Berry Powder (aka Berry Power); where have you been all my life? As I am in the possession of a dehydrator I ask myself why did I wait so long? Could it be that easy to make berry powder? The answer is yes, yes it is. While at a local market I spied some raspberry powder and I instantly thought “If they can make it, so can I!”
I dried red raspberries, blueberries and black raspberries (also known as black caps). I figured if the dehydrator is going to run for 36 to 48 hours I might as well make a variety. Just think of the goodness of berry flavored whipped cream or meringue (yes, raspberry meringue pie is coming soon).
Place the berries on parchment, wax paper, or plastic wrap and dehydrate for 36 to 48 hours. Three (3) cups of berries will reduce down to about 1 cup of dried berries.
Pulse the berries in a blender or food processor. I used a knock-off version of a Magic Bullet; results were stupendous! To get the seeds out of the raspberries place the powder in a fine sieve and tap the sides to shake out the powder separating the seeds.
Once the seeds are removed you will have about 7 tablespoons of raspberry powder and about 9 tablespoons of blueberry powder.
The removed seeds are pictured above in the smaller saucers. Besides feeding the seeds to my chickens I don’t know what else to do with them. Suggestions anyone?
To store your berry powders, place in an airtight container (thank you Snapware) with a teabag or piece of cotton fabric with a couple tablespoons of rice. This keeps any possible moisture clumping up the tangy berry powder you worked so hard on.
Berry Powder
Ingredients
- 3 cups raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries or blueberries (frozen berries are fine, just add an extra hour to drying time)
- Parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap
Instructions
- Place paper of choice onto rack/shelf of dehydrator.
- Spread out berries in a single layer.
- Dry in dehydrator for 36 to 48 hours.
- Let cool (about 30 minutes) at room temp.
- Place berries in a high powered blender, food processor, or magic bullet-type blender.
- Blend at high for about 15 to 20 seconds. If there are still some larger pieces, blend a few seconds more.
- For raspberries and blackberries, shake/tap powder through a fine sieve to remove most of the seeds.
- Store berry powders in an airtight container with a small fabric bag or tea bag of rice to keep moisture from clumping the powder.
- 3 cups of fresh/frozen berries = 1 cup dried = 7 to 9 tablespoons of berry powder.
Hey, friend – did you use frozen berries? Straight from frozen onto the parchment, or thaw a bit first? Sounds promising (for next year when I return home!)
I used straight up frozen berries, no thawing needed. Who knew this was so easy?