Pumpkin Fruit Leather

In the spirit of all things trick or treat this Halloween, this Pumpkin Fruit Leather is the perfect balance between the two for your family. The trick is that pumpkin fruit leather is a healthier option than many of the sugar-laden snacks that we see this time of year. The treat is that this gluten free, homemade snack is tasty and your kids will love it!

Have you made fruit leather before at home? They are similar to the fruit roll-ups we used to eat as kids. A simple and short ingredient list along with basic preparation steps create this kid-friendly snack.

A key ingredient not listed on the recipe? Patience. The baking time– really just the time that the pumpkin fruit leather dries out in the oven at a low temp– is four to six hours. Yup, a long time. So plan ahead and the rest is easy.

Quality ingredients

Making homemade fruit leather at home gives you an advantage over the store-bought boxes of fruit leather that we grew up eating. Can you picture those rolls in your lunch box? Well here is an improvement for sure.

For starters, you can name all of the ingredients in this pumpkin treat. No dyes, no mystery flavors.

Organic pumpkin puree and organic apple sauce are the main ingredients. Pumpkin pie spice amplifies the flavor and the optional addition of honey really helps to create that familiar texture.

I made these both with and without honey and did prefer the honey version. The pumpkin fruit leather was easier to roll and simply had a better feel in your mouth. Try it and see what you think.

Let’s dive into these ingredients a bit deeper. The pumpkin puree, the apple sauce, the pumpkin pie spice and the honey should be top quality without added fillers.

Check out the list of ingredients for the pumpkin puree and for the unsweetened applesauce: Pumpkin and Apples. Nothing more and nothing less. Knowing that I am buying high quality products is important for my family.

How to make Pumpkin Fruit Leather

The process of making pumpkin fruit leather is so straightforward it hardly needs a recipe but let’s go over the steps together. Basically you combine the ingredients in a bowl or a food processor, spread them on a pan, then very slowly dry them out in the oven. No need to use a dehydrator tray.

After you mix the short list of ingredients, spread the puree onto a parchment lined pan or a silicon mat lined baking sheet. Keep the thickness between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.

You don’t want to see any gaps in the mixture. You also don’t want lumps.

What’s the magic ingredient in making pumpkin fruit leather?

Patience is the magic ingredient!

Waiting for the fruit leather to slowly bake is the key to success. Don’t crank up the oven temp. Just be patient.

Expert Tips for Rolling Up the Pumpkin Fruit Leather

• Flip the baked fruit leather onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper.
• For seasonal Halloween fun, use cookie cutters to make shapes in the pumpkin fruit leather. Pumpkins, cats, bats, and witches would all be cute ideas!
• Use a pizza cutter to slice the pumpkin fruit leather into 3 inch strips.
• Roll tightly. You could tie the rolls with baking twine or just leave them as is. The rolls tend to hold their shape.
• Store in an airtight container.

Still hungry for more pumpkin treats?

Try these pumpkin recipes!

• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese frosting
• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
• Pumpkin Spice Cut Out Cookies
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie with store-bought crust
• Pumpkin Butter in the Crock Pot
• Mason Jar Pumpkin Snap Icebox Cakes
• Cream Cheese Pumpkin Dip
• Pumpkin Spritz Cookies
• Homemade pumpkin granola

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This post was updated in September 2021.