Blackberry Fruit Leather

Last year I tried my best to use up our blackberries. We froze a lot of them and put them in smoothies. I also made jello, syrup (which I’ve already made two batches this spring from last year’s harvest), popsicles, and cobbler. But leather – no.

I made apple leather – do that every year – but not blackberry. I hadn’t really thought about it. It was hubby’s idea so I set out to make it.

Unlike the apple leather, you don’t have to cook the blackberries. This is all you need.

Blender, Honey and Blackberries
Blender, Honey and Blackberries

I grabbed two bags of frozen blackberries from last year. I thawed them and then put them in the blender.

Adding honey to blackberries
Adding honey to blackberries

I then added 5 tablespoons of honey to the 4 cups of blackberries. I kept tasting it until I thought it was sweet enough. Remember it will dry even sweeter.

Blended blackberries - Yum!
Blended blackberries - Yum!

You could strain out the seeds, but we wanted to keep the fiber in.

The last step is to pour onto the dehydrator sheets made especially for drying fruit.

Pouring onto dehydrator sheets
Pouring onto dehydrator sheets

I usually pour a full sheet, but I saw where someone else poured smaller ones and it’s so much easier. Also, it will dry much faster too.

After 5 hours I turned the leathers over to make sure they got dry on both sides. Another 4 hours later and they were done.

Blackberry Leather
Blackberry Leather

They are so good! If you make these you will have to experiment with the honey since every batch of blackberries are going to have a different sweetness.You could use other sweeteners but I’d stick with something liquid so it blends easier since we’re not cooking this.

I only made a small batch since I wanted to make sure we’d like them. Now to grab some more frozen ones and make more until this year’s crop comes on.

These are great for kids’ snacks, in lunch boxes, or carry in your purse for a quick pick-me-up. You could do this with other fruit too. We’re already thinking about strawberries and raspberries.