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These tasty November treats span generations

Recipe: Old-fashion persimmon cookies like great-grandma used to make

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 4, 2018

Glazed persimmon cookies can be made with either Hachiya or Fuyu persimmons. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Persimmon season brings cookie time to our household.

For generations, my family has made these simple old-fashioned persimmon cookies every November, usually relying on Great-Grandmother's tried-and-true recipe.

Originally, these cakelike confections were made with native American persimmons, which grow wild throughout the South and Midwest. For the last century, we've baked them with milder Japanese varieties, found throughout California.

Either the pointy Hachiya or the flat Fuyu will work. The key is to wait until the persimmon is fully ripe, its pulp totally soft and mushy. When ready, the fruit feels like a sack full of jelly. It takes naturally crisp Fuyu persimmons longer to reach full mushy ripeness, but they will get there.

Can't wait? Put the persimmons in the freezer. Once it's solid, remove the fruit and let it thaw. The pulp will be completely soft.

This year, our Fuyu persimmon tree is covered with fruit, at least 80 to 100 pounds. Two persimmons produces 1 cup pulp, which is enough for a batch of four dozen cookies.

It looks like I'll be making a lot of persimmon cookies this month. Great-Grandmother would be proud.

Great-Grandmother's persimmon cookies

Two persimmons make about 1 cup pulp, enough to make
four dozen cookies.

Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup very ripe persimmon pulp
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and mash persimmon pulp. Dissolve baking soda in pulp. Set aside. Rinse raisins with boiling water. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together honey and shortening. Beat in egg, then fold in persimmon pulp and raisins.

Sift together flour, spices, salt and baking powder. Add flour mixture to persimmon mixture. Stir until well blended.

Drop batter by teaspoons in scoops the size of a walnut onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden. Cookies will still have cakelike spring when done.

Bits of persimmon peek out of the baked cookies.

Cool. Glaze or ice as desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve plain.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes recipe gardening Sacramento Fuyu Hachiya cookies fall fruit tree fruit persimmons baking produce management

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Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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