The pumpkin love continues. I’ve still got a brioche idea packed away, but in the meantime, I’ve been creating new uses for the pumpkin purée that we made. This time we’re going for homemade pumpkin pie fruit roll-ups.
My kids like fruit snacks. There. I said it. I mean, really, what kid doesn’t? I, however, don’t like buying them. We do purchase a few select varieties and kinds of fruit snacks, my personal favorite being Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit, but ever since they went missing from the Costco shelves, I’ve had a hard time spending $4 for a package of 6 that lasts less than 2 minutes.
So, in an effort to appease the masses (those would be the four kids here in the Olmanson house), we started making fruit roll-ups for school lunches. Really, it’s just fruit leather that’s been spread a bit thinner before sucking the moisture out of it and rolled so that it resembles the popular snacks. If pumpkin pie isn’t your thing, check out the apple variety over on Food.YourWay today for tips on how to get your kids involved. Then get creative. Add in strawberries to the mix. Perhaps your Thanksgiving flavor is cranberries, a few cooked in and strained will work perfectly to give these a tangy cranberry sauce flavor.
To start, we make applesauce. Really good applesauce. Apples, water, lemon juice and a bit of honey simmered until soft and breaking down into a sauce.
The immersion blender comes out and makes our applesauce smooth and silky.
And the apples meet the pumpkin and again get blended together.
For the spices I went with buckwheat honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
Spread the fruit out on parchment or silicon mats. I’ve taken to using parchment because then I don’t need to transfer the rolls. The parchment does buckle a bit as it gets wet from the fruit, but it doesn’t affect the ability to roll or eat, so I don’t mind.
Into the oven it goes to bake…err, dehydrate.
When they’re dry (but not too dry), roll and cut into servings.
And impress your kids with your craftiness. No joke, my kids ran through the yard saying wonderful things about my cooking as they ate their pumpkin pie fruit rolls. I’m nowhere close to even being in the running for best mom ever, but every inch counts, right?
I’ve been helping to (re)launch this great wellness site, wellthen.org and having such a great time doing it. I did a short video about making our own snacks there featuring these fruit roll-ups. Here’s a clip that we didn’t use with Magnus and Kiera.
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup pumpkin purée
3 tablespoons honey (buckwheat preferred)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
In a medium to large stockpot add diced apples and water. Bring to a boil. Add in lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples start to turn to sauce and can be mashed easily with a fork. Using an immersion blender (or cooling slightly and using a regular blender or food processor) blend until smooth. Add in pumpkin purée, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.
Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon mat. Spread the purée 1/8″ to a 1/4″ thick on top of the lined sheet. I shake the pan to even things out. Bake at 150° F for approximately 8 hours until purée no longer feels gummy (it will still have a sticky quality and be pliable). Allow to cool slightly.
Roll fruit and parchment backing into a long tube. Cut into portions. If you used a silicon mat, transfer fruit to plastic wrap before rolling. Store in airtight containers or zip-top bags until ready to eat.
Makes 8-10 servings.
These look so fun to make and eat!
This is genius! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks!
I LOVE this!!! Shaina…you are a genius!
I love this and can’t wait to make this for my little guy!
How awesome are those?!?! Love this recipe!
found you via Jane’s blog. I’m so glad I found you!
What a great combination! I love fruit leather, I’ve got to try this. Thank you.
That is absolutely brilliant! My kids would be over the moon impressed too!
How long do these keep? Is there a way to make them last longer, like freeze the puree before baking, and bake as needed, perhaps?
Your kids reaction to your crafiness make it all worthwhile-how cute! My kids love fruit roll ups. I can’t wait to make these.
My oven does not have a 150 temperature setting, it starts at 200. How can I make these with my oven?
You could heat the oven, add the tray and leave for about 90 minutes and then turn the oven off and let it cool for an hour. Then repeat until the fruit is slightly tacky.
Could you approximate what the volume of 2 cups chopped apples ends up as applesauce? I love cooking from scratch but have some applesauce to use up and I would love to try this! Thanks!
About 1-1/3 cups of applesauce should be about right.
this recipe looks awesome and I love love love pumpkin.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I am making these for my kids this weekend. Brilliant, Shaina!
This is a GREAT idea! Hoping I can try this soon!!!
I just made with 1TBS of Honey and a teaspoon of stevia.. I hope they turn out okay *biting fingernails*
I am sooo excited about finding this recipe! I am going to make it this week! Amazing. I already make my own applesauce and saw the comment of someone who was wondeirng what the apples to applesauce ratio was….YAY! I can’t wait! LOVE your blog! I will be one of my new favorites!
Hello, Wondering if I am reading correctly ~ you just cut the fruit roll up on the parchment that it was cooked on? That would be super easy and would save wasting the parchment…?????
Yep. I roll it right on the parchment that I spread it out and dehydrate it on.
How long will these last for once they are made?
Wow, this is such and awesome idea! love it! thankyou xx
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