 150 degrees F (if your oven's lowest temperature is 170, leave it opened just a crack with a towel). The fruit leather should be soft, but firm to the touch. Store up to 3 weeks at room temperature, or several months in the freezer.

*If you don't prefer plums or apricots, try apples, pears, peaches, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.