Fruit + nuts = pretty awesome combo

A dessert-bread recipe recently came to my attention, so I tried it, post haste. T'was the fruit and nuts that initially caught my eye, along with the 'vegan' tag.

The bread was certainly easy to make. And despite the absence of eggs, it rises quite nicely.

Of course, I modified the original recipe somewhat. I used a 8x8” pan instead of a loaf pan (haven’t bought one of those since I last moved house). I chose multigrain flour. As for applesauce, I went with homemade (had plenty of old-ish apples lying around).

And how's this for a bold move? I added the apple peelings to the sauce. Heck, why not? Peels add a pleasant texture (softening during cooking and baking), as well as a dose of fibre and vitamins.

Here we go:

Fruit and walnut bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup lemon-ginger tea 
• 1/2 cup dried figs (chopped, discarding stems)
• 2 cups multi-grain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)

(Sourced from HuffPost.)

Directions

1. Make tea. Add figs and let sit while you prepare remainder of recipe.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, soda, spices and sugar.
3. Into dry ingredients, pour in (one by one, while stirring) oil, juice and applesauce. 
4. Drain figs (you can sip the remaining tea afterwards), and stir into batter. 
5. Stir in walnuts.
6. Line 8 x 8” pan with parchment paper. Scoop batter into pan. Even out batter surface.
7. Bake at 350°F for approx 50 minutes. (Trust the toothpick test: Poke toothpick into bread and remove. If it comes out dry, it’s done. If it's wet, return bread to oven for extra minutes.)
8. Place pan on cooling rack. Cool to room temperature, then remove from pan.

Nothing to do now but slice and enjoy.

Oh, leftovers may be stored in the fridge, in an air-tight container.