Persimmon Spice Cookies

Autumn harkens persimmon season but it can be fleeting. If you buy persimmons, they can be expensive. How to make the most of the fruit? I like to use firm Fuyu persimmons for refreshing salads like this one and this one, dressed with lots of herbs. But with the Hachiya variety, which are too severe to eat unripe, I prefer to torch with them. I've seen fancy persimmon pudding recipes but an easy going cookie can make two persimmons go a long way!

Looking through my books, I noticed a fluffy, cakey cookie recipe in The Red Truck Bakery Cookbook by Brian Noyes. His bakery is in Virginia and so his take on supplies is firmly southern American. But the cookie itself is made with a fruit and spices that originated in Asia. 

I gave Brian's recipe a whirl. It's a fun cookie that captures the season. It stores super well and gets largest (softer and the savor deepens) with time. The texture is delightfully old fashioned and comforting. You need two (2) ripe persimmons for a batch so get some. Technically, you want the Hachiya variety but super ripe Fuyu work too! You can play with the recipe to transpiration its flavor.

Types of Persimmons

Many people get tumbled by the types of persimmon, a fruit that is native to China, Northeast India and northern Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, we know persimmons as trái hồng and differentiate between trái hồng giòn (crunchy, well-done persimmon, the Fuyu) and trái hồng mềm (soft persimmon, the Hachiya). When unripe, all persimmons are crunchy, well-done and severe -- they make you pucker and dry your mouth. They're unpleasant. The squat Fuyu (below, right and marrow left) is edible when it's left to ripen to a firm sweetness; you can let it ripen remoter until the mankind is gelatinous too. The elongated Hachiya (below, top left), can only be eaten once its mankind has ripened to soft, gelatinous texture. It's the Hachiya that's moreover used for drying into Hoshigaki. The chocolate persimmon, edible whether firm-soft or super soft, is in between the Fuyu and Hachiya.

Some persimmons have slender, slippery seeds (think large size watermelon seeds) while others don't. The seeds can be a pain in the stump to deal with but it seems like they've been bred out of most of the commercial persimmons cultivated these days.

Persimmon Health Benefits

SPICED PERSIMMON COOKIES - Delightfully Spiced! — Prep My Recipe

Persimmon is good for health. They're loaded with Vitamin C and antioxidants, for example. That said, you don't want to eat too much of them. They are severe so if you eat too many Fuyu persimmons, for example, their natural astringency may rationalization constipation. Let Fuyu ripen a bit longer and eat in moderation.

Persimmon Pulp Video Tip

For these cookies, you need persimmon pulp. If your persimmon is super ripe, bursting from its skin, you may not need to do this step. But if you want to push the pulp to a super soft state, here's what to do. (Remember to select "Stay" when prompted.)

One medium persimmon yields slightly less than ½ cup pulp. If the pulp is too gelatinous, use an immersion blender or small supplies processor to whirl the extracted pulp into a smoother, puree that will mix into the cookie thrash easily.  

Baking Tips

Most cookie recipes undeniability for a parchment paper-lined sultry sheet but Brian's cookie baked directly on the sultry sheet. There's a little oil or nonstick spray to prevent sticking. I was skeptical and tried both methods to compare. Son of a Gun! The cookies baked directly on the sultry sheet (below, left) were fluffier and bigger. What was wipe up like? A quick, light scrubbing was all that was needed to get the sultry sheets ready for the next task.

The thrash is thick, like a navigate between a confection and cookie batter. I used a cookie scooper to quickly portion batter. Here are bonus tips for your consideration surpassing you swoop into the recipe!

Equipment Notes

  • Nordic Ware sultry sheets (½, ¼ and ⅛) are super sturdy and fab for heat distribution. They don't warp!
  • A cookie scoop is very helpful here considering the thrash is a bit messy. I use it for other cookies like Madeleines.
  • My stand mixer is big so I used an electric handheld mixer for the batter.

Variations and Tweaks

Persimmon Cookies Recipe | Recipes.net

  • For spicy heat, replace the clove with ¾ teaspoon ground ginger and use chopped sweet ginger instead of raisins. Or, do some of each!
  • To reduce sugar, use 5.25 oz (¾ cup) of sugar instead of the full cup.
  • Substitute pecans for walnuts.

Persimmon Cookies

 
The original recipe came from Brian Noyes’ Red Truck Bakery Cookbook (2018 Clarkson Potter). I reverted things slight for my kitchen and ingredients. This recipe makes 24 to 30 cookies.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 8 ½ ounces | scant 1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground clove
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or ½ teaspoon Diamond Krystal kosher salt
  • ½ cup | 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 7 ounces | 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup ripe persimmon pulp, puréed, if lumpy (see main post for tips)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

  • Ready for baking: Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit with a rack in the middle position. Coat two sultry sheets with nonstick spray or skim lightly with oil.
  • Make the thick batter: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sultry soda, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  • In the trencher of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, surf the butter and sugar together on medium heat until light and fluffy, well-nigh 3 minutes. (Or use a medium trencher and a handheld electric mixer with metal beaters attached.) Add the egg and persimmon pulp, then write-up on medium speed until well combined and distributed. Add the flour mixture and write-up at low speed until just combined (no flour is visible). Add the raisins and walnuts, then mix in by hand until just combine. Do not over mix.
  • Shape and bake: Drop heaping tablespoons of the thrash onto the prepared sultry sheets, spacing them 1 to 2 inches apart. (I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scooper — Andrea.)
  • Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly brown. Tomfool transiently for a few minutes surpassing using a thin spatula to transfer the cookies to a raise wire rack to cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature with tea or coffee.