My kids love Healthy Dehydrated Fruit Snacks. They are easy to make and the perfect quick healthy snack for kids. You can buy dried fruit in the store, but my kids prefer our dehydrator snacks. My favorite part it that I know exactly what the kids are eating, I don’t have to read any labels. They also love taking healthy homemade Fruit Roll-ups in their school lunches.
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We have experimented with dehydrating lots of different fruits. However the kids favorites include kiwis, apples, strawberries, bananas and peaches. We have a 10 Tray Food Dehydrator
Dehydrated Strawberries:
Wash the fruit and remove the steams. Use an egg slicer to make thin slices and simply lay them on the dehydrator trays. No lemon juice or sugar needed. Dehydrated strawberries are great by themselves or they make a perfect topper for granola.
Dehydrated Kiwi:
Wash the kiwi and peel off the skin. Using a mandolin or knife, make thin even slices. Arrange slices on dehydrator trays. Again no special treatment, just ripe tasty fruit! My kids think that they taste just like sour patch kids! Love it!
Dehydrated Apples:
Wash your apples and run them through an apple-corer-peeler-slicer (if you don’t have one, then simple peel by hand, core and slice by hand). Our family loves the tartness of granny smith apples. Soak the apples in lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
We also enjoy…
- Sweet Cinnamon Apple Slices ~ Place apple slices in 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of agave nectar or honey. Arrange the slices on the dehydrator trays and sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon.
- Cinnamon Sugar Apple Slices ~ Place apple slices in lemon juice and arrange on dehydrator trays. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Dehydrated Bananas:
Peel the banana and cut into thick slices. I usually get about 18-20 slices out of each banana. Soak bananas in 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon of agave nectar or honey. Arrange slices on the dehydrator trays. These will not be crisp like the ones in the store, but they taste SO much better.
Dehydrated Oranges:
Peel oranges and thinly slice with a Mandoline or knife. Arrange slices on dehydrator trays. You may be surprised by how delightful dehydrated oranges taste. They also make great Christmas decorations.
Drying time will depend on how thick you slice your fruit and if you have added agave nectar or honey. Generally most fruit will take up to 8 hours. I often start my dehydrator in the evening and let it run all night. The fruit is dry when you cut it open and there is no moisture inside. Remove the fruit from the tray and let cool before storing. I store my dried fruit in glass mason jars. It is best to buy fruit at its peak season and make sure to only use ripe fruit.
These healthy dehydrated snacks are perfect for camping, going to the beach, long car rides, throwing in your purse, on top of granola and just about anywhere else. I love that there are no messy, drippy, sticky fingers or faces to wash and that my kids are snacking on healthy treats with no preservatives.
Here is another great dehydrator recipe. My kids also LOVE this healthy fruit leather in their lunches. It is 100% fruit, nothing extra added which I’m all for and the kids love that it tastes great!
