Thin sheets of puréed fresh peaches, dried slowly in a low oven until chewy, then cut into strips and rolled. Nothing is added except a little lemon juice and nutmeg, so the snack tastes of ripe peaches and nothing else.
Ingredients
Instructions
Heat the oven to its lowest setting, about 170 to 175°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet (about 13 by 15 inches) lightly with cooking spray.
Put the peaches, lemon juice and nutmeg in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Measure 2 cups of the purée and set aside any extra to stir into yogurt or oatmeal.
Pour the 2 cups of purée onto the baking sheet and spread it into an even layer about ⅛ inch thick with a table knife or the back of a spoon, stopping just short of the edges.
Bake with the oven door slightly open for 3 to 4 hours. Starting after the first hour and again every 30 minutes, use oven mitts to take out the sheet and touch the center. The peach roll is ready when no indentation remains and it peels easily off the pan. If the top is still wet after 3 hours, loosen it with a spatula, flip it over and return it to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes more.
Peel the leather off the sheet while it is still warm and place it on a cutting board. Cut it crosswise into 10 strips with a paring knife, roll up each strip and let the rolls cool completely. Store them in resealable plastic bags.
Notes
Ripe or slightly overripe peaches give the sweetest, best-tasting rolls. The peaches should be peeled; blanching them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds makes the skins slip off easily.
An even layer is what makes the leather dry evenly. Thin spots dry first and thick spots stay sticky, so spread the purée as uniformly as you can. Leaving the oven door slightly open lets the moisture escape.
Wrapped tightly, the rolls keep for up to 1 month at room temperature and up to 1 year in the freezer.
Variations
If the peaches are tart, blend in 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey.
Replace the nutmeg with cinnamon or ginger, or leave out the spice entirely.
Blend in a handful of strawberries or blueberries for a mixed-fruit roll.
In a food dehydrator, dry the purée at 140°F, which takes about 6 to 8 hours.
Source
Drying sheets of fruit is an old technique found across the Middle East and the Caucasus, where it is known as tklapi in Georgia, pastegh in Armenia and lavashak in Azerbaijan. In the United States it became "fruit leather," a name said to come from a Syrian sweet shop in New York. Homemade peach leather is a simple way to use the state's best-known fruit.
Food in U.S.A.