Driving twelve-plus hours with two kids under five is a rare challenge — and snacks are essential.
Good snacks make the trip calmer and the kids happier. Trust me.
Knowing we’d be heading to Tennessee in mid-May for my younger brother’s graduation, I planned ahead and brought homemade snacks for the whole family. Homemade treats are cheaper, easier to make allergy-friendly, and often tastier than store-bought options.
Plus, experimenting with recipes has become a fun hobby — until you hit a dud that even the dog refuses to try.
For this trip we packed several homemade items: jerky for the ride home (it keeps forever), homemade summer sausage and sliced apples for the drive up, hummus and carrot sticks for snacking while we were there, and some strawberries and bananas I needed to use up, which I turned into fruit leather to take back with us.
It was a solid plan — except there weren’t enough strawberries and bananas. The kids found the fruit leather in the refrigerator and ate it all before we left. Clearly I need better snack security.
Snacks keep the kids happy at home too. 😛
The first fruit leather recipe I tried with bananas remains a favorite: blueberry-banana fruit leather. Ripe bananas add natural sweetness and help balance tart fruits. I once made straight strawberry fruit leather that ended up far too tart — bananas solve that problem.
Contrary to what you might expect, bananas don’t turn brown when dried, whether dehydrated on their own or mixed with higher-acid fruits like strawberries.
Strawberry Banana Fruit Leather
Strawberry-Banana Fruit leather
Looking for an easy, healthy treat? This fruit leather is delicious and family-friendly.
- Author: Elise
Ingredients
- 2 cups Fresh strawberries, capped*
- 1 banana*
- *Feel free to adjust the amount of fruit to suit your taste.
Instructions
- Place strawberries and banana in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Spread the puree onto fruit leather trays or a parchment-lined baking sheet to a thickness of about 1/8–1/4 inch.
- Dehydrate on the fruit setting for 4–6 hours, or in the oven on its lowest setting for 3–4 hours. Many ovens go down to around 170°F; if yours runs warmer, prop the door open slightly to lower the temperature.
- Dry until the surface is no longer sticky to the touch.
- Remove from the dehydrator or oven and let cool completely.
- If you dried the leather on parchment, cut it into strips and roll them up for easy storage and packing.
- If you dried the leather directly on fruit leather trays, carefully pry it off in strips and roll. Leather dried directly on trays often stays rolled without tying.
- Notes: Different dehydrators and ovens vary. Dry until tackiness is gone but the leather remains pliable. Store rolled fruit leather in airtight containers or bags to keep it soft.