I’ve posted fruit leather recipes before, but if I haven’t convinced you yet, let me try again: making your own fruit leather is super easy. Super easy. And when you make it yourself, you’re making it without food coloring, without sugar, and without artificial flavors. Just fruit, nothing else. This is a great summertime activity for kids too.
So are you convinced? Yes? Well, let’s make some Strawberry Banana Fruit Leather!
Start with high quality strawberries. Not those crunchy apple-sized ones that taste like a whole lotta nothing. You’ll need about 2 cups of strawberries and 1 large banana.
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees. Cut the tops off the strawberries (be sure to wash them first!) and cut the banana into large chunks. Throw them in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Taste the mixture to see if any sweetener is needed–if the fruit was ripe, you shouldn’t have to add anything, but if the berries were a little tart, stir in honey or agave nectar to taste. You can put the mixture through a fine mesh sieve if you want to remove the seeds, but it’s really not necessary.
Pour the fruit mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet that’s been coated in cooking spray.
Use a spatula to spread the strawberry banana puree so it covers the baking sheet evenly. This might take a little time, but it’s an important step! Place baking sheet on the center rack of the oven.
Because fruit varies in water content and ovens vary in how they cook, I can’t tell you exactly how long the fruit leather will need to bake. This particular batch took 2 1/2 hours, which seems to be about the norm for my oven. (Note that my fruit leather is thinner than many other recipes, which is why it takes less time.) You want the leather to be pliable, but not wet; you should be able to touch the fruit leather without leaving an indentation.
You may notice the edges of the fruit leather are done before the center, particularly if the puree wasn’t spread evenly on the baking sheet before going into the oven. That’s okay! Just cut the edges off and return the fruit leather to the oven until the rest of it is done.
Once the fruit leather is done, cut it into strips or shapes using a pizza cutter, knife, or kitchen shears and when it’s cooled completely, wrap or roll in plastic or wax paper.
We usually eat our fruit leather within a day or two, but according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, it will last up to 1 month when wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature or 1 year in the freezer.
Now wasn’t that easy? I told you it was!
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Wow, that’s so easy! I love your step-by-step photos!
Thank you! I normally hate doing step-by-step photos because it cramps my style, but this recipe was so easy that it was doable.
yay for the animated gif!
If you didn’t cut off the edges until after you were done cooking the entire sheet, how badly would they burn?
I don’t know that they’d burn (unless you spread the mixture REALLY unevenly), but the edges would definitely be a little crispy. The crispy bits do still taste good though.
I totally love this. And no offense to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, but there is no way this would last that long in my house without being eaten first
Yeah, between my husband and I, we usually finish it off in an afternoon.
But it’s healthy! So it’s okay!
Ok, you’ve convinced me
Homemade fruit leather has been on the to-try list for awhile but given my rolling ability with pie crust/pizza dough/etc. it makes me nervous getting something that thin 
Well, the worst thing that can happen is that parts of it will get a little crispy. And it’s really not such a terrible thing because the crunchy parts are delicious too! So it’s a win-win situation.
What temperature was your oven at?
Thanks – looks really good
You bake the fruit leather at 175 degrees.
Would never last a month at my house, looks delicious! Great flavors, too!
Yeah, I think I’d have to make several trays at once to get them to last a month!
how easy are these.! i didnt want to invest in a dehydrator just yet. wouldnt last for more than a day or 2 in my house too!
Whenever I make fruit leather, I vow that I’ll save it so I can eat it later, but it never happens.
Yummy! I love making fruit leather! I haven’t tried strawberry banana but it sounds so good
I usually make mine in a dehydrator, but it’s a really cheap one and doesn’t do a very good job so now I’m tempted to try it in the oven next time!
I’ve been wanting to buy a food dehydrator, but the oven has been working well for now.
Home made fruit winders? Cool!
Num, I make mine with a dehydrator, this looks just as simple..
I believe you now – it’s totally easy to make! I can imagine step-by-step is time consuming but they really made the process simple to follow. BTW, fun gif
Yup, it’s one of those recipes that seems intimidating, but when you break it down, there’s nothing to it.
This is so cool! I didn’t even realize this was able to be made at home…I imagined some sort of fruit squishing device haha. I love your gif too
Ha! Well, if you ever find one of those devices, let me know because I totally want one.
You’ve definitely convinced me! This looks so good and I never knew how easy they were to make. Wow. I love these!
Well, there are other recipes that are a wee bit more complicated, with cooking fruit & sugar first, allowing it to cool, and then pureeing & baking it, but I like this way better.
Yum – I love making fruit leather. I usually do it in my dehydrator.
I love fruit leather! Haven’t attempted it in my oven yet, but I did make in my car – really! Followed the same fruit prep, spread it on a pan, and then “cooked” it in my car during the summer while I was at work. The heat that was bottled up in my car cooked the fruit and it tasted like the fruit roll-ups I used to eat as a kid. YUM!
HA HA! This made me laugh out loud. We’re in the south and it gets super, super hot in the car during the summer so I’m totally going to try this. Finally I have some use for the summer heat.
I didn’t realize it was this easy to make fruit leather yourself! I’m not that crazy about it but that’s probably because I’ve never had a homemade version – pure strawberries and banana sound delicious!
The kind you buy is a lot sweetener than the homemade version, so if it’s the sugary-ness that you dislike, try making it yourself! (Well, my homemade version has less sugar, at least. I’ve seen other recipes where they add a ton of sugar, but for me, that kind of defeats the purpose of making it myself!)
I have only had fruit leathers once in my entire life. Can you believe it?!! And i remember getting addicted to it and finished one box in one sitting. Anywho. I didn’t know you could make your own. This is a lovely read!!
Yup, you can make your own with all kinds of fruits! And it’s cheaper and healthier than they kind you buy.
I cannot believe I’ve never tried this before! Looks so easy. Cannot wait to give it a shot
Looks delicious! Perfect for afternoon snack 
I usually have mine as an afternoon snack too because I start it at lunchtime (I work from home) and then it’s done around 2 or 3!
It rarely lasts long enough to get wrapped.
Oh how I wish I could get my kids to eat this. If it isn’t a nasty fruit roll-up they won’t touch it!
Ha! Maybe you could dye this bright blue and then they’d give it a shot.
Although I guess that would defeat the purpose of healthy homemade fruit leather!
Dang it, how did I miss this!? I’m thinking some tropical fruit leather may be in my future!
Mango fruit leather is really good! Probably my favorite, actually. And I think pineapple would work well as a fruit leather too.
A good way to sweeten and thin these up is to add some apple juice. I like a more gummy-ish texture and I think the apple juice definitely helps.
Yeah, this fruit leather is more chewy than gummy. I’ll have to try adding a little apple juice next time–thanks for the suggestion!
The girl loves fruit roll-ups so I will def try these.
What a beatiful idea! It looks so yummy and funny, especially for my kids. I cannot wait to try. Bananas and strawberries added on my shopping list! and I will try today.Thanks a lot!
I hope you like it if you make it–it’s so much fun for kids, and much healthier than the store-bought fruit-roll ups.
Wow – thast’s cool and easy!