Animal, Nature, and Travel: Taste-bud Journey: Mango and Chia Seeds Fruit Leather with a Tangy Twist

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for Mango and Chia Seeds Fruit Leather with a Tangy Twist. It originated with a Prana Snacks recipe. Since I had some mangos in my refrigerator to use up, I decided I finally wanted to create some Fruit Leather combinations.

I searched the web for suggestions for what else might work combined with mangoes. Believe it or not, they not only suggested using one of my favorite ingredients, Chia Seeds, they included, believe it or not, the inclusion of ground Turmeric.

Out of curiosity, I decided to use the exact ingredient-measurements indicated in their recipe; however, my cooking time took way longer than they suggested. I have included a link to their recipe near the end of this blog. As I mixed the ingredients together, I noticed that the smell of mango was heightened instead of diminished.

Conclusion: I suppose if you were trying to make these more kid-friendly, you might want to use White Chia Seeds instead of Black Chia Seeds. You also might want to add yellow or orange food coloring. But since it is only going to be this kid-at-heart grown-up eating them, LOL!, I am happy to eat these minus those two adjustments. As far as the taste, I found these to be slightly tart and slightly sweet and quite yummy. I will definitely make these again sometime in the future.

Recipe

7 to 8 oz. mango, peeled, cubed, and ground to small chunks
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Procedure

Step 1: Preheat oven to 200° F.

Step 2: Grease silicone molds.

Step 3: In a food grinder, chop the mango chunks into small pieces.

Step 4: In a large measuring cup with pouring spout, mix together chopped mango, vanilla extract, turmeric, sesame seeds, and chia seeds. Stir until well-mixed.

Step 5: Spoon or carefully pour the mixture and then spread out the mixture until it is 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick.

Step 6: Heat in oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the top layer appears dry.

Step 7: Flip the fruit leather and heat the wet side for another hour until both sides appear dry.

Step 8: Allow fruit leather to cool completely before adding to a storage container. Store them in a container with an oxygen absorber packet to keep the fruit leather fresh.

Recipe source link will open in a new window.

MANGO-TURMERIC-CHIA FRUIT LEATHER recipe by Prana Snacks

In case you are interested in where I got these 'kitchen toys,'here are the links. They will all open in a new window. FYI - I don't get any special perks for posting these. This is simply listed for the convenience for people, like me, who adore kitchen gadgets and baking aids.

The Mini Food Chopper is what I used to chop up the mango chunks. I love this 'kitchen toy' because it is compact, cordless, and doesn't take long to charge, between uses, via USB port.

Electric Mini Garlic Chopper, Synmixx Portable Mini Food Chopper Vegetable Slicer Meat Grinder with Type-C Charge Port, 2 Blades, Garlic Blender with for Chopping Garlic/Onions/Chili/Ginger(250 ml) from Amazon

Pantry Elements Rectangular Silicone Baking Cups / Cupcake and Muffin Molds, Six Vibrant Colors - 12-Pack from Amazon

Walfos Premium Silicone Muffin Top Pan, Non-Stick Muffin Top Baking Pan, Prefect for Baking Cake, Corn Bread, Muffin Top and More, Food Grade and BPA Free (2-PK Silicone Muffin Top Pan)

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.