Vegan Fruit & Nut Cake/Bar

Know what you Eat - Eating a handful of nuts daily may help prevent weight gain and possibly promote weight loss. The fat, protein and fiber in nuts help you feel full longer, so you may eat less during the day. By helping induce a feeling of satiety, nuts may help people feel less deprived and not like they're "dieting." Dates are a good source of dietary fiber, calcium, sulphur, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, copper and magnesium which are advantageous for health. Raisins are rich in phytonutrient phenol which is an antioxidant and also a trace mineral, boron, a mineral that is critical to bone health. Apricots contain nutrients such as Vitamin A that promote good vision.

Eggless Cooking has so many wonderful recipes to be tried out. This one fit my bill with very less flour and lot of nutrients coming from the nuts. Madhu's recipe uses buttermilk and i wanted to fortify it some more and used the omega 3 rich Chia seeds as the egg substitute.

Ingredients

Whole Wheat flour - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Raw Sugar - 1/2 cup
Dried fruits(Dates, Raisins and apricots chopped) - 2 cups (The original recipe uses 3 cups)
Nuts chopped - 3 cups(Any nuts i used Almonds, Cashew, Pecan and Walnut)
Chia Seeds - 3 Tbsp(Instead of 3/4th cup buttermilk)
Water - 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp
Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Method

1) Soak Chia in 9 Tbsps water.
2) Preheat the oven at 350F.
3) In a large bowl whisk together whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and raw sugar.
4) Now add the chopped dried fruits and nuts of your choice and mix thoroughly using your fingers to remove any lumps.
5) Take the chia gel and transfer it into a blender add the remaining water little by little and blend nicely to create a slurry. Now the slurry will be in white color. Now addvanilla extract and whisk it nicely.
6) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix it well.
7) Spread the batter into a 13×9 inch pan lined with parchment paper.
8) Bake it for 30-40 minuter till a knife inserted in center of the cake comes out clean.
9) Once out of the oven, leave the pan on a wire rack and let it cool completely before cutting into pieces.
10) Slice them into smaller pieces for portion control and enjoy as a guilt free snack.

Event Participation

1) This dish goes to T & T hosted by Poornima originated by Zlamin.

2) This goes to Food for Seven Stages of Life - Pregnancy(Zero Hour) hosted by Radhika.

3) This dish a sure kid pleaser goes to Kids Delight hosted by Srivalli.

Posted in: Almonds,baked bar,baked goodies,chia,guilt-free snacks,health bar,how to make vegan fruit and nut cake/bar,how to make vegan fruit nut cake