Oven Dried Strawberries
Have you ever seen dehydrated berries in stores? I have and they are often so expensive.
Last week I experimented a lot with leftovers and was trying to preserve as much as I could, anticipating the new work week.
I enjoy preparing, preserving and making meals in advance when I work my seven day shift. It’s just easier and I feel comforted in the knowledge that I am armed with good meals, snacks and boiled legumes in advance.
I made these dried strawberries as a snack but surprised myself this weekend by baking them in scones for my family. It came out great!
Top tip: You can add this to oats, plain muesli or a baked granola cheesecake.
Ingredients
1 punnet strawberries, (whatever ripe ones you have that you want to preserve)
Method
Slice in rounds or length wise. Whichever you prefer. The slices mustn’t be to thick. About 2 cm is perfect.
Place your berries above parchment paper on flat baking sheet.
Bake at 70 degrees for about an hour or until it dries out. I didn’t flip my strawberries, but after peeling some away from the parchment, 1 or two weren’t dried out fully. I flipped that and popped it back in the oven for a further 10 minutes and everything was done.
Did you know: The average strawberry has about 200 seeds. Strawberries are the first fruits to ripen in Spring and this season is nearly upon us. One cup of strawberries, which is high in antioxidents, has roughly 50 calories. It contains about 12 g of carbohydrates and is high in calcium and a range of vitamins and minerals. They are also relatively low GI and should not cause any alarming blood sugar spikes - which makes it the perfect snack.
