What do you do when your SCOBY hotel is overflowing? (1) Give away your SCOBY to a friend. (2) Compost the SCOBY - add it directly to your garden or put it in the green bin. Or (3) Make SCOBY fruit leather!
This was a great little successful experiment in my kitchen. I had SCOBYs I did not know what to do with and willing kid taste testers.
Why would you eat the SCOBY culture?
The SCOBY is the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast or the mother that ferments sugar tea into kombucha. Each brew cycle would create a new SCOBY layer. If you brew kombucha regularly, pretty soon you'll have more SCOBYs than you know what to do with.
The SCOBY is made of cellulose and a great source of insoluble fibre. Insoluble fibre helps our digestive system remove waste.1
Ingredients
To make SCOBY fruit leather, you'll need 2 cups of SCOBYs and ½ - 1 cup of kombucha. You'll also need 1 cup of fruit (I used frozen wild blueberries) and ½ cup of raw honey or maple syrup.
Blueberries are rich in antioxidants, and raw honey or maple syrup are great natural sweeteners.
How do I make SCOBY Fruit Leather?
If using a dehydrator, line 2 dehydrator trays with unbleached parchment paper. This is the dehydrator I have, and I love it!
If using an oven, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Preheat oven to 170ºF.
In your high-speed blender, add the SCOBYs and about ½ cup of kombucha. Blend on high until the SCOBY is thoroughly broken down and the mixture is smooth. You may add more kombucha as needed to help it along.
Once the mixture is smooth, add the fruit and honey or maple syrup. Blend again on high until thoroughly combined.
Don't you just love that purple colour from those blueberries?
Pour half of the mixture onto your parchment-paper-lined dehydrator tray (or baking sheet for the oven). Using a spatula, spread the mixture around as evenly as you can until it is about ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Do the same for the rest of the mixture on the other dehydrator tray or sheet.
For the dehydrator
Place the trays in the dehydrator and let it run at 125°F for at least 8 hours. Depending on your environment and humidity, it may need some more time to dry. Check after 8 hours to see if the fruit leather is ready. If it's not quite dry yet, run the dehydrator for another hour then check again.
For the oven
Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake at 170ºF for 4-7 hours. The timing would vary depending on the amount of liquid in your mixture. Check at 4 hours. If the middle part is not yet set and dry, bake for another hour then check again.
Rolling it all up
Once dried, take a pair of scissors and cut the fruit leather and parchment paper into strips. Roll up the strips or cut them into smaller pieces.
I cut these into smaller roll-ups and my kids enjoyed their "candy" so much I had to make some more!
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment or rating below!
Try my other fermented food recipes too:
- Fermented Salsa
- Kimchi
- Make Your Own Kombucha Sourdough Starter
- Pineapple Kombucha Green Smoothie
- Watermelon Kombucha Shake
- Orange Cardamom Kombucha
- Strawberry Rhubarb Kombucha
- SCOBY Hotel Guide
Also, check out the Kombucha Brewing Guide I wrote for the Academy of Culinary Nutrition. Or book an online kombucha brewing workshop with me!
SCOBY Fruit Leather
Ingredients
- 2 cups SCOBY
- ½ - 1 cup kombucha
- 1 cup fruit fresh or frozen
- ½ cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Dehydrator: Line 2 dehydrator trays with parchment paper.Oven: Preheat oven to 170ºF/77ºC. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a high-speed blender, add the SCOBYs and ½ cup of kombucha. Blend until smooth. Add more kombucha as needed.
- Add fruit and maple syrup. Blend again until smooth.
- Pour half the mixture onto the parchment-paper-lined dehydrator tray or baking sheet. Using a spatula, spread around as evenly as possible until ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Do the same for the rest of the mixture on the 2nd tray or sheet.
- Dehydrator: Place the trays in the dehydrator and let dry at 125ºF/52ºC for at least 8 hours. If not yet fully dry, dry for another hour until fully set.Oven: Place the sheets in the oven and bake for 4-7 hours. Check at 4 hours if the middle part is dry and set, otherwise, bake for another hour until everything is dry.
- Once dry, cut fruit leather and parchment paper into strips using scissors.
- Roll up and enjoy!
References
- Crum, Hannah, et al. “Consuming Your Cultures.” The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea, Storey Publishing, 2016, p. 297.
Kayla
Hi! Would it still work if I use kombucha that has gone vinegary? I’m sure it would taste more vinegary but would there be any other difference?
Melissa Torio
Hi Kayla, it would still work and just taste more vinegary.
Lynn
I had leftover mixture that didn’t fit in my dehydrator so used it as topping to my plant based yogurt 🤩
Melissa Torio
How creative! 🙂
Lynn
Hello !!
I’m so excited to try this for the first time. After making the recipe and getting it into my dehydrator I noticed that the list of ingredients at the bottom says to use 1/2 cup of honey or maple syrup… Earlier in the post, the detailed instructions said 1/4 cup which is what I went by. Am hoping it comes out ok but if it doesn’t could you tell me the correct amount so I get it right next time 🙂
Thank you so much!
Melissa Torio
Hi Lynn, thanks for catching that! It should be 1/2 cup maple syrup but 1/4 cup would also work. 🙂
Lynn
Thank you so much for your reply. I’m having a little bit of trouble getting it to separate from the parchment this morning so am dehydrating a little longer. Next batch I’ll use the larger amount and see if that makes the removal go a little more smoothly 😊
lacey
what an awesome way to use SCOBY!!!! thank you! i had SOOOOOO much extra and googled ideas for excess scoby and found this recipe! first time trying this recipe and they just went into the dehydrator. i will update in the morning! i'm super excited. my 16 month old gleefully ate spoonfuls of the puree while i was spreading it out on the parchment.
Melissa Torio
Glad you tried this recipe! My kids call this "candy". 😉 Let me know how it turns out!
Tiffany
Hi, so I made this recipe and it turned out delicious… but the stuff won’t come off the parchment paper. I don’t know why but they somehow fused together. Any ideas why this happened or how to prevent it?
Melissa Torio
Hi Tiffany, is the fruit leather still damp? In my experience, when it's not fully dry, it's hard to separate from the parchment paper. Sometimes I find that I need to let it dry longer. I hope this helps!
Linda Oliver
I'm trying the scoby Fruit Roll-Ups as we speak but I'm using my oven to cook it. After it's cooked and is leathery should I leave it out to cool at room temperature. Before cutting it into Roll-Ups trips it just seems like it might come off the paper better that way. Because like the other person says is kind of infused to the paper so I'm thinking. Maybe I need to leave it on the paper towels are completely cools and then peel it off and then cut and roll. Is that an option or would that be the best way to do it. Would like to get an answer before it comes out of the oven. Been cooking since 8 this morning is 6 p.m. now.
Melissa Torio
Hi Linda, I would let it cool down a little bit before handling and cutting into strips. Do let me know how it turns out!
Crystal
I followed the recipe exactly and the final product is completely fused with the parchment paper. Any suggestions?
Melissa
Does it still feel sticky/wet? Might need more time to dry. Did you use the dehydrator or the oven?
Verna penner Elias
Wow thanks for sharing this new way of using kubocha scobies.
Melissa
You're welcome! Let me know if you try making some!
Melissa
You're welcome! 🙂 Thanks for reading!