These fun Fruit Leather Books are a simple and tasty treat to make for back-to-school, a teacher's gift, a book club meeting, or a graduation party. Each chewy little book-shaped treat is easy to make and tastes great.
How cute are these edible books? Each little book is made with 2-ingredient modeling chocolate made with white chocolate and honey and store-bought fruit leather.
I used cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and apricot fruit leather. The fresh fruit flavor blended harmoniously with the honey-scented, creamy vanilla, flavor of the modeling chocolate. Plus the fruit leather made the books like real leather-bound books.
Whether you are looking for a unique teacher's gift, a fun back-to-school snack, a book club meeting treat, or a graduation party dessert, these books will get an A+.
Let's make some Fruit Leather Books.
Ingredients
white candy melts or white chocolate - You can use wafers, bars, or chips.
honey or corn syrup - Either works well to make the white modeling chocolate pages for inside the books.
assorted fruit leather bars - I used Stretch Island Cherry, strawberry, apricot, and raspberry fruit leather. Try to find fruit leather that is very fresh for the best results. The leather needs to be pliable enough to fold in half without breaking. When you open the package, they will be sticky on one side which works great for this project.
powdered sugar - Used to dust your work surface so the molding chocolate won't stick.
Supplies
rolling pin
ruler
pizza wheel or knife
Instructions
Before you begin: If you haven't made modeling chocolate before or haven't melted chocolate, you should read my chocolate-making tutorial. All brands of white chocolate or white candy melts have varying amounts of cocoa butter or oil, so this recipe is just a guide. You may need to add more honey or corn syrup if the modeling chocolate feels too dry.
Melt the white candy melts.
Melt the white candy melts or white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.
If using the microwave, heat on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Heat for 20 seconds, then stir vigorously. If needed, heat for 10-second increments, stirring after each until melted.
To use a double boiler, fill a saucepan with 1 inch of water and set a snug-fitting bowl over top so the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Pour the white chocolate into the bowl. Heat over low heat, stirring often until about 75% of the chocolate has melted. Remove it from the heat and stir until melted.
Allow the chocolate to cool to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring often.
If you don't have a thermometer, test the temperature of the melted chocolate by putting a drop on your lip. It should feel cool. If it's hot, let it cool longer, stirring often to make sure the chocolate at the edges of the bowl does not harden.
If you add the honey when the chocolate is too hot, the cocoa butter or oil will rise to the surface and you will have a greasy mess. If this happens, read my How To Fix Greasy Modeling Chocolate troubleshooting post.
Blend the honey and white chocolate together.
Pour in the honey. Stir until well incorporated.
The mixture will become thick very quickly, so scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the melted chocolate.
Pour the modeling chocolate out onto a countertop, preferably marble or granite. Knead until glossy and smooth.
My hands tend to be rather warm, so I use a plastic bench scraper to help me knead the modeling chocolate so that I don't overheat it as this can bring out the oils in the chocolate.
Cut the modeling chocolate into rectangles.
Lightly dust your work surface and a rolling pin with powdered sugar.
Roll out the modeling chocolate to about ⅜" thickness.
Use a ruler and pizza wheel or knife to cut 1 ⅞" x 1 ½" rectangles. Re-roll the modeling chocolate as needed to create 12 rectangles.
Make the books.
Unwrap your fruit leather bars and set them, sticky side up, on a cutting board. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut off the thicker rounded edges. S
et one rectangle of white modeling chocolate on the right side of each fruit leather strip. Fold the left side of the fruit leather strip over and press down firmly.
The apricot fruit leather was not sticky enough to hold the books together, so I added a bit of honey. These books held together for a while but did eventually open. The cherry, raspberry, and strawberry fruit leathers were more pliable and sticky and they held the white chocolate pages without needing any honey.
To ensure the books would stick together, I covered them with some plastic wrap and set a baking sheet on top then added a heavy can to weigh it down. I left the books under this weight for over an hour.
None of the books made with the cherry, raspberry, or strawberry leathers came apart even after a few days.
Storage
Store in an airtight container for up to a week. Do not refrigerate or the fruit leather will harden and dry out.
Variation
You can use Fruit Rolls instead of the fruit leather. These books are smaller and thinner but are super cute too.
Assemble the books.
- cut your white modeling chocolate into rectangles that are the same width as the Fruit Rolls
- cut the Fruit Rolls so that they are a tiny bit longer than the white chocolate fudge rectangles
- set one Fruit Roll piece down
- set one white chocolate fudge rectangle on top
- set another Fruit Roll piece on top of the fudge
- press down to make it all stick together
- repeat
- use a black food coloring marker to draw 5-7 dots along one long edge of the top piece of Fruit Roll
- draw short straight lines from the dots to the closest edge of the Fruit Roll
- if desired, add the names of class subjects, doodles, or your child's name to each notebook
NOTE:
If your books won't stick together, dab some sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, or honey on the white chocolate fudge pieces before attaching the Fruit Roll pieces.
Depending on how thick you roll out the wh
Related Recipes
If you are looking for more fun Back to School or Teacher Appreciation Gift ideas be sure to check out all these other amazing food craft and recipe ideas on my School & Teacher Treats Page. You might also enjoy making School Book Sandwiches or Rice Krispie Treat Books.
Recipe
Make cute little edible books using assorted fruit leather and white modeling chocolate. These bite-sized treats are perfect for teacher's gifts, book club meetings, graduation parties, and more.
- 8 ounces white chocolate or white candy melts
- ¼ cup honey
- 12 assorted fruit leather bars (cherry, strawberry, and raspberry)
- powdered sugar to dust work surface
-
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on high heat for 15-30 second bursts of high power stirring after each until melted.
-
Allow the chocolate to cool to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring often.
-
Pour in the honey and stir until well incorporated. The mixture will become thick very quickly, so scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the melted chocolate.
-
Pour the white modeling chocolate out onto a counter top, preferably marble or granite.
-
Knead until glossy and smooth using a plastic bench scraper or spatula.
-
Lightly dust your work surface and a rolling pin with powdered sugar.
-
Roll out the modeling chocolate to about ⅜" thickness.
-
Use a ruler and pizza wheel or knife to cut out twelve 1 ⅞" x 1 ½" rectangles.
-
Unwrap your fruit leather bars and set them, sticky side up, on a cutting board.
-
Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut off the thicker rounded edges.
-
Set one rectangle of white modeling chocolate on the right side of each fruit leather strip. Fold the left side of the fruit leather strip over and press down firmly.
-
To ensure the books stick together, cover them with a piece of plastic wrap. Set a baking tray on top of the books and then set a heavy can or book on top.
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Let the weight sit on the books for at least an hour. This will ensure the fruit leather covers stay stuck to the white modeling chocolate pages.
Tips for making modeling chocolate.
If you don't have a thermometer, test the temperature of the melted chocolate by putting a drop on your lip. It should feel cool. If it's hot, let it cool longer, stirring often to make sure the chocolate at the edges of the bowl does not harden.
If you add the honey when the white chocolate is too hot, the cocoa butter or oil will rise to the surface and you will have a greasy mess. If it becomes greasy, set it aside and let it cool for 20-40 minutes. Then, knead it on a cool surface (granite, marble, or a metal baking tray) until the grease is soaked up into the modeling chocolate.
Storage
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
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Heather P. says
Love this idea! I am going to try to make these for the program celebrating the end of our summer Reading Buddies program. Thanks!
Beth says
I hope the kids like their treats! Have fun.
Dawn says
This is adorable! Def making these for my daughter's graduation dinner- she's graduating with an English degree and wants to be a writer so this is PERFECT! And thanks for the cheese & meat version idea. Will be doing both- gosh I love a theme! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Anonymous says
What a fun idea! I will try them for my daughter's book themed baby shower, even though I haven't worked with modeling chocolate before.
Flaky Pastry says
This was such an adorable idea! I wanted to make them as a cupcake topper for my book clubs 10th anniversary. I followed the instructions to a T, but hardly any of them stayed closed. I even bought the exact same fruit leathers and made my modeling chocolate with honey (I usually do it corn syrup). I left the sheet pan on top of them overnight too. But to no avail. I was unable to use them as toppers since they wouldn't stay closed, but I served them as if they were a chocolate candy, just in a dish passed around the table. Everyone loved them nonetheless. It was eating a little bit of fruit with their chocolate, they said. I think if I do these again, I'll just use fondant instead of fruit leathers. Fruit Roll-ups or another not-as-good-for-you brand of fruit leather might do better than Stretch Island.
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
I'm so sorry these didn't stay closed for you. Most of the fruit leather that I used was so sticky, I had no trouble. There was one flavor that was more dry, and when I added some honey they stuck quite well. I'm not sure why your's didn't stay closed, especially after pressing them down with the sheet pan overnight. I can only imagine the fruit leathers were just too stiff and dry. If you do make these again, be sure the fruit leather is really flexible and sticky. Or, you can make your book covers out of the modeling chocolate (made with either honey or corn syrup.) I was really trying to create a healthier version by using the fruit leather and honey scented modeling chocolate and I had great success with it. I know how frustrating it is when an idea just doesn't work. Sorry!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks so much, Crystal!
Jen @ de Jong Dream House says
Such a cute idea for my little reader. Pinning this!
Anonymous says
Hi,tried making this with 4 ounces of Dark chocolate and 2 tbsp of Honey.
My flowers were breaking(cracking) while shaping them...Please help!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
You need to add more honey, a small amount at a time, just knead it in until the modeling chocolate feels pliable. Read my Chocolate Making Tips page for recipes and tips on dry modeling chocolate. Modeling chocolate made with dark chocolate requires more honey or corn syrup than that made with white chocolate and every brand of chocolate has varying amount of fat in it which changes the amount of corn syrup or honey needed.
Anonymous says
Thanks so much..will surely try it again...
Sara Santos says
Hi there, thanks for the tip on the honey. I have tried my first maple syrup recipe today but i find that it turns out to be really expensive because it is not a product easy to find in Portugal. The honey alternative seems interesting although question if you can taste the honey a lot. I don't like honey, but don't mind it in some recipes where it is mixed up with other ingredients and you can't taste it too much...
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Sara,
This modeling chocolate has a hint of honey flavor, but the white chocolate is really the more pronounced flavor. You can always cut the recipe in half or even in quarters and make a small amount to see if you like it.
Poornima says
Hi Beth,
You have excellent creativity n your works are par excellent.....
I visited your blog for the first time n was really impressed.... I tried opening ur tutorials on making modelling chocolate n its troubleshooting but disappointingly it no more exists...please update it
Poornima says
Hello Beth... You are just amazing...your works are par excellent....... I visited your site for the first time n its awesome.
I tried looking for the page on making white modelling chocolate n troubleshooting page but disappointingly it no more exists....kindly update it.... i would love to read it.
Beth says
You can find my Chocolate Making Tips here - https://hungryhappenings.com/chocolate-making-tips/