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.
I grabbed two bags of frozen blackberries from last year. I thawed them and then put them in the blender.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why haven’t I ever done this?? Although I think I’d have to put plastic wrap on my dehydrator trays…I don’t have a nice slick surface like you showed.
Plastic wrap will work. I bought those sheets when we bought the dehydrator since I knew I’d be making apple leather. So easy and so good!!
Mh, that looks yummy! We still have the freezer full of blackberries too but I have a few days off this week and hope I’ll finally get to make jam and syrup 🙂
Are we talking something like a fruit roll up???
Deb, Yes! That’s exactly what we are talking about!
you can also do this on a loooowww oven with the door open for the last half of drrying. you can also do it with applesauce,
Lisa, You are so right! I love my dehydrator because I just turn it on and don’t have to check it but the oven will work real well. We roast tomatoes in the oven at low temp that we freeze to use all winter long. Applesauce is good and easier if you don’t have apples but I love to make apple leather with apples when they are in season. We are blessed with blackberries so I thought I’d try them and I love them! I’ve already made a second batch. Thanks for dropping by.
For years, my mother made fruit leather out of our over-abundance of apricots and European plums. She would actually dry it on wax paper clothes-pinned to our trampoline on hot, dry days. It worked great, and she could do huge batches all at once. With seven kids, it never lasted until winter though. Now, she even makes fruit leather out of her bottled apricots that are still good, but need to be rotated, and stores it in her freezer for grandkids. They love it!
Laura, That is so neat!! Thanks for sharing and dropping by. Lynda
I would very much like to try your blackberry leather but I’m not sure what you mean by “dehydrator paper”. Where do you buy that?
Leila
Leila, I bought the dehydrator sheets when I purchased the dehydrator. They were made especially for our dryer. But whatever dehydrator you have should have these sheets for making leathers and can be purchased from the manufacturer.
I just received a voice mail and she did not leave her name or email. So I thought I’d answer her question here. You do need a dehydrator to do this. If you don’t have a dehydrator you could dry them out in the sun. You can google solar dehydrator to find info on that. Thanks for leaving a voicemail message.
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