Recipe Revamp: Pressed Blueberry Apple Bars

I have a horrible habit of assuming I can recreate any wonderful thing I’ve seen in the world. Most recently, this habit reared its ugly head when I tried a pressed by KIND bar. I’m almost never right, but this time, I think I did pretty well.
If you have not yet had one of these new, “not-so-standard fruit snacks,” as the company calls them, they’re kind of like a granola bar, but made with fruit. They’re chewy, a little sticky, and very flavorful. The first time I had one, I did my normal nutrition label check, and I was shocked. There are only three ingredients in these things. They’re all natural (grain-free) and super tasty.
I had the strawberry-apple-chia bar first. And that’s really all there is to it: strawberries, apples, and chia seeds. I regularly have all those ingredients on hand.
After a few tests, I think I’ve figured it out. It may not be an exact replica, but it’s a fruit snack I’m willing to eat, which is more than I can say for most.

I made apple-blueberry-chia “bites” instead of bars. I made them in a mini muffin tin out of pure personal preference. You could use the same ingredients and make a sheet pan of bars if you wanted.
Because these are “pressed,” I started by pressing my apple. I diced it and added it to my sauce pan over medium heat. When the apple started to get soft, I started pressing. I used a meat tenderizer, but you could use a potato masher or even a fork. You want to retain the integrity of the pieces — you’re not making mush; you’re just pressing out the juice.
I pressed the blueberries more gently because they’re more fragile. When I had a consistently colored chunky mix of the two, I added the chia seeds. They’re there to soak up the remaining liquid from the fruit and to make the bites stick together. They also add a nice dose of fiber and protein.
The most important part of this recipe is patience. With my mixture in a mini muffin pan, I set my oven to dehydrate (150 degrees Fahrenheit) for three hours. The result was 12 bite-sized fruit cups that reasonably resembled a pressed by KIND bar.
 
The difference between this recipe and a more traditional fruit leather is that these are chunky. There is no water added, there is no blending, and the result is about as thick as a granola bar rather than a fruit roll up.