This holiday season or at any time of year, it’s easy to make homemade gifts with your food dehydrator. Homemade treats show that you put time and thought into the gift. Make some personal treats for people hard to buy for the people in your life.
1) Fruit Snack Fills: Fruit rolls can be made in your dehydrator by pureeing fruit and placing them on solid plastic tray liners or on trays lined with plastic wrap. Dry the fruit until it is the consistency of leather. Cut the leather into strips or shapes and store in airtight bags or containers. Make a variety of fruit roll flavors or choose the person’s favorite. Get creative and try new flavor combinations or add some textures like shredded coconut or chopped walnuts. Try adding small amounts of yogurt for creamy flavors.
2) Homemade Nut Gift Packs: By buying raw nuts like almonds, peanuts or walnuts, soaking them in salty water overnight, and dehydrating them, you can make healthy nut snacks. To make a variety of flavors, you can coat the nuts in a sweet mix of things like honey, cinnamon, or coconut or top them with spicy flavors like hot pepper sauce, chili powder, or wasabi. After coating the walnuts, place them in the dehydrator until the coating dries. Package in small bags for snacks and label with the different flavors.
3) Dried Fruit Assortments – Buy a variety of fruits such as apples, pears, grapes, peaches, and pineapple. Wash the fruit and core and peel as needed, then cut into halves, chunks, or decorative rings. You can sprinkle with spices or colored sugars to add more flavor and color. Dry until the fruit has a leathery consistency. Store in airtight bags or containers.
4) Jerky sweets: whether you are a hunter or not, preparing homemade jerky is easy. Choose the type of meat the person would prefer or try a variety. Favorite meats are beef, venison, turkey, chicken, or fish. The meat should be lean, but it can be thinly sliced or shredded. Choose from packaged seasonings for jerky or try your favorite combination of spices. If you use liquid flavors like teriyaki, marinate the meat overnight in the refrigerator to help the flavors sink into the meat. Place the spaced meat on the trays and pat dry until the meat is brittle. Store in airtight bags or containers.
5) Potpourri Ornaments – Nature gives us a variety of scents to choose from, from flowers to fruits to herbs and spices. Some popular flavorings are dried sliced apple rings with cinnamon sprinkled on them or small pumpkin slices dusted with pumpkin pie spice. Both can be decorated with cloves before drying. Use a decorative ribbon as a hanger and string on some rings for a wider decoration or a longer hanging decoration.
Get creative and let your food dehydrator help you make easy, personal gifts for the special people in your life, for the holidays or any special occasion.