By November persimmon season was well underway and this easy and delicious Maple Persimmon Bread has been in our breakfast bread rotation. We received more than a half dozen humongous hachiya persimmons from my aunt's backyard tree. One could literally fill the palm of my hand! Hachiyas will make the best persimmon pulp that I personally find works well in making persimmon butter and as we see in today's recipe: persimmon bread.
These persimmon fruits were enormous compared to what I'd find from the store-bought persimmons. There are plenty of persimmon recipes to choose from. This version pares down all the bells and whistle of dried fruits or nuts and just keeps the sweet fruits in their puree with just a hint of sweetness. What I've loved about this recipe is how versatile the persimmon puree has become. This is an easy recipe that you can have on hand for a slightly sweet persimmon bread that is great for breakfast or afternoon tea. Scroll on down to see how we make it and get the printable recipe card to make your batch today!
Ingredients for the Easy Maple Persimmon Bread Recipe
We certainly had enough persimmons and I've loved making these sweet breads to freeze in a freezer-safe bag for future mornings where a fast breakfast is needed. Since we had quite a few of the astringent fruit on hand, I've also had to wait as the unripe fruit ripened. Here's what we'll need for the following recipe:
- Hachiya Persimmons: This Japanese persimmon variety yields the most delicious pulp for that quintessential persimmon taste. To make this beautiful dessert, we'll need to puree the persimmon pulp. It's important that this type of persimmon is ripe. Any unripe persimmons will have a firmer flesh which doesn't make the best puree for this persimmon bread. You'll know they're ripe when they are super soft and slightly squishy. You can process the pulp in the food processor then run it through a food mill or conical sieve to remove the persimmon seeds. The larger seeds are inedible so you don't want these in the cups of pulp.
- Warming Spices: Ground cloves, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg compliment the unique flavor of this persimmon bread. I also love adding in ground vanilla as my favorite way to get that vanilla flavor to compliment the persimmons here.
- Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil has quickly become a mainstay staple in baking at home. The flavor is delicate and the fat is great in the base of this persimmon cake bread.
- Plain Greek Yogurt: When making a quick bread, I love the use of plain greek yogurt. It's the best way to help yield a tender batter for this loaf.
- Maple Sugar: We're making a swap for a cup sugar with ¾ cup of maple sugar. You can also use maple syrup, but I'd cut it back to ⅓ to ½ cup of maple syrup given its liquid state. The maple sugar offers just the right amount of sweetness to this bread. Recipe testers I asked to test this bread recipe spoke to the delicate sweetness. You'll love that here.
How to Make the Maple Persimmon Bread
After a few tests, I opted to employ the traditional methods of mixing our wet ingredients separate from our dry ingredients. This runs counter to the method I use in my One-Bowl Banana Bread recipe, but in order to ensure a smooth consistency with the persimmon puree this worked the best.
The first thing we do is preheat our oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, maple sugar, baking soda, the teaspoon salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground vanilla, and ground nutmeg.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with egg yolks, persimmon puree, olive oil, and greek yogurt until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the persimmon mixture. Gently fold in ingredients until just combined. Pour mixture into the greased loaf pan. Using a silicone spatula, spread the top of the loaf evenly.
Bake bread for about 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown and a knife or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.
NOTE: if your Hachiya persimmons are super squishy you'll likely not need to use the food processor. Spoon the flesh from the skins into a conical sieve (see options here and here). This will remove the large seeds and strain the pulp. If your persimmons are slightly squishy in spots but have small spots where flesh is firmer, using the food processor will help. Take care to note the seeds in there, though, as they are pretty tough and can potentially wreak havoc on the blade.
More Easy Breakfast Breads
Breakfast breads are in constant rotation around here though these iterations also make for a great dessert recipe. You can serve the Maple Persimmon Bread with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whip cream. And while this Maple Persimmon Bread is delicious to make this time of year in early fall you can freeze persimmon puree to make this year round. Here are a few other easy breakfast breads to try:
- One Bowl Banana Date Bread made with a homemade date syrup is a great option for a ripe banana or four of them!
- Pumpkin Bread is a delicious late October bread to make and is also delicious with a few chocolate chips!
Easy and Delicious Maple Persimmon Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup maple sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1.25 cups persimmon purée
- ⅓ cup mild olive oil
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, maple sugar, baking soda, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, persimmon puree, olive oil, and greek yogurt until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the persimmon mixture. Gently fold in ingredients until just combined.
- Pour batter into the greased loaf pan. Using a silicone spatula, spread the top of the loaf evenly.
- Bake bread for about 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown and a knife or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.
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