Persimmon Nut Bread-Low Fat Vegan!

Trying to be health conscious most of the time I always prefer whole foods instead of processed ones and try to include whole grains in our daily diet. Hence whole wheat flour has found a permanent place in my pantry.Starting off the day with a perfect low fat breakfast item was on my mind as I read the theme and of course with whole wheat flour. Though I had few recipes in hand it required eggs and as I was browsing the net I came across Susan's Persimmon Bread. Susan has an amazing collection of low fat vegan recipes and glancing through each made me realize that I have reached the perfect destination and put an end to further searches!

I had few left over persimmons that had been patiently sitting on my kitchen counter for a long time waiting eagerly for its turn and this was the perfect time to try out the bread. As Susan said in her post there are two kinds of Persimmons-Hachiya & Fuyu. Fuyu is the one that can be had even when its not fully ripe and is still sweet. Hachiya has an astringent flavour when not fully ripe due to the high level of tannin. But ripe ones are always sweet and here in this recipe I have used Fuyu. Persimmons have a high nutritional value and is a good source of beta carotene, Vitamin C and potassium.

I made some changes to Susan's recipe and added banana along with persimmons.I love the flavour imparted by honey to any dish and used it in addition to sugar. Since I love nuts a lot I have added almonds and cashews.The bread turned out moist and soft and was like a dense cake. And as Susan said in her post, this bread becomes softer and more delicious when kept for few days.With low fat and eggless this bread is rich in proteins, minerals, vitamins, beta carotene and dietary fiber. What more do you need for a healthy breakfast?

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups

Ripe and sweet Persimmons - 2

Ripe banana - 1

Chopped almonds & cashews- 1/2 cup

Sliced Dates - 1/2 cup

Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Powdered nutmeg - 1/2 tsp

Powdered cinnamon - 1/4 tsp

Powdered cloves - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Honey - 1/4 cup

Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Preheat oven to 350 F(180 C).Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt well. Sieve at least thrice. Keep aside.Blend persimmons and banana together.Transfer the blended ingredients to a mixing bowl and add honey, sugar and oil. Mix well until well blended.Add the flour mixture and mix well. Do not overmix at this stage.Add chopped almonds, cashews, dates and incorporate it well into the batter.Transfer the batter to a well greased loaf tin and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Allow it to cool before unmoulding.Cut into slices and serve with hot coffee!

This goes to Low Fat Eggless Baking event hosted by Madhuram.