Persimmon Cookies
When persimmons are in season during the fall and winter I like to use them to make baked treats like these persimmon cookies. Learn more about persimmons and how you can use them to make these easy cookies.
I’ve experimented with persimmons over the last year and made a persimmon bread that I really liked and so I thought I might make persimmon cookies. My mom really loves persimmons – so much, in fact, that she planted her own persimmon trees in her backyard. Unfortunately, she planted the wrong kind. So, before I get into these cookies, I think it’s a good idea to clear up the confusion around persimmons.
Persimmon Fruit
They may not look like it, but persimmons are actually berries that grow on trees. Persimmons are in season from October to February.
There are two main types of persimmons: astringent and non-astringent. The most common astringent kind that I’ve seen at supermarkets is Hachiya. The most common type of non-astringent I’ve seen available for purchase is Fuyu.
The Fuyu (one on the left) looks like a tomato and is much flatter in shape. These can be eaten while still hard and crunchy. The Hachiya (one of the right) has a long acorn shape. They are not supposed to be eaten until they turn soft.
My family enjoys the Fuyu ones, but my mom accidentally planted a Hachiya tree. As a result, every year her large persimmon tree bears hundreds of Hachiya persimmons and she is the only person who will eat them.
The rest of my family won’t touch them so I decided to use them to make baked goods like these cookies. While my family won’t eat the fruit directly from the tree they have no problem eating the baked treats I make with the ripe Hachiya persimmons. They work really well in cookies and I’ve also used them to make persimmon cake.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg
- Salt
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Pureed persimmon
- Chopped walnuts
Recipe Steps
Whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and mix. Add the spices and puree and mix again until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the nuts and then drop the dough by the tablespoon onto a baking sheet. Space them two inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at 350°F.
Persimmon Cookies: Texture, Color, and Flavor
One thing I noticed when I was baking these cookies, was how similar persimmons are to pumpkins. They both share the lovely orange color, have a similar texture once pureed and pair well with fall spices. The persimmon recipes I came across are a lot like the pumpkin recipes I’ve been finding.
This recipe for persimmon cookies is very easy to make. Although, the dough is a little tricky because it’s very liquidy and it looked like something that needed to be poured into a loaf pan and baked. The fact the dough was so liquidy made it almost impossible to shape into cookies. So, my end result cookies were not as pretty as I would have liked.
The cookies ended up looking and tasting a bit like the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I made, sans the chocolate chips. I thought that was interesting since persimmons and pumpkins don’t really taste the same in my opinion. When I gave some to Baby Bro, he was super surprised to learn he was eating a persimmon cookie and not a pumpkin cookie.
If you’re looking for a different kind of cookie to make during the winter, you should definitely try these persimmon cookies.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
Persimmon Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 ripe persimmons, pureed (approximately one cup - see note)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease or line one baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. In a seperate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the egg and persimmon puree.
- Add the flour mixture and mix until combined, stir in the chopped nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheet. Try to flatten the dough and shape it to make it round and flat.
- Bake for about 10 minutes.
Interesting. It’s weird that you can dry the hachiya while still hard and it’s still edible. I’ll let my mom know. I offered to dry them when I go visit over Thanksgiving, but she said all her persimmons will be soft by then. She said she’ll try to make some this weekend. If she does, I’ll post about it =)
I’ve seen the whole dried ones at Ranch 99 and Zion. They definitely don’t look as pretty. I don’t like that they go bad so quickly. They go moldy pretty fast.
All the various drying instructions say to cut the hachiya when they are still hard. Outside looks orange and ripe but firm. I think your mom can dry them just as she dried the fuyus. If she does dry them, let us know how they turn out!
I still remember buying the brownish whole dried persimmons and loving those. Although they didn’t look very appetizing!
Hi Carol- I’m sure you’ll have too many persimmons on your tree than you can eat in a few years. I remember when my mom’s persimmon tree only had one or two persimmons.
I love dried persimmons! A year ago, my mom dried them and they were delicious. Chewy and sweet. If you cut them perpendicular to the seed, they came out in this pretty flower/star shape. I don’t think she tried drying her astringent ones though. She only dried the fuyu ones from my aunt’s garden. I’m going to suggest that she dry her Hachiya ones. Are they dried while they are still hard? I’ve never heard of persimmon rolls. I’ll have to look that up. Thanks for the suggestions!
If you like pumpkin cookies, then I think you might like these. They taste very similar. And the persimmon flavor isn’t very strong.
Hi Kirbie! The cookies are so cute and rustic looking. I’ll have to try the recipe next season. I love persimmons and planted a small Fuyu tree over a year ago. It produced 2 little ones its first year, pretty sad. It produced more this year but the fruits were very small, but still very tasty.
Does your mom like dried fruit? If so, she can dry extra persimmons. My mom used to do that for all her extras. It needs to be fully orange but still hard. Peel and slice into 1/4 inch round slices then using a dehydrator or oven to dry. I love dried persimmons, both non- and astrigent kinds. Very sweet. I’ve also heard that they can be dried whole but takes a long time.
Another thing to use up persimmons that I’ve read is making persimmon fruit rolls. Pretty similar procedures as other fruit rolls.
Wow – what an incredible cookie concept! Never heard of the idea – but my family loves persimmons (I’m not too fond of em though). I will for sure try this and pass it on to my friends/fam as well..
Thanks!