Raw Plum and Chia Fruit Leathers!

Raw Plum and Chia Fruit Leathers!

Wow these are so good!  Raw fruit blended with crunchy nutty chia seeds.  Packs a protein punch!  Great for snacking, lunchboxes, or treats!

I love plums!  I was so fortunate to be gifted this fabulous fruit since my trees are still too small to produce.  My friends had put up 20-30 pints of plum jam and then offered me leftovers for the picking.  The fruit was so plentiful, it took us maybe twenty minutes to get a five gallon bucket and a half bucket of delicious, juicy plums.  And we left at least that many on the tree to continue ripening.  Amazing amount of fruit for one small backyard tree!

My friends have a wonderful little suburban homestead, complete with fruit trees lining the property, blackberries trellised on the pool fence, and tomatoes and herbs growing in their front yard shrub beds.  And a blueberry bush that’ll produce probably half a bushel of berries alone!  A fig tree in a protected nook, and it was heavy and full of not-yet ripe golf ball sized figs.  They have chickens under the far shade tree, with sand and shavings to keep down any smells that might happen.  Fresh eggs in a country neighborhood!  They share time and chores, garden space and chicken coops with the next door neighbor.  Country living right there in their neighborhood!

Anyway, back to plums.  After I gave my dear fruit-loving friend a bag these amazing gems, I still had over a bucket full.  Jam coming up!  I love ‘runny jam’, so I used pectin I’d made from underripe apples from my trees.  [Plum preserves with pectin from home grown apples].  I use this for fruit sauces, in homemade cottage cheese or yogurt, or for cobblers.  We love dipping cookies in it!  Because its jam, it’s cooked and simmered, with more sugar than I like to use.  Cooking was one way to get the clingy pit out, and they were fairly easy to separate.  But I decided to make some fruit leathers with very little sugar, just that great plum taste.

And if I could make them raw, then that would be even better!  But there was the matter of the pits.

I discovered that if I scored the fruit a couple times down to the pit, Then the fruit could easily be blended up in my food processor to chop up the skins (which I wanted to keep) AND separate the pits, without a tremendous amount of hand work.  It worked perfectly!  Then I unceremoniously fished out the pits with my fingers.  Pouring off a little of the liquid/fruit helped, since the pits sank to the bottom.  You can use a colander with large holes, too.

Since this puree was pretty thin (that was some juicy fruit!), I added my favorite, thickener, Chia seeds!  Chia seeds are among the most nutritious foods, packed with protein and Omega-3’s.  I try to add some Chia seeds to my diet every day!  When added to liquid, Chia seeds will form a gel and thicken up a thin syrup.  And they add a nutty crunch!

Fruit leathers are great for snacking, rehydrating to add to smoothies, add to lunch boxes, and will store easily.  For long term storage, fruit leathers should be vacuum sealed or placed in a zipper bag and stored in the freezer.

RAW PLUM AND CHIA FRUIT LEATHERS

9-10 lbs or 1 gallon of fresh ripe plums, washed [homestead recipe for fruit and vegetable wash]
1-2 cups brown sugar (enough to sweeten to taste, depending on sweetness of the fruit)
2 cups chia seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
Parchment paper and/or leather trays for your dehyrator

Optional:
*1 pint jar of last year’s homemade applesauce.  Since I have several trees, most of my leathers are made with a base of applesauce to stretch scarce or more expensive exotic fruits that I cant grow.  It doesn’t change the taste or texture much.
*1 cup chopped knotweed, gathered earlier in the spring

Score each fruit down to the pit with a sharp serrated knife.  I do each fruit a couple times.  Place in the food processor bowl, and pulse to start ‘chopping’ up the fruit.  Gradually let it process for a minute, until the skins are chopped and you have a nice puree.  Pour into a large mixing bowl.  Do all the fruit this way.  Pick out the pits with your fingers, or use a colander with large holes to catch the pits.

Add the sugar and spices to the fruit puree and stir to blend well.  Break up any brown sugar lumps.  Add the chia seeds and let the mixture set for about fifteen minutes, to allow the chia to absorb liquid.  Give it a good stir every few minutes.

Prepare trays with parchment cut to size.  Ladle out the puree onto the sheets and spread with a spatula.  The puree needs to be fairly thick, about 1/8”.  The dried leathers are easier to pull from the tray or paper when its thicker.  Don’t spread all the way out to the edges, leave just a little ‘lip’ with the paper to catch any liquid.

Dehydrate on a lower setting of 105 degrees, if your dehydrator has a thermometer.  I plan on 18 hours in my region, due to humidity or temperature outside.  Rainy or high humidity days, of course, will take longer.  The thickness of the puree on the trays will determine drying times as well.

This recipe works well with almost any fruit for raw fruit leathers.  I love fruit combinations, so try mango and plum, or banana and plum!