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I cannot believe we are just about halfway through August. Where did the time go?! Summer will be waving goodbye before we know it and fall will be creeping up. Of course, in Florida, there really is not much of a transition period between seasons. But we do have to acknowledge the fact that some of the delicious seasonal fruits and veggies we have available to us in the summer will soon be no more. So #SundaySupper is here to Save Summer! We’re canning, pickling, drying, freezing, and whatever else you do to preserve the fresh flavors of summer. Thank you to Tara from Noshing with the Nolands and Stacy from Food Lust People Love for hosting!
I have a weird obsession with dried fruit. I frequent the bulk bins in Whole Foods and stock up on dried papaya and pineapple (the ones with no added sugar!). If I had the money and the room for a dehydrator I would totally get one so I could make all the dried fruit in the world and never be without! After lots of Googling and Pinterest-browsing, I discovered that you actually can make dried fruit WITHOUT a dehydrator. Although it may not be AS dried as it would be with this appliance, it still is feasible and I knew I had to try it out. Peaches and mangos are two of the most delicious summer fruits that will soon leave me hanging. I sliced ’em up nice and thick — remember, these are going to shrink since we’re drying out all of the juices that make them plump — and put them in the oven for the whole freaking day at a very low temperature, 200 degrees.
You are going to definitely need the entire day for this, so don’t plan to make dried fruit on a day when you have a million things to do out of the house. I’d suggest 10 hours, but it’s up to you. I took mine out after 8 hours and they hadn’t completely released all of their juices so they were still a little soft. They did, however, have that chewy texture you get from dried fruit and the natural sugars were definitely developed. There is an elevated amount of sweetness to dried fruit that you don’t get from the fresh produce. I should have left them in for another couple hours, but unfortunately my planning ahead sucks and I had to go out to dinner.
This isn’t really a recipe, per say, but more pointers for making dried fruit without a dehydrator. So let’s recap, shall we?
- Plan ahead since the fruit will need to be in the oven the whole day.
- Slice your fruit thicker than you want the end result pieces to be.
- Set your oven to a 200 degrees.
- Arrange the sliced fruit on a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Another option is to set a wire cooling rack on top of the baking sheet and arrange the fruit on the rack. This will allow the juices to fall away from the fruit as it releases. Otherwise, you may get “dried juice” residue sticking to the side of the fruit. It kind of resembles plastic and may freak you out when you see it, but it’s only the juice.
- Flip the fruit onto its other side about halfway through the baking period.
- Once finished, let cool before storing. The pieces will stick together if piled on top of each other, so try to keep them separate if possible. Or just eat them right away. Because they’re yummy, and if you’re as addicted to dried fruit as I am, you won’t be able to resist.
Let’s see all the genius ways my #SundaySupper friends are Saving Summer!
Learn how to …
- Dry Fruit – No-Dehydrator-Needed from Take A Bite Out of Boca
- Freeze Cherries from Pies and Plots
- Freeze Herbs from Rhubarb and Honey
- Make Freezer Harvest Soup Kits from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Make Pesto Cubes from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
- Make and Freeze Rosemary Butter from Momma’s Meals
- Make Ready to Blend Smoothie Packs for Your Freezer from The Educators’ Spin On It
- Oven Dry Cherries from The Redhead Baker
Sip sunny cocktails and smoothies
- Blueberry, Peaches and Cream Green Smoothies from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
- Green Tea and Chocolate Saketini from Ninja Baking
- Sangria from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Scoop up special salsas and sauces
- Classic Freezer Tomato Sauce from Noshing With The Nolands
- Peach Salsa from The Texan New Yorker
- Pico de Gallo from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Spicy Apple – Carrot Chutney from What Smells So Good?
- Spring Conserve from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Jump into jellies, jams and preserves
- Apricot Habanero Jam from Food Lust People Love
- Corn Cob Jelly from Daily Dish Recipes
- Hot Pepper Jelly from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- No Pectin Apricot Jam from Curious Cuisiniere
- Peach Preserves from Delaware Girl Eats
- Pineapple Mango Moscato Jam from Seduction in the Kitchen
- Raw Raspberry-Vanilla Chia Jam from Shockingly Delicious
- Savory Fig and Sweet Onion Freezer Jam from Peaceful Cooking
- Spicy Ginger Tomato Jam with Coconut Sugar from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
- Spicy Red Pepper Jam from The Wimpy Vegetarian
Pucker up for pickles
- Bread and Butter Pickles from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Pickled Beets and Onions from Kudos Kitchen by Renée
- Pickled Cherries from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
- Pickled Green Tomatoes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Refrigerator Pickled Jalapeños with Herbs from Magnolia Days
- Refrigerator Pickled Radish and Turnips from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
- Refrigerator Pickles from Webicurean
- Sweet Pickled Cauliflower from Because I Like Chocolate
Slurp and spoon soup and a side dish
- Easy Garden Fresh Tomato Basil Soup from Neighborfood
- Savory Summer Kimchi from A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
Dive into divine desserts
- Easy (no machine) Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream from Mama Bee Does
- Freeze ’em For Later Peach Berry Hand Pies from eating in instead
- Frozen Yogurt Covered Blueberries from Peanut Butter and Pepper
- Lemon and Blackberry Meringue Cakes from Happy Baking Days
- Lemon Curd Coffee Crumb Cake with Vanilla Drizzle from Wallflour Girl
- Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream from Killer Bunnies, Inc
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Oh neat! I’m going to have to try this.
Let me know how it goes for ya, Renee!
I fear I would just eat all this right away, Shaina. I am not much of a sweet eater but I do love dried fruit, especially mango.
Dried mango is so yummy. I don’t blame you for wanting to eat it all right away!
Love that you can do this without any extra equipment! I am such a huge fan of dried fruit! YUMMY!
So am I, Liz. It’s delicious!
Dried peaches are one on my favorite treats! I only wish I had some fresh ripe ones available in my kitchen right now to try this out!
Looks like it’s time for you to take a trip to the grocery store, Amanda 🙂
This is great! I love dried fruit but don’t have a dehydrator. I can’t wait to try this!
Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you, Heather!
I love dried fruit and to be able to make it at home with fresh summer produce sounds awesome to me! Thanks so much for this tutorial!
You’re welcome, Joanne!
Great idea! I am so going to do this. I love dried fruit!!
Me too, Jennifer, it’s my favorite snack!
This is just brilliant and so easy to do! I will be trying this myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
You’re so welcome, Isabel!! 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
I love dehydrated fruit!, Especially Pineapple! I always thought you needed a dyhydrater! This is awesome!!!
I love dried pineapple foo, Deanna. That’s next on my list to try!
Great tips for drying fruit, I will have to try this!!
Thanks, Tara!
I love that you did this without another gadget or appliance. Dried fruit is such a versatile pantry item to have. We finally get a Whole Foods on Sept. 24th – can’t wait to experience what everyone raves about.
Ah you’ll love WF, Christy, their bulk bins are awesome!
I just love the idea of making your own dried fruit in the oven! Perfect, Shaina.
Thanks, Bea!
I love making dehydrated fruit in the oven, it’s just too easy not to!
Agreed, Mallory. Now that I see how easy it is I’ll be doing it much more often!
Great idea! My son loves dried fruit, it has to be cheaper to make it yourself!
Oh yeah, definitely!! I hope you’ll enjoy, Coleen!
I have no room for a dehydrator, so this is an awesome tip for me! I need to get some mango to try this out!
Dried mango has such a different flavor than the fresh fruit. You’ll love it!
Genius! We recently remodeled our kitchen, and my new oven has a dehydrator setting – 200˚. I’ve got to try this!
That’s awesome, Susan! I bet your dried fruit will turn out perfect!
You’ve totally de-mystified drying fruit for me, Shaina! What a great idea to have a supply of home-baked dried fruit!
Thanks, Katy. Glad I could solve the mystery!
I love dried fruit too and I know homemade much taste so much better than store bought!
I agree, Laura. Homemade always tastes better!
We love dried fruit and even though I have a dehydrator there are never enough trays!
What a great option for those of us who not own a dehydrator!!! This is great, Shaina!
I’ve been using dried fruit to jazz up oatmeal lately, and it would be so much better to make my own!
Going to try this with dried apples first!
Yummmy! And very brilliant of you to work around the dehydrator situation, Shaina =)
My youngest loves fruit and sometimes can’t eat it all quick enough before it goes bad so taking some of his snacks and making them dried fruit snacks should help. Thanks!
I was going to say if you didn’t have to flip it, I’d just do it over night. Well there goes that idea! However this is certainly more cost effective than buying dried fruit.
I bet you probably still could do it overnight, Susan. Let me know if you try it!
I love the old school way of drying fruit too!
what a great idea!! I’ve done this in the fall with apples, but never with summer fruit before!! If you get ripe fruits, you shouldn’t need to add extra sugar to it – they are perfect as is!
I love that the fruit doesn’t need any added sugar, it’s sweet enough. I will have to try this with apples. Thanks for the inspiration, Alice!
Our oven doesn’t go that low, so we just sprung for a dehydrator. It has been one of the best appliances we’ve bought! I’m dehydrating everything! But, we’ve never tried dried peaches. That needs to happen here soon!
Yes, you have to try peaches, Sarah!! I still would get a dehydrator if I had somewhere to put it haha
I love this idea. I’ll have to try this. My kiddo has food allergies that mean he can’t eat a lot of things. Mostly fruits.
Thanks, Nicole. You will love it!
I am so excited to have this recipe which I will use very soon! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday this week. Have a great weekend and come back real soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks, Helen, I hope you enjoy!
I love dry fruit but always thought I needed a dehydrator! Yay I an make my own!!
Same! I’m sure a dehydrator works a bit better, but this is still a great alternative!
Awesome! I love finding things I thought I couldn’t do without a special appliance DO-ABLE without it! Who needs all that space taken up by so many appliances that only get used every once in awhile? My kitchen is certainly too crowded for that. Thanks for bringing this tip to The Yuck Stops Here – see you tomorrow! HUGS
There are so many appliances I wish I could fit in my kitchen! Thanks for stopping by, Cheryl!
Not worth a dollar, these went in the garbage after the second try.