Homemade Strawberry Fruit Strips

If you've scrolled down to the recipe already, you've probably noticed that these take like forever and a day to make.  I'm exaggerating, but truly, up to 16 hours in the oven for these bad boys.  Here's the thing though, they are pretty worth it.  And despite all that, so easy to make...despite the waiting!

 This was my first time making these and I did run into a couple of glitches.  Nothing major, but I'll share with you some of my suggestions to make these.  First of all, it really shrinks up as you bake them - you'll notice a drastic difference after the first 6-8 hours.     

I used my immersion blender to puree the fruit after it stewed with the lemon juice.  It has a cup and blade attachment that is like a mini food processor.  The mixture JUST fit, hence the spilling.  But, it worked!  You can use a blender, too or a regular food processor.

Transferring from one baking sheet to another was tricky.  Luckily, the only other pan I had was 11 x 18-inch, which helped because I was transferring from a smaller pan to a larger one.  I picked up the plastic wrap and then tried to turn it upside down onto the bigger pan.  Well, since the fruit wasn't quite set on the bottom side, it started to slide and I had to spread it out again in a few places.  Try quickly inverting the actual baking sheet onto the new one, then lift the pan up, then remove the top layer of plastic.  

I cut the strips into larger pieces to take the pictures, but then I only had like 8 pieces!  All I kept thinking was, all that waiting and this is all I get?  So, I cut them in 1/2 again and got 16...which made me feel better.  Next time I'll probably double the recipe so it yields a lot more.    

Makes 16 rectangle strips (1" x 2.5")

Homemade Strawberry Fruit Strips

2 cups of diced strawberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 150-175 degrees (on my oven, this is Warm).  In a sauce pan on medium, combine the strawberries and lemon juice and cover.  Stew until they are very soft and mushy, about 6-8 minutes.  Pour the stewed strawberries into a blender or food processor and puree.  

Cover a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet with plastic wrap and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour the puree onto the plastic wrap and spread evenly on the pan, to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.  Place in oven for 6-8 hours.  

Right before taking it out of the oven, cover another baking sheet with plastic wrap and invert the fruit leather onto this pan.  Remove the top layer of plastic wrap.  Place back in the oven for another 6-8 hours.  If it becomes too brittle at any point, use a pastry brush to apply water to rehydrate it.  

Cool the fruit before cutting into desired strips.  Place in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place.  

(Source:  Adapted from Georgia Pellegrini)

Strawberry Blackberry Freezer Jam

Ready to have fresh jam in your fridge and freezer in 30 minutes?  I never knew that making jam could be so easy.  I used Ball Real Fruit Instant Pectin and in about a half an hour, I had 3 jars of this wonderfully, fresh, tasty jam!

The strawberries were fresh, but frozen over the summer when I purchased way too much at one point.  The blackberries were purchased frozen and can be omitted (or substituted!) if you don't care for them.  They definitely gave this jam a more tart flavor.  You'll need 2 1/2 cups of whichever fruit you choose, defrosted if you are using frozen.  

I love the color!  My kids love to just slather it on a bagel (toasted or not) or any kind of good bread for breakfast or a snack. 

My jars are Weck, 12 oz.  I kept one in the fridge and the other 2 in the freezer (they will keep up to a year).  Such little effort for so much product - would make a great neighbor or teacher gift! 

Makes 3 (12 oz) jars

Strawberry Blackberry Freezer Jam

1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled

1 cup blackberries

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons instant pectin

In a medium bowl, combine the fruit and crush with a potato masher.  In another bowl, combine the sugar and pectin and stir.  Add the fruit and stir for 3 minutes.  Ladle jam into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace (to allow for expansion during freezing) and let sit for 30 minutes.  

Use immediately and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or the freezer for up to a year.  

(Source:  Recipe adapted from freshpreserving.com)

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pastries

One of my absolute favorite breakfast foods are Toaster Strudels - you know exactly what I'm talking about,  right?  The pastries in the frozen section that come with the little icing packets?  I'm such a kid at heart sometimes.  I LOVE the strawberry and cream cheese kind - and that's where I got the inspiration for this recipe.  Oh, also it was one of those rare occasion days where I actually got to watch what I wanted to on TV (and not My Little Ponies or a Disney Princess movie) and Claire Robinson of 5 Ingredient Fix was making these with blueberry jam!!  They looked so yummy, I had to give them a try.    

So not only are they yummy, but they are incredibly easy.  It's Puff Pastry dough, thawed, cut into 4 strips, topped with cream cheese and jam!  And while I was making these, my mind immediately went to chocolate croissants (because you know how they are always rectangle?) and I decided that I needed a chocolate drizzle, not vanilla icing. 

You'll layer the cream cheese with the strawberry jam on the top portion of the strips of dough, then fold the bottom part over that.  Crimp the sides with a fork and you have one adorable little breakfast!  Or dessert...

Bake for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown.  They will be very puffy, but will fall a bit as they cool down.  Once they are completely cool, melt chocolate chips in the mircrowave until they are completely melted and drizzle away!  Or make cute shapes and smiley faces...I didn't think about that until after the fact...

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pastries

1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a small saucepan, bring the jam and cornstarch mixture to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes.  Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Lay 1 sheet of pastry on a board dusted with flour and cut into 4 equal strips.  Spread about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese in the middle of the upper part of the dough (leaving a little bit of an edge).  Top the cream cheese with about 2 tablespoons of the jam mixture.  Using your finger, dab the edges with a bit of water and fold the bottom part over the top part.  Crimp with a fork.  Arrange the pastries on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden.  Let cool completely.

Make the chocolate drizzle:  in a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips by heating for 30 seconds at a time, stirring and repeating another 30 seconds until the chocolate is melted and shiny.  I put my chocolate into a plastic squeeze bottle but you can dip a fork in the chocolate and just drizzle that way too!

(Source:  Adapted from Food Network's Claire Robinson)

 

Too Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Hands down, one of the easiest recipes you will ever make.  And it's so good (and good for you!).  I've been buying strawberries like they are going out of style lately - my 3 year old is addicted - and thought I'd try a little dessert with them one night.  I started researching recipes for frozen yogurt and found that most had steps like, strain the yogurt 2-4 hours and make a strawberry puree in the food processor.  Don't get me wrong, those things aren't hard...it's just that I wanted dessert like, now.  I'm all about instant gratification!  

So, I took a large tub of low fat Strawberry yogurt that I had in the fridge and dumped it into my ice cream maker!  I let that go for about 15 minutes, then chopped 1 cup of fresh strawberries, tossed them in a little sugar and lemon juice and dumped them in for about the last 5 minutes.  

The result was excellent!  The strawberries froze a bit and the yogurt was creamy with a bit of added sweetness from the lemon juice and sugar.  We ate one of these small tubs immediately (don't laugh - they are the containers that soup from Chinese restaurants come in - I love them!) and put the other in the freezer for later.  Just a heads up, left in the freezer for a couple of days this gets REALLY hard.  I had to put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to get it a little softer (or get it out 15 minutes before you want to eat). 

Too Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

1 large tub of low fat Strawberry yogurt (32 oz)
1 cup of chopped strawberries
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Turn on ice cream maker and pour yogurt into frozen freezer bowl; let mix for about 15-20 minutes until it gets thickened.  Meanwhile, combine strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice.  Dump the strawberries into the yogurt for the last 5 minutes to combine everything.  The yogurt will be softer if you decide to eat it right away or you can transfer to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.  Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving (or 30 seconds in the microwave).