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It's been a while since I posted a fruit leather recipe here and since I get requests for them once in a while, I thought I'd post a new one today - mango!
While I'm not one to discriminate when it comes to fruit leather, I think mango and banana are my two favorites because both can be made without any added sweetener. No sugar, no honey, no agave--just fruit.
I decided to do things a little bit differently this time and use parchment paper instead of spraying my baking sheet with oil. This has a few pros and cons. The biggest downside is that the fruit leather gets a little bit wrinkled as the moisture is baked out. Ugly fruit leather!
But using parchment paper makes it much easier to remove the fruit leather from the baking sheet, the bottom of the fruit leather isn't all oiled up, and if you're planning on wrapping your fruit leather, you can just cut it into strips while it's still attached to the parchment. Easy!
So let's get to it.
How to Make Mango Fruit Leather (Step by Step)
Start with two ripe mangoes. They need to be ripe, otherwise your fruit leather won't be sweet.
Cut the mangoes into chunks. Don't know how to cut them? I have a mango cutting tutorial!
Place the mango chunks in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mango puree onto it. Make sure it's in an even layer. It's hard to make it completely even, but do your best! I like sprinkling mine with a small amount of chipotle salt.
Bake at 175ºF for 3-4 hours. After about 2 hours, start checking on your fruit leather every 30 minutes or so. The fruit leather is done when it's dry to the touch, but still pliable.
Sometimes the edges will be finished before the center, in which case you can cut them off and continue baking the rest.
When your fruit leather is done baking, let it cool and then cut it into strips or shapes with a pizza cutter or kitchen shears.
Storing the Fruit Leather
We always eat our fruit leather within a day of making it, but wrapped tightly in plastic and stored in a sealed container, it will last up to one month at room temperature or up to a year in the freezer.
More Fruit Leather Recipes
If you love making fruit leather, don't miss out on these other flavors too:
- Strawberry Banana Fruit Leather
- Green Apple Fruit Leather
- Banana Fruit Leather
- Raspberry Peach Fruit Leather
Recipe
Equipment
Instructions
- Peel and cut the mangoes into chunks.
- Put the mango chunks in a blender or food processor and puree until they are very smooth.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and pour the mango puree onto it. Spread it out into an even layer. (If you're adding the chipotle salt, sprinkle it over the mango now.)
- Bake for 3-4 hours. Start checking on the fruit leather at about 2 hours, and check every 30 minutes. It's done when it is dry to the touch but still pliable. (Be careful - it's hot.)
- When the fruit leather is done baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool. Cut into strips and serve!
Vegan Mother Hubbard says
My toddlers adore unsweetened, dried mango, but it costs a fortune and the closest place to buy it is 2 hours away. I think I need to make this asap. I hate cutting mango, but I bet using frozen mango chunks would work just fine, and I have some in my fridge right now!
Kiersten says
I haven't tried it with frozen mango, but I don't think it would be any different than fresh. 🙂
Nancy/SpicieFoodie says
Hi Kiersten! I love fruit leather but don't have a dehydrator -- thanks so much for sharing this! I'm going to look at your other recipes too. BTW love the chipotle salt you added.:)
Anne says
You make this look easy! I don't care if my fruit leather has wrinkles, ease of use sounds more important to me
Jennifer H says
such creativeness. I love it!
Dee @ Cocktails with Mom says
My mouth just watered reading this post and looking at those pictures. Just sayin.
Zen says
same here!!! 😀
debra pearlstein says
I am so going to try this. Thanks for the great instructions. I am always eating mango. I love it.
Jessi says
I need a blender so I can make this awesomeness!
Shirley says
Yum! I haven't tried fruit leather, but I imagine it to be the grownup/healthy version of one of my favorite grade-school snacks. And love mango!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Mango is definitely a fav in my household. Gotta make this soonish!
Stephanie, The Recipe Renovator says
I have been wanting to try this. Thanks for the terrific step-by-step tutorial!
Robin {Mom Foodie} says
I need to make a batch & see how my daughter likes it.
Mary @ Fit and Fed says
You know I love mango and this looks very tempting! Trader Joe's had a product "Just Mango" dried mango slices that was a favorite of one of my sons but they have been out of it lately, if it's discontinued I will definitely have to try this recipe. I wonder if Mother Hubbard's idea of frozen mango chunks would actually work? I would think they would start off with a lot more moisture than a fresh mango.
Kiersten says
I love those dried mango slices from Trader Joe's too! I think that frozen mango chunks would work, but I'd imagine that the baking time would have to be upped slightly. I've had readers tell me they made some of my other fruit leathers with frozen fruit...
janet says
I tried but I must have made it too thin? or maybe I should have sprayed the parchment paper? or my oven was just too hot, as I only baked it for an hour and it was dry and I could NOT peel off the paper.. 🙁
Kiersten says
Hmm, that's very strange. Even if it was thin, I don't think it should have baked to be completely dry in an hour (or get stuck to the paper). It sounds like maybe your oven is running hot.
Teresa says
Glad I found your recipe for a no-sugar leather - thank you! I was about to use a recipe for a peach version and just substitute mango.
@Vegan Mother Hubbard - Re: Hating cutting mango...I love the taste of fresh mangoes but have stabbed or sliced myself on more than one occasion while trying to cut them up. I discovered a mango cutter made by OXO that makes the job much safer, and then I pick up Kiersten's method at step four. Downside is it leaves a little more mango flesh on the seed than what you might get if you are better at slicing them up than I am. But I know how to fix that (yum!).
Kiersten says
I have that mango cutter too! I only use it some of the time because, like you, I noticed that it leaves a lot of flesh on the pit. So I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. 🙂
sweety says
i tried to make this yesterday and i think i burned it! i dont know how 🙁 the oven was set to 175 and the timer for 3 hours and checked it in 2 hours (actually i was checking it every 10 mins because i was so excited!) and it started to get brown around the edges and the middle got darker as well but when i touched it, it was still wet. I let it cook some more. When i took it out it was dry on top and wet underneath. I was sad. 🙁 What am i doing wrong?
Kiersten says
Are you baking it at 175 degrees fahrenheit? It definitely shouldn't have cooked that quickly. I make fruit leather all the time and I've never had it brown on top and still feel wet underneath, so I'd suspect that your oven might be running a little hotter than mine. You could try at a lower temperature next time and see if that helps.
sweety says
thanks! i will try that 🙂 hope it works!
Jenny says
Has anyone tried the frozen mango? I always have that. .and im not so good at cutting mangos.
Kiersten says
I haven't tried it; you may need to adjust the cooking time and bake the fruit leather a little bit longer to account for the extra moisture.
Jenny says
If I use frozen mango... how much should I use? 1 n a half to 2 cups?
Kiersten says
I've never made this with frozen mango, so I really can't say. I would try to use an amount that looks equivalent to 2 mangoes.
Jenny says
Does it also depend on the size of the pan?
Gudrun Warkentin says
We live in the southern hemisphere, therefore we have mangos in abundance at this time of the year. I tried today for the first time to make mango fruit leather. It turned out very well. Thank you for the information.
Kiersten says
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Kim Ruane says
Thank you for the post! Here in California Mangoes are 25 cents each! Your step-by step instruction is incredible!
Kiersten Frase says
I am so jealous! When they're on sale here, they're $1. I clearly need to move to California. 🙂
Kim Ruane says
Kiersten, we do have some fantastic prices on fruits and veggies here in California which I always take advantage of! In fact sometimes I find avacados at 6 for $1, pretty awesome I buy a large grocery bag full, shell and pit them, squeeze some lemon over them then into the freezer bags they go for later! Here's hoping prices go down right where youu are!!!
Kim Ruane says
I guess I am really excited about the savings I find, as I double posted to Kiersten.....
Melinda says
If you like the "pretty" looking fruit leather - you can also use a Silpat to cook the leather on. It peels off super easy and looks really nice. I have noticed that it takes slightly longer to dry, but not bad.
Kiersten Frase says
I need to try that! I saw another blogger use that to make fruit leather too.
karen says
Just tried this today. Since I didn't know what size tray to use I did 3 mangos and used the really large tray. I saw another site that said make it about 1/8" thick so thought I would be all good as I don't think mine was even that thick. It's been 9 hours at 185 degrees f and it's just coming out of the oven now. My oven doesn't run cool either but every time I checked it was still mushy. I finally put the parchment in on a cookie rack so the heat could get under it and it's still been hours. Are you using a convection oven by chance because that would make a HUGE difference?
Carly Joseph says
I tried this and it went black and crispy 🙁
Kiersten says
You have to keep an eye on it for sure, since even slight variations in oven temperature can make a difference in cooking time - I'm sorry it didn't work out for you!