Apple Fruit Leather is a fun treat for both children and adults alike! This refined sugar-free fruit leather recipe requires only 4 ingredients and is so fun and easy to make!

Apple Fruit Leather -make homemade healthy fruit leather using fresh apples! This easy recipe only requires a few ingredients and is a fun project for kids. A healthy snack or treat!

A fun way of using your fall harvest of apples plus a really cool treat for kids and adults of all ages?

Apple fruit leather, my friends!

Fruit leather or fruit roll-ups were a staple in my school lunches, and a regular afterschool, pre-soccer snack growing up. I learned how to make it myself a few years ago and thought I would share the process. It’s easy!

Homemade fruit leather is time-consuming, but it doesn’t require much attention so you can easily multi-task and/or perform the whole operation in steps over the course of a day (or multiple days).

One of the best parts about apple fruit leather is it requires almost zero added sugar because apples are naturally sweet on their own. I keep it refined sugar-free using coconut sugar, but you can swap it for cane sugar if that’s what you keep on hand.

Let’s hop to it!

Ingredients for Apple Fruit Leather:

Apples: Use virtually any apple for apple fruit leather. If you use tart apples, you may want to add a touch more coconut sugar depending on your desired level of sweetness. I use honeycrisp, gala, or fuji apples for the majority of my apple creations. Note: you can also make fruit leather with pears!

Coconut Sugar: All you need is a small amount of sugar to bring out the natural apple flavor and make this fruit leather a true treat. If you don’t use sugar in your cooking in baking, you can skip it altogether, but I recommend using it for marvelous results.

Lemon Juice: The acidity of the lemon juice counterbalances all the sweetness and helps preserve the color of the fruit leather.

Cinnamon: An apple treat wouldn’t be an apple treat without cinnamon, am I right?? Ground cinnamon makes apple fruit leather taste like fall moved in and is here to stay.

Sea Salt: Sea salt helps round out all the sweetness and also helps preserve the fruit leather. All you need is a small pinch!

How to Make Apple Fruit Leather:

Add all ingredients to a saucepan, cover, and bring to a full boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until apples have softened, about 20 minutes.

Remove cover and continue cooking at a gentle boil 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow mixture to cool enough to add to a blender (about 20 minutes). Pour apple mixture into a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pour the pureed apple mixture onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and smooth into an even layer. The mixture will be spread thinly – this is normal.

Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake 2.5 to 3 hours, until fruit leather has set up and feels firm to the touch.

Remove the baking sheet from oven and allow the apple fruit leather to cool. Transfer the entire baking sheet to the refrigerator and refrigerate until chilled.

Lift the parchment paper and the fruit leather off of the baking sheet and transfer it to a cutting board. Use sharp kitchen scissors to cut long strips, creating individual fruit roll-ups.

Store the apple fruit leather in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Can I Make Pear Fruit Leather?:

Yes! Pear fruit leather is just as easy to make as apple fruit leather. Simply replace the peeled and cored apples with peeled and cored pears. Do note that the pear version turns out a bit mushier and is thus a little stickier than the apple fruit leather once it is finished. Nevertheless, it is delicious!

For the pear version, I recommend adding just a touch of ground cardamom (about ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon), as it adds a lovely unique flavor!

More Healthy Apple Recipes:

Enjoy!