Persimmons are a very Asian fruit. So proudly Japan and China Asian that they forgot to tell even their own South Asians Indians about them. I had not heard about this fruit until a couple of years ago when we moved into our house. The previous owners had planted the Persimmon and Guava trees and these are pretty solid fully grown trees now with a lot of fruit.
These Persimmons in my back yard are the 'Fuyu' or the non-astringent variety. These don't have to be really ripe and can be eaten when they are orange and a little crunchy too. They kind of taste like apples but with a little tartness to it.
This post has been lying in my drafts for a loooong time now. Actually as I write this today, my tree in the back yard is almost bare with all the leaves falling. And so I promised my tree that I will publish the tasty persimmon cookies post before the last leaf falls from the tree. A little tribute to thank my tree for an awesome season this year! Thank you Persi baby! Meet you again next year. I'll have cookies for you and then maybe cookies with you. (And I don't mean you and me sharing cookies)
Here's my all green tree - this was actually a couple of months ago. You can't really see all the fruits here - they kind of form in big bunches and hide well behind the leaves. It was very interesting to see that. When you walk up to and look into the tree, you can see big bunches of fruit all in a little cluster. Peekaboo.
I see you.
Here's a little sample of what I found hidden.
I love the color of these babies.
This one was really orange and ripe.
I've always wanted to make something with this fruit. I came across
this site with a few good persimmon recipes and instantly decided to give the
Persimmon Cookies II a try. The recipe was simple enough and I had almost all the ingredients with me. But I modified some of the ingredients to customize a little bit.
So, getting on with the ingredient list here -
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Persimmon Pulp - 1 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Spice Mix - 1/2 tsp. This is a dry powder of cinnamom, cloves and cardamom.
Apricots, Almonds, Chocolate Chips and Raisins - about 1/4 cup each.
Finely chopped ginger - 1 tbsp
Chop up the persimmon and throw away the core..just like apples. Look at these lines in the middle here.
And then further chop into small pieces.
And then using a blender, puree and make persimmon pulp. I used about 3 persimmons for this much pulp. Add a few drops of water - just so your blender will get going. Not too much water.
So, that's about 1 3/4 cup. I actually used only 1 1/2 cup for the cookies.
When my parents were visiting, they got me this absolutely heavenly smelling small gift box of spices. These were fresh spices from Kerala and it was like I was surrounded by a whole spice forest. Oh, the smell when you just open the box. It is so stress reliving. People should just keep a box of this in their work cubicles and for 3 mins a day - they should just open this and smell. No more stress.
I love the flat cinnamon in the box. Just make a dry mix of some cinnamon, a few cloves and a few elaichi pods (cardamom).
These will all be additions to the persimmon batter. Again, you don't have to have these things - improvise with what you have or add stuff that you want to taste in your cookie.
And the fresh chopped ginger - also brings the whole earthiness to the cookie.You've got to eat it to believe it!
Add the butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on low speed until all the butter is incorporated well with the sugar. Make sure the butter is in room temperature and soft or even a little melted before mixing.
Add 1 egg and beat well until combined. If you are a no-egg person, skip it and add maybe a little baking powder along with the soda.
Now, pour the persimmon pulp to the butter mix.
Beat on medium speed until well combined.
For the dry mix, take about 2 cups of all purpose flour and add 1 tsp of baking soda to it.
Then, add the wonderful, flavorful spice mix - about 1/2 tsp. Don't add a lot - you don't want the spice to overpower the persimmon flavor. This 1/2 tsp just enhances the flavor and adds the needed oomph to the cookies.
Mix the dry flour mix with the persimmon/butter mix.
And there's the batter.
Now, throw in the extras...the apricots, chocolate chips, almonds and raisins.
Batter is so ready now for the final show.
Take little spoonfuls and spoon on to a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 10 mins or until you see them turn golden and they look done. Go ahead..enjoy with your little toothpick poke too.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw how pretty these looked and how great they smelled.
Is that a good texture or what? And with little biteable pieces of good stuff inside. Perfect.
Cool them on a rack. Eat them warm. And share them with your neighbors. I did and they loved it too.
I have to mention though - this cookie tastes great when its warm. When its cooled down, the spices take over.. which some might like. But when warm, the spices take the back seat and let the persimmon rule up front. And that was a really good thing. Just like cinnamon rolls, some things are meant to be eaten warm. And this is the big daddy of that family.
From here
To here
Oh what joy!
Enjoy! Peace out!
