Don’t pass the persimmon at your local grocery store or farmers market. This persimmon chips recipe is calling your name!

Persimmons are in season, but many of us would hardly notice. The often-overlooked bright orange fruit gives off exotic vibes, leaving many of us wondering what to do with it?

Originally brought from Japan, today the persimmon is grown all over the U.S. It has truly become an American fruit! So, be a patriot and make these persimmon chips! They are just one of the many ways you can enjoy the fruit.

Nutritional Breakdown

The best way to get excited about any ingredient is to understand exactly the kind of health benefits it’s giving you. And the persimmon does not disappoint.

In one persimmon (3.5 ounces), there are 66 milligrams of vitamin C, which is almost as much as that in an orange and fulfills 110% of the RDA. Persimmon is also low in calories, full of fiber, and a great source of iron and calcium. The same persimmon serving contains 70 calories, 3.6 grams of dietary fiber, 14% of the RDA of iron, and 3% of the RDA of calcium.

How to Choose Persimmon

The persimmon comes in two varieties: Hachiya and Fuyu. Both bear the same sweet, lightly astringent, delightful taste, but appear and feel differently when ripe. The Hachiya is shaped like an acorn and should be completely soft in texture when ready to be eaten — think of the texture of a tomato way past its prime — that’s how soft you want the Hachiya. The Fuyu, on the other hand, is smaller and flatter, and it can be eaten when it is rock-hard — like an apple.

Regardless of the variety you’re choosing from, look for a persimmon that has a deep, rich orange color. While you can buy Hachiyas firm, make sure to keep them out at room temperature to soften over the course of a few days before consuming. Fuyus should be firm and without any blemishes.

What You’ll Need

To make these colorful chips that are a lot lighter (and sweeter) in flavor than regular store-bought chips, you’ll only need a few ingredients, a knife, a baking sheet, and an oven. That’s it! And because these persimmon chips are baked, not fried, as well as free of any added oil or butter, they are practically fat-free.

To accentuate the persimmon’s inherent sweetness, I add a bit of low-glycemic coconut palm sugar to them before baking. The coconut palm sugar’s caramel-like flavor is enhanced with the addition of some fall spices, such as cinnamon and nutmeg. You’ll love every single bite and you don’t even have to share if you don’t want to. They go down easy.

Persimmon Chips Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 large Fuyu persimmons
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray two baking sheets with coconut oil or line them with parchment paper.

Remove stems and slice the persimmons crosswise into thin, 1/4-inch thick pieces. Place the sliced persimmons into a bowl and toss them until evenly coated with the lemon juice, coconut palm sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt.

Arrange the persimmon slices in a single layer on the baking sheets. Pop the baking sheets into the oven and bake for one hour. After one hour, flip the persimmon chips and bake them for another hour and 15 minutes, or until they are golden-brown and crispy. Some of the persimmon chips that were cut thicker than the rest will be a bit more tender and moist, but they also taste delicious! If you desire more crisp, cook the chips for another ten minutes at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Let the chips cool at room temperature before storing them in airtight containers in your pantry. They have a shelf life of about one week.

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The post Persimmon Chips are the Crispy Autumn Snack You Didn’t Know You Needed appeared first on EcoSalon.

There are plenty of ways to hydrate during the hot summer months, but making homemade popsicles may be the most gratifying.

You not only get to cool down with an ice-cold snack but also enjoy fun flavors that go beyond plain water and ice in exciting your palate. These vegan lavender peach popsicles are delicious and surprisingly filling treats to hydrate and cool you down whenever you need the assistance.

The popsicles aren’t simply frozen fruit juice and sugar. Instead, they’re made with a more satiating base of homemade hazelnut milk, which I find slightly more earthy, aromatic, and dense in flavor than almond milk. Meanwhile, they are sweetened with low-glycemic maple syrup, which can easily be nixed or replaced with even lower-glycemic stevia (a few drops of liquid stevia). While this combination alone is satisfying enough with its vegan creamy and silky goodness, fresh lavender and peach slices are added to the mix, giving more texture and taste to the popsicles.

Enjoy a popsicle whenever you get hungry or overheated, and feel free to switch up the recipe once you’ve mastered this current one. Instead of peaches, add in a handful of fresh blueberries, fresh apricot slices, or banana slices. Instead of lavender, use marjoram, chamomile, or edible flowers. The possibilities are endless.

What You’ll Need

For this recipe, you’ll need a blender and nut milk bag on hand to make the homemade hazelnut milk. If making milk from scratch isn’t your thing, you can use a store-bought version of any nut milk of your choice.

To shape and freeze the popsicles, it’s helpful to use BPA-free popsicle molds. They will come in handy all summer long. Alternatively, you could pour the lavender peach mixture into an ice cube tray, freeze the mixture, and then blend the cubes in a high-speed blender along with some more nut milk to make a chilly smoothie.

Lavender Peach Popsicles Recipe

Makes six to eight popsicles

Ingredients

For the hazelnut milk

• 2 cup raw hazelnuts
• 4 cups water
• Pinch sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 Medjool dates, pitted

For the popsicles

• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup coconut oil, melted
• Juice of one lemon
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lavender flowers, without stem
• 2 cups fresh peach slices

Directions

For the hazelnut milk, in a high-speed blender add all of the ingredients and blend for 30 seconds. Strain the mixture through a nut milk bag and transfer the hazelnut milk to a rinsed blender. Keep the hazelnut milk fiber for other potential uses, such as to make cookies.

Into the blender, add the remaining popsicle ingredients, except for the sliced peaches. Arrange the peach slices into the popsicle molds so that they are loosely stacked, but not overcrowded. Pour the hazelnut milk mixture into the molds, filling the remaining space. Place the popsicles into the freezer until halfway frozen — about one to two hours, then insert the popsicle sticks and freeze until solid.

Enjoy!

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The post Vegan Lavender Peach Popsicles with a Hazelnut Milk Base and a Sweet, Floral Finish appeared first on EcoSalon.