Make at Home Backpack Snacks from Local Fruit

Estimated time to complete: 10 hours 

Ingredients: 

• Apples 
• Grapes 
• Water 
• Honey or maple syrup, if desired 

Directions: 

Pureed fruit being poured onto a dehydrating sheet.

1. Peel and core apples, then coarsely chop. Reserve apple peels and dehydrate for use in Nut and Fruit Bars, below.
2. If using grapes with seeds, remove seeds before proceeding or be sure to use a food mill to separate the seeds from the fruit puree in step 6. 
3. Place chopped fruit in a medium saucepan and add water to almost cover fruit. 
4. Simmer over medium heat until fruit is soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 
5. Add honey or maple syrup to adjust to desired sweetness level. If there seems to be a lot of liquid at this point (some fruits are juicier than others), strain a bit of the water/juice through a fine mesh sieve and reserve for Fruit Gelatin, below. Ideally the liquid to fruit ratio should be about 1:2 before proceeding. 
6. Puree fruit mixture with a blender or food processor, or use a food mill to remove seeds and puree. 
7. Pour fruit puree onto the center of a dehydrator sheet or onto parchment paper on a baking sheet. Dehydrate in a dehydrator or in the oven at 135 degrees F for 8-10 hours, or until no longer moist to the touch. 
8. Peel fruit from the sheet and cut to desired size. Roll individual pieces lengthwise, or place fruit sheets on strips of wax paper and roll tightly for easy unrolling when it comes time to eat. 
9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Estimated time to complete: 12 hours 

Ingredients:  

Watermelon chunks ready for dehydration

• Large Seeded Watermelon 
• Water 
• ¼ cup sea salt 
• 2 cups maple syrup 
• Peel of 1 lemon (use other part of lemon in Toaster Pastries recipe) 

Optional: Apple peels (If you would like to prep the apple peels that were left over from Fruit Roll-Ups for Nut and Fruit Bars, now is a good time to dehydrate them.) 

Directions: 

Part A: Watermelon Taffy

Estimated time to complete: 12 hours 

1. Remove seeds and rind from watermelon. (Reserve rind for Part B, Watermelon Rind Cubes, below. Reserve seeds for Nut and Fruit Bars, below.) 
2. Chop watermelon into ½”-1” chunks. 
3. Space fruit on a dehydrator tray or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dehydrate in a dehydrator, or in the oven, at 135 degrees F for 12 hours, or until no longer moist to the touch. 
4. If dehydrating apple peels now too, these will be fully dehydrated within 4-6 hours. Check often and remove once no longer moist to the touch. 
5. Remove the sticky watermelon taffy from the tray and store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

From left to right: (1) peeled raw watermelon rind, (2) lemon and watermelon rind in boiling syrup, (3) finished product

Part B: Watermelon Rind Cubes 

Estimated time to complete: 10 hours 

1. Remove green peel from watermelon rinds so that only the white rind remains. 
2. Chop white rind into ½”-1” cubes and place into a medium pot. 
3. Cover the rind with hot water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and allow to cool. 
4. Mix ¼ cup sea salt with 1-quart cool water until dissolved. Pour over cooled, cooked rind and allow to sit for 6-8 hours. 
5. Drain the brine and rinse the rind well with fresh water. 
6. Cover with hot water once more and simmer until the rind is tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. 
7. Mix maple syrup and lemon peel with 1 ¼ cups water. Bring to a low boil and simmer until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (234 degrees F). 
8. Carefully add the cooked rind to the syrup mixture, stirring gently and constantly to prevent the rind from scorching. 
9. Simmer until the syrup returns to thread stage (230 degrees F) and then remove the rind cubes one at a time with a slotted spoon. 
10. Place on a wire rack to cool and dry. (The lemon peel can also be cooled and eaten as candy at this point.) Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Estimated time to complete: 1 ½ hours

Raspberry peach toaster pastry

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup pitted and chopped peaches
• 1 cup raspberries 
• Juice of 1 lemon (other part of lemon from Watermelon Candy recipe) 
• ¼ cup water 
• ¼ cup honey or maple syrup, if desired 
• 2 ¼ cups flour 
• 1 cup cold butter 
• 1/3 cup cold water 
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 
• ½ tsp salt 
• 1 egg, beaten 
• Maple sugar for dusting 

Optional: Watermelon seeds. (If you would like to prep the watermelon seeds that were left over from Watermelon Candy for Nut and Fruit Bars, now is a good time to roast them.) 

Directions: 

Part A: Pie Crust 

Estimated time to complete: 10 minutes 

1. Combine water, vinegar and salt in a small bowl. 
2. Add cold butter, flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse until butter is fully cut into dry ingredients. 
3. Add water mixture to food processor and turn on low speed. Mix until a soft, coarse dough forms. 
4. Turn dough onto a flat surface and press it together into a tight ball. Split the ball in half, reshape into two squares, then flatten the squares into rectangles. 
5. Wrap with a clean kitchen towel and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Part B: Jam

Estimated time to complete: 30 minutes 

1. Add fruit, water, lemon juice and honey or maple syrup to a medium saucepan. 
2. Heat over medium until steaming and the fruit begins to soften. If there seems to be a lot of liquid at this point (some fruits are juicier than others), strain a bit of the water/juice through a fine mesh sieve and reserve for Fruit Gelatin, below. Ideally the liquid to fruit ratio should be about 1:2 before proceeding. 
3. Mash fruit with a fork or potato masher and continue heating at a low boil for about 20 minutes, until the fruit begins to thicken and gel, stirring occasionally. 
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

Part C: Toaster Pastries 

Estimated time to complete: 45 minutes 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Remove pie crust dough from the refrigerator and roll out both pieces into long, thin rectangles on a lightly floured surface. 
3. Cut one crust into 6 small rectangles and move to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 
4. Place 1 Tbs of jam into the center of each small crust. 
5. Brush the edges of the dough around the jam with the beaten egg. 
6. Cut the second large crust into 6 small rectangles and place one on top of each previous crust with jam on it. Use a fork to press all four edges together, then poke several rows of holes in the top of the pastry to allow for steam to escape during baking. 
7. Brush the top of each pastry with the beaten egg. Dust with maple sugar, if desired. 
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. 
9. If roasting watermelon seeds now too, these will be done in 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool once toasted. 
10. Cool pastries on a wire rack and store covered in the refrigerator for several days. Serve toasted, or pack into a lunchbox to enjoy at any temperature. 

From left to right: (1) add jam to center of each dough piece, (2) cover with dough, press and brush with egg wash, (3) sprinkle with maple sugar

Estimated time to complete: 8 hours 

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups fruit juice (leftover sweetened juice/water from the other recipes above is perfect!) 
• 2 (.5 oz) envelopes unflavored gelatin powder 
• Honey or maple syrup, if desired 
• Chopped fresh fruit, if desired 

Directions: 

1. Add 1 cup of juice to a mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin powder over the surface. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir to combine. 
2. Add 3 cups of fruit juice into a medium saucepan. Add honey or maple syrup if needed/desired. Bring to a boil. 
3. Pour the hot juice into the bowl and stir until gelatin powder is fully dissolved. 
4. Set out individual molds, jars or other dishes. If you are using chopped fresh fruit, add to the jars now. Pour the liquid into the jars and refrigerate until set, about 6-8 hours. 
5. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

Estimated time to complete: 1 hour

Nut and syrup mixture pressed into a dish to mold.

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, etc.) 
• 1 cup dried apple peels, chopped 
• ½ cup roasted watermelon seeds 
• ½ cup maple syrup 
• 4 Tbs honey 
• 1 tsp sea salt (if using unsalted nuts) 

Directions: 

1. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Mix nuts, apple peels and watermelon seeds in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Add maple syrup, honey and sea salt to a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (234 degrees F), not beyond. 
3. Pour syrup mixture over nut mixture and stir to combine. 
4. Transfer into lined baking dish and spread out evenly. Allow to cool and then place dish in the refrigerator to harden, about 30 minutes. 
5. Remove nut block from dish and place on a cutting board. Cut into small bars and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.