Easy Fruit Rollups

Wanna know something that makes zero sense?  I have the biggest sweet tooth, but I don't care much for fruit.  Strange, huh?  Given the choice, I'll gobble down a plate of sauteed green beans or asparagus and pretty much ignore a bowl full of strawberries.  I don't know why fruit doesn't appeal to me or even when that happened.  I do love a fresh pear or nectarine or peach from the Pacific Northwest (again - I'm so getting kicked out of the state of Georgia).  Beyond that, meh.

Anyway, I'm working to get more fruit in my diet.  I'm also trying to lower the number of weird ingredients and dyes in the foods I eat.  These fruit rollups are a double whammy!  They're portable, don't bruise, don't spoil, and contain nothing but real ingredients found in my own kitchen.  If you're a die-hard fruit rollup fan, you can press the seeds out with a fine mesh sieve, but I wanted the extra fiber and I didn't want to add an extra step in the process :)

I'll definitely, definitely, definitely be making these again regularly and keeping them on hand.  I'm so excited to have found a recipe for an easy, yummy, and healthy snack.  Hurrah!

Enjoy!

Easy Fruit Rollups

2 c. pureed fruit*

1 c. unsweetened, natural applesauce

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

sugar (or honey or agave) to taste, approx 1/4 c.

Preheat oven to 170 degrees F, or its lowest setting.  Lightly spritz a large jellyroll baking pan with cooking spray, and then press parchment paper down to stick.  Lightly spritz the parchment with cooking spray and spread with a paper towel to lightly coat.

Puree fruit in your food processor until smooth.  If desired, press through a sieve to remove seeds.  Stir in applesauce, lemon juice, and sugar, until sugar is completely dissolved.  Pour into the prepared baking pan, and spread to just shy of the parchment edge, making sure the center isn't thicker than the edges.

Place into oven, propping the door open with a wooden spoon.  Bake for 7 hours or until the center is just slightly sticky.  Allow to cool and slice with a pizza cutter or kitchen shears.  Store in airtight container.

Note:  If you're like me and accidentally overbake your fruit and the edges get crisp (while the center is perfect), sprinkle water on the crisp areas.  They'll soak up the moisture and become pliable again.

* The amount of fruit it takes to get 2 cups pureed will vary.  It took me about 1 1/2lbs of strawberries to yield 2 cups once they were pureed.

Their ingredient lineup:

(for "strawberry" flavor)

My ingredient lineup:

:)

Prepared jellyroll baking pan:

Spread as evenly as possible, making sure the center isn't thicker than the edges.

Prop open your oven door with a wooden spoon.

 Pile O' Fruit Rolls!

It took about 45 seconds for these to find a new home inside my belly :)