Homemade Fruit Rollups with Walnuts - Turkish Pestil

Homemade fruit rollups with walnuts are the perfect mid-day snack! For this healthy, kid-friendly, two-ingredient recipe, you'll need only 30 minutes of active prep & cooking time.

When it comes to snacking, we try our best to go for healthier options like fruit and nuts—which may become boring, especially to kids. That's why I wanted to make that combo more palatable and uber-kid-friendly by incorporating it into...fruit roll-ups!

Best Way to Add Walnuts to Fruit Roll-Ups

I was inspired by the talented Amiel Stanek, who formerly created a "SCOBY fruit leather" for Bon Appetit. If one can successfully go with Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeasts (SCOBY) purée, I concluded that the sky must be the limit for fruit leather additions. After reading that article, incorporating walnuts to make fruit roll-ups even healthier seemed like a walk in the park...and it was! It worked exactly how I imagined it would. During recipe development, that happens once in a blue moon.

Basically, you just need to make sure that the walnuts are minced finely. For the apricot variety, I've simply diced them before adding to the fruit leather purée. While the result was still tasty and roll-uppable, the strips were not as structurally robust. Expectedly, the texture on the upper side of the leather was also far rougher.

Ingredients for the Homemade Fruit Rollups with Walnuts

We only need TWO ingredients for this tasty, healthy treat.

• 250 g fresh strawberries (approximately 2 cups whole, See Note 1)
• 45 g California walnuts, minced (approximately 6 tablespoons)
• Optional: 1 tablespoon water (See Note 2)
• Optional: 5 dates, pitted (See Note 3)

Directions for the Homemade Fruit Rollups with Walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 180°F.
2. Trim the strawberries and blend them for at least one minute until smooth.
3. To cook out the excess water, transfer the blended strawberries to a saucepan and cook on medium for 15 minutes. Stir frequently until the mixture thickens up.
4. Add the minced walnuts into the strawberry purée and mix.
5. Line a baking pan with a silicone baking mat (e.g. Silpat) or parchment paper. The silicone mat will yield the best-looking, shiniest results.
6. Place the fruit & walnut mixture onto the pan and spread it into a rectangle sized approximately 14in by 9in. Spread the leather as thinly as you can with a spatula while still making sure no areas appear transparent.
7. Bake in the oven for 4 hours until the leather is only slightly tacky. If the leather still feels sticky, bake for longer.
8. Remove from the oven and cool. Carefully peel off the leather and place on a cutting board, then cut into strips with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.
9. Roll the fruit & walnut strips up to serve.
10. They will keep for up to a week in an airtight container, longer if perfectly dehydrated. They also make great Mason jar gifts!

Recipe Notes:

1. I highly recommend strawberries for this recipe, but you can substitute with pretty much any fruit of the same weight—or even a combination of several. A few suggestions: mango, cherry, blueberry, apricot, nectarine, and peach.
2. You may need a very small amount of water to get the blender going. If you find you have to add a lot more to be able to blend, then cook down the mixture for longer.
3. For less sweet and more acidic fruits (e.g. apricot), make sure to sweeten with pitted dates or other sweetener of your choice.

A Few Fast Facts on Walnuts

Research suggests walnut consumption may be associated with improved cognitive function. According to NutritionFacts.org (i.e. my favorite source for all things nutrition-related):

"Which nut is healthiest? Walnuts really seem to take the lead. They have among the highest antioxidant and omega-3 levels, and they beat out other nuts in vitro in suppressing cancer cell growth."

Dr. Michael Greger on nutritionfacts.org

• A handful of walnuts can help you feel full and satisfied thanks to a combination of key nutrients including plant-based protein (4g/oz) and fiber (2g/oz)
• Walnuts are a significant source of essential omega-3 ALA (2.5g/oz)
• A growing field of research is looking at walnuts and cognitive function, including areas like healthy aging as well as mood, concentration and more

this fruit roll-up recipe is:

• vegan / plant-based
• a great snack
• made with only 2 ingredients
• kid-friendly
• healthy
• easy to make
• & delicious!

want other healthy snack recipes? start here:

• Vegan Nutella Mousse
• Turkish Tahini & Molasses Spread
• Antioxidant Berry Smoothie

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Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you make this recipe! Afiyet olsun (bon appetite)!

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