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Quick Summary
Spicy, soft, and moist persimmon cookies with raisins and a sweet orange glaze. This persimmon cookie recipe uses ripe Hachiya persimmons.
It’s December which means it’s time to turn on the ovens and get baking. My holiday baking list is long so I can’t waste any time. I asked Josh if he had any requests for Christmas cookies this year and of course he added his favorite Lime Coconut Snowballsand Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodlesto the list, but he also asked if we could make Persimmon Cookies. I looked at him with a blank stare. I’ve never even had a persimmon or a persimmon cookie. Josh said his mom used to make Persimmon Cookies every year and he loved them. Well, Josh’s mom came to visit us last week from California and brought us a bag full of persimmons. Guess what we made? Yep, a batch of Josh’s mom’s famous Persimmon Cookies.
Josh’s mom had to show me what to do with a persimmon. I was clueless:) I guess there are two kinds of persimmons, Fuyu and Hachiyas, we used Hachiyas persimmons, which are better for baking. Make sure your persimmons are nice and ripe. We scooped out the pulp from the fruit to use in our cookies. The pulp is bright orange and sort of slimy:) I was a little afraid, but Josh’s mom promised me it was going to produce a good cookie…and she was right:)
The cookies have a few of my favorite spices-cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. The cookies also have raisins in them. If you are a raisin hater, you can leave them out or add dried cranberries, but we love our raisins:) Josh’s mom sometimes adds walnuts to the cookies, but since Josh is allergic, we left them out. The cookies have a cake-like texture and are super soft. They aren’t the prettiest cookie on their own, but the orange glaze dresses them up a bit and compliments the spices.
A big thanks to Josh’s mom for sharing her Persimmon cookie recipe. We will be baking these cookies every holiday season from now on. It will be our family tradition. I am sure Caleb will love these cookies, just like his daddy:)
Cookies
The perfect cookies for the holiday season and a great way to use up persimmons!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in persimmon pulp, egg, and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture until everything is combined. Fold in the walnuts, if using, and raisins.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges and set. Let cool on baking sheets for five minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the orange glaze, in a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and zest together. Start with 2 tablespoons and can add more if the glaze is too thick. Whisk until smooth. Dip the cookie tops into the glaze and twirl the cookie. Set cookies back on wire rack for glaze to harden.
Fuyu persimmons serve a multi-purpose use. They're best eaten raw or sliced and added to salads, cereal, smoothies, but they are also suitable for baking and roasting. Hachiya persimmons, on the other hand, boast a creamy, jelly-like consistency best for baked goods such as muffins, cookies, bread, and puddings.
When persimmons are beaten to a pulp, tannins form complexes with carbohydrates, causing the pulp to stiffen to a gel-like consistency. When baking soda is added, a reaction with the moist and slightly acidic persimmon creates carbon dioxide (CO2), which also plays a role in encouraging the pulp to thicken.
Just like any dried fruit, you soak them. It doesn't take long (about an hour) and you can soak them in water, in fruit juice, or in a liquor/liqueur like rum, brandy, even something like limoncello, if you want some added zing in your cookies or cake.
But after baking, this pudding will turn dark brown. Don't worry! That's perfectly normal. It's the reaction between the pigments in the persimmon and the alkaline baking soda in the batter that creates this browning.
How to Tell Fuyus and Hachiyas Apart. The one you can eat like an apple—Fuyu—is short, squat, and firm. The persimmon you have to ripen until it is squishy, and then you eat or use the pulp—Hachiya—looks like a large orange acorn.
Fuyu persimmons are sweet, and are can be eaten while still a little firm. They're more squat, and kind of doughnut-shaped (shown above). The hachiya persimmon (shown above) will be sweet only when it's very ripe or even overripe—when it feels something akin to a not-quite-full water balloon.
The fruit is easily chewable and has a delicious flavour, but it is not recommended for diabetics, obese and sufferers of gastroduodenal ulcer. Persimmons have a creamy and sweet pulp and have laxative, diuretic and hepatoprotective.
The mechanism of this alteration has been studied in depth, and the oxidation of tannins has been reported as a key process. Other factors frequently associated with internal browning is storage under controlled or modified atmospheres; in this case the flesh browning occurs mainly in the flesh of the fruit.
Thanks to the power of clinically tested persimmon extract, Mirai's products can safely and effectively eliminate Nonenal body odor, leaving individuals feeling clean and fresh.
A number of community members suggest freezing persimmons whole, which results in instant persimmon sorbet (Psst: Recipes don't get any easier than this). You can also dry persimmons: “Do as the Japanese have done for centuries and dry them to make a delicious chewy fruit snack,” says Jan Weber.
The fruit slowly dries and the sugar in the fruit comes to the surface, and the fruit flavor concentrates. The outside of the fruit turns white from its own sugar looking a bit like white mold. It's not moldy; it is purely the sugar from the fruit itself rising to its surface.
A food mill will make faster work of this if you have a large persimmon harvest. Or you can put the fruit with the peel in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Including the peel adds fiber. Most recipes call for one or two cups of persimmon puree, so I freeze the pulp in one or two cup containers.
They are also a good source of fiber and manganese. If the taste wasn't enough, people should steer clear of unripe persimmons because the tannins, stomach acid and indigestible plant material can form a bezoar: a hard mass that can lead to gastric obstruction and surgery.
This sensation can be described as dry, puckering, or even like your mouth has been coated with a layer of silt or talc. The reason behind this peculiar feeling is the high tannin content in persimmons [2]. Tannins are a class of astringent chemical compounds found in plants, including persimmons.
Because of a perfectly ripe hachiya persimmon's texture, they are good for in baked goods like muffins, cookies and breads. No matter which variety you try, persimmons are sure to provide a sweet and delicious treat this fall.
Fuyu / Jiro Persimmon Tree: This the most popular variety on this list, and for good reason. Fuyu produces a medium-sized deep red-orange piece of fruit with a lighter pale-orange flesh. Fruit is sweet and non-astringent which is quite uncommon for persimmons.
Fuyu persimmons are a bit lighter in color and rounder in shape than Hachiya persimmons. Unlike Hachiya persimmons, these are best when firm and will taste like a crisp apple or pear. Feel free to eat them as you would those tree fruit: in salads or salsas, or as a grab-and-go snack.
Eureka has proven to be the best commercial variety in Texas. Hachiya is a productive, large, cone-shaped, seedless persimmon with bright orange skin. The tree is vigorous and upright. Hachiya has been an outstanding Texas variety since as early as 1984.
Introduction: My name is Velia Krajcik, I am a handsome, clean, lucky, gleaming, magnificent, proud, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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