Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather

Fruit leather has been on my "to make" list since I got a dehydrator a few years ago. Admittedly, at first, I wasn't sure what the weird flat trays were for that came with the dehydrator. I ended up tossing them in the dark hole that was the back of the pantry and when we moved, I found them cracked and just threw them away. That was that. Until now.

When Todd and I go backpacking, we always buy fruit leather. It's nice to have something sweet, healthy, and satisfying but apples and berries definitely don't travel well. That's where the fruit leather comes in! The store-bought stuff is expensive and when you make it yourself it's really reassuring to actually see exactly what's in it. 

Making the leather couldn't be easier (as long as you've got some time to kill) and it's a great way to use up those apples that were shoved in the back of the fridge and essentially forsaken. Yes, I did cut many brown spots off of the organic honeycrisp apples that I payed for with my left arm. I wasn't about to waste those puppies!

Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
— St. Francis de Sales

When making these scrumptious fruit leathers...you can't be in a hurry. They're so undemanding, yet utterly swish, and definitely worth the wait. Aren't they delightful all wrapped up?

Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
print recipe
Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather
by September-4-2014
Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too! Notes: Feel free to use whatever dried berries or raisins you like.
Ingredients
  • 4 medium very ripe apples, cored and chopped
  • 2 cups sliced rhubarb (about 4-6 stems)
  • ½ cup dried blueberries
  • 1 Tbsp. molasses
  • 1 tsp. alma powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp. lime or lemon juice
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth. If you don't have a vitamix with a tamper tool, then you may have to pause it several times to push down the fruit.Coat two fruit leather/liquid trays of the dehydrator with a nonstick cooking spray. Pour about 2 cups (half the mixture) onto one of the trays and smooth over. Repeat with the second tray.Place the liquid trays at the highest slots and dehydrate at about 140 F for about 6-10 hours.The center should be slightly soft but definitely dry. The leather should be pliable and not crack too much. Store in an airtight container with parchment in between the leather strips. For long storage, put in the freezer.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 16
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!

Bob is ridiculously dapper, don't you think?

German Word of The Day

Fruit leather --> Obstleder (oobst-laydeh) - Okay, so I kind of made that one up. Any German speakers around? Did I make a real word!? What do you call fruit leather? Obst = fruit/Leder = leather

Good Deed of The Day

Are you near Santa Monica? If so, you must go to the first ever vegan Oktoberfest in my place since I won't be able to attend. Maybe email me with names of all the awesome vegan beers you loved? Check out the deets, here, so I can live vicariously through you and your vegan privileges. 

Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies

In case you don't know, Fall in Alaska lasts about three hours. Yep. The leaves pretty much turn ugly yellow right before your eyes, then fall off and you're left with sad, naked trees. There's nothing lovely about it. No beautiful colors, nothing. Nope. Go to Vermont for that.

So how does an Alaskan know it's Fall (besides the time of the year, obviously), it rains incessantly, for like three weeks straight. Flood warnings will appear on the news and the chilly morning air will bite right through your scrub pants. Okay, that last bit may be just according to me. But oh the rain, and just when you think it's over...more rain. Am I right, Alaskans? Yes. Luckily, I baked these cookies to warm the house and fill it with a delicious and proper Fall smell. No rotting leaf smell here. Just sweet pumpkin pie...but what's that, I smell cookies as well! Yes.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies
Vegan Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies

These are Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies and they are as delectable as they sound. I might make them for Thanksgiving this year instead of a pumpkin pie. They're that good. Like a ginger molasses cookie but sooo much better. Enlivened with pumpkin pie spice and crystallized ginger bits, these soft molasses cookies are what Fall is made of.

cookiecollage.png
cookieprep.jpg
pumpkincookies1.jpg
cookietowerollage.png

In case you plan on using a chicken egg instead of a flax seed egg, allow me to enlighten you with this video that demonstrates how the Journal of Atherosclerosis (yes there's a journal for that) found a "...similar exponential increase in carotid artery plaque buildup found for smokers and egg eaters." Say what? Eggs? No, thank you I think I'll pass.

You'll be delighted to find out how the American Egg Board attempted to bribe a prominent Yale physician to disagree with the study. The physician refused, so in the most rational and obvious of choices, the egg industry had a fake physician (that they made up) try to discredit the study. Nice. It's really touching stuff. Makes you feel all good and wholesome about buying eggs from the store right? Um, no.

The takeaway? Try a flax seed egg. Just try it once. Pretend you're a hippie and do it for Halloween, I don't care. It won't kill you, though those chicken eggs probably aren't helping you out so much. Hey, don't hate the messenger. For all the goodness of flax though, check out this treasure trove on all things flax. Flax...not so exciting, but it does the body good.

Yes, the irony of this being a dessert post is not lost on me. Cookies are a necessity, though. Eggs are not.

STOREFRONT (1).png

Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies


Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies
By

Enlivened with pumpkin pie spice, and crystallized ginger chunks these soft molasses cookies are what fall is made of.

Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
  • 2 ½ Tbsp. water
  • ½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
  • ½ cup canned pumpkin
  • ¼ cup molasses
  • 1 tsp. Kahlua (or vanilla extract)
  • 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt (or ½ tsp. table salt)
  • ¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup vegan granulated sugar for rolling, adjust as needed
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl combine the ground flaxseed and water. Allow to rest in fridge until ready to use.
  2. In a large electric mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the flax egg, pumpkin, molasses, and Kahlua and beat for several minutes, until fluffy and smooth.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, except the last two ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients very slowly while the electric mixer is on low. Mix until just combined, then fold in the chopped crystallized ginger.
  4. Cover, and allow the dough to chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
  5. Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven 350° F. Roll one tablespoon of dough in the sugar. The dough is pretty sticky, so don't worry about having perfectly round balls (snicker).
  6. Drop 12 cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Put the remaining dough back in the fridge while they bake.
  7. The cookies will come out quite soft when done baking. Allow them to rest on the baking sheet out of the oven for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

    8. Prep time:
    Cook time:
    Total time:
    Yield: 24 cookies

Save Money!

I buy my ground flax seed here where I find it for almost half the price!

It’s only $0.27 per ounce vs $.54 per ounce at our local grocery store.


More Yummy Fall Desserts

pumpkincookies2.jpg

For fun, what am I listening to? Basia Bulat – Heart Of My Own

Easy Hazelnut Chocolate Avocado Mousse

While scarfing down lightly munching on a bag of dark chocolate chunks (the type clearly meant for baking) last night, I decided the chunks just weren't cuttin' it. My chocolate craving was a little more sophisticated than I had previously thought. Grow up, Katie! Fine. So I starting thinking of what I could make myself. Should I bake something? Surely not. I'm impatient as hell! That would take much too long. In addition, I didn't want anything that was going to be too involved, or that was going to make a huge mess. And then, there I was pacing around the kitchen like a crazed addict, when I spotted them...my two ripe-ass avocados staring at me, taunting me.

I don't know what it is about these trickster avocados. They're firm when I buy them at the store, and then four hours later they're practically rotting on my kitchen table! My point being; a dessert that doesn't make a mess, is quick, easy, relatively healthy, made primarily of chocolate and uses up my sad, nearly dead avocados is the perfect sweet treat for a lazy Wednesday night.

Produce on Parade: Easy Hazelnut Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Produce on Parade: Easy Hazelnut Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Easy Hazelnut Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Inspired by Giada de Laurentiis (so you know it's good)

Serves 2 but it's so rich maybe more like 4

  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup, molasses etc.)
  • 2 Tbsp. molasses (or maple syrup, honey, etc.)
  • 1 Tbsp. Hazelnut Kahlua (or other liqueur or maple syrup, honey, etc.)
  • 1/4 tsp. pink Himalayan salt
  • 2 Tbsp. almond milk
  • mint leaves, chopped hazelnuts, and/or berries for garnish (optional)

In a small saucepan, add a little water, only so it rises a few inches along the side. Bring to a boil. Place a small stovetop-safe bowl inside the pot and turn the heat down to low, just enough to keep the water boiling. Add the chocolate chunks and whisk intermittently, erasing any clumps and ensuring it doesn't burn.

Produce on Parade: Easy Hazelnut Chocolate Avocado Mousse

While the chocolate is melting, add the remaining ingredients to a food processor, followed by the melted chocolate. Process until silky smooth.

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="373,372"]

Pour into two or four bowls, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Wasn't that easy? As the mousse chills, it will really firm up. I sincerely recommend allowing it to do so if you can. This mousse is certified super, duper rich and super, duper hardcore badass. It's the cure for PMS, a bad breakup or just a really horrific chocolate craving. And for the record, I'm not oblivious to the irony of a dessert that takes 3 hours to chill, versus a dessert that may have taken only 30 minutes to bake. I never said I personally waited the three hours.