Fruit Roll-Ups are a classic staple from childhood, but they are also full of preservatives and artificial flavors. By making your own fruit leather, rather than buying the treats at a grocery store, you have complete control over what goes into your snacks, and you can customize the flavors.

For this recipe you will need four cups of your choice of chopped fruit. For fall and winter I used Pomegranates, which are seasonal and only grow in the colder months. Then I used apples and grapes, which you can get year round. For summer and spring you can use strawberries, blackberries and blueberries for a fun twist. For every four cups of fruit you will need about half a cup of water, and you will also need a fourth of a cup of lemon juice and sugar to sweeten to your preferred taste. When I used this recipe I ended up using one half of a cup of sugar.

Start by preheating your oven to 175 degrees fahrenheit. Then begin washing and cleaning all of the fruit. After that, place the fruit in a food processor and blend until is reaches a smooth consistency. Strain the fruit so that there are no leftover seeds or skin in the mixture. Now get a long baking tray and a silicon baking mat and pour a thin layer of the mixture onto the pan. This process might take more than one pan. When you’ve finished that, put your tray in the oven for about 3 ½ hours. Be sure to keep a close eye on it because it can burn easily.

When the fruit leather is finished baking wait about 20 minutes for it to cool, then take wax paper and start rolling the fruit leather up in the wax paper kind of like you would sushi. Then you can cut the rolls in one inch pieces. To keep these secure tie a piece of twine around each piece. Stored at room temperature the fruit leather can last for one month.It can last one year if you freeze it by storing it. If you are going to freeze your fruit leather don’t cut up the wax paper rolls until you are preparing to eat it.