Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Peel the ripe, brown-spotted bananas. Core the apples but leave their skins on. Remove peach pits. If using oranges, plums or strawberries instead of the peaches, remove peel, pits or hulls as appropriate.
- Set up the Ninja BN801 Total Crushing pitcher and stacked blade assembly before adding the fruit. Add the half cup of filtered water. Use separate blender loads within the fill limit if needed, dividing that half cup across all loads.
- Blend until smooth with a smoothie-like consistency. Keep the whole fruit pulp; do not strain the mixture into clear juice. Stop before opening or scraping the pitcher, and combine any separate blender loads.
- Line suitable food-dehydrator trays with parchment paper. Pour an oval or rectangle about four inches wide and as long as the tray allows. Use additional lined tray space for the rest of the purée.
- Gently shake the trays to level the mixture to a uniform layer, avoiding a thick center or very thin edges.
- Dry at about 140°F for approximately four hours, or at 100°F for approximately eight hours. Keep each temperature with its own time. Continue drying as needed until the center is no longer tacky.
- Gently peel the finished fruit leather from the parchment and roll it up.
- Let the rolls cool before closing into a covered storage container. Refrigerate for up to one month; use parchment between pieces if needed to reduce sticking.
Notes
Fruit: Use ripe bananas with brown spots. Core apples but keep their skins. Two peaches are optional; oranges, plums or a handful of strawberries are other fruit choices.
Water: Half a cup is the total for this batch, even if the fruit needs separate blender loads. Keep within the Ninja pitcher fill limit.
Shape: Spread approximately four-inch-wide strips as long as the tray allows and level to a uniform layer.
Drying: The card uses about 140°F and approximately four hours drying, plus ten minutes preparation. The lower-temperature option is 100°F and approximately eight hours drying, about eight hours ten minutes with preparation. Do not mix the temperature/time pairs. The center must no longer be tacky; actual drying can take longer.
Yield: Six servings from the batch; the number of rolls depends on fruit sizes, tray length and how the sheet is cut.
Storage: Let rolls cool before closing into a covered container. Refrigerate for up to one month, with parchment between pieces if needed.
GAPS: Full GAPS after these fruits and apple skins are introduced. No added sweetener; natural fruit sugars remain. No dairy, eggs, nuts or gelatin in the base recipe. Drying does not turn it into an early Intro fruit preparation.
Scaling: At 2× use four to eight bananas, four to eight apples, four optional peaches and one cup filtered water total. Use sufficient blender loads and tray space, keeping the same temperature/endpoint rather than doubling the drying clock.