Ryan Lampers' Mountain Candy Recipe

My homemade mountain candy, also known as sweet potato and apple leather, is one of my favorite snacks to make for backcountry trips. It’s a good clean carb and tastes like dessert on the mountain. 

Here’s how you can make these awesome leathers for a great energy boost in addition to all the other backcountry fuel you put in your pack. 

INGREDIENTS:

There are only two ingredients to this simple recipe, but when it’s all said and done, I normally do 50/50. You can scale this recipe up or down for however much mountain candy you want to make.

½ Large Yam (orange-fleshed sweet potatoes)

1 Cup Applesauce

Pinch of cinnamon (to taste)

Honey (to taste for more sweetness) 

For reference, 1/2 of a large yam and 1 cup of applesauce make one leather in our dehydrator. This can help dictate how much you want to make.

STEP 1:

Wash and poke holes in yams. Then, put a little water in the bottom of a baking pan to keep the yams soft. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour or cook on the stove until soft.

Note: You may also opt to do the same process with apples as you have with the yams, however applesauce is generally much more time friendly. 

STEP 2:

Remove yams from baking pan or stove pot and place in food processor with applesauce. You will want to blend these two ingredients on a 1 to 1 ratio. If you have 4 cups of yams from 2 large yams, then also blend 4 cups of apple sauce with it. 

At this time, you may also add a touch of cinnamon and/or honey for taste. It is not always necessary, especially if you are accustomed to less-sweet foods, but it is an option.

You end up with a nice puree that’s a slightly thicker consistency than applesauce. 

Step 3: 

Spread your puree on dehydrator sheets in a rough ¼ inch layer. I use silicon sheets for the best results in our 9-tray Excalibur Dehydrator. 

You will then dry on these dehydrator sheets for 4 hours at 135 degrees. 

Check the leather and flip it over if it is not quite done. Be careful not to over-dry your leather, however, because it will turn into chips. 

Step 4: 

Once your leather is done, you may store it in a glass jar, put it in a Ziploc bag for your next trip, or roll it up with wax paper.

Enjoy! 

For Ryan and his wife Hillary, staying healthy for the long term is a way of life, and they share it through their podcast, Hunt. Harvest. Health.  

They also have other great backpacking food recipes, helpful downloads to improve your health, and even more backcountry information on their website, http://huntharvesthealth.com/

Be sure to check them out!