Persimmon Cookies - Update!

As it turns out, the basic recipe is probably the best one.  The additional persimmon did not make the cookies taste more persimmon-y - though the texture was pretty good out of the oven.  The real test has been the way the cookies stand up to the passage of time.  The original recipe came out a lot more cakey and has kept from hardening very well in the past week.  The modified recipe - well - warming them in the toaster oven makes them less hockey-puck like, but they are still dryer inside.  So, how does this work -  you put in more moist ingredients and the cookie dries out faster?  More research needed - sticking with the original basic persimmon/pumpkin cookie recipe as posted.

Persimmon Cookies

After reviewing 2 dozen recipes for persimmon cookies online, it seemed that they were all so very similar, despite claims of individual authorship or creation.  One website has three different persimmon cookie recipes - which all have the same ratio of the same ingredients!   For further analysis, I pulled about 18 of them into an excel spreadsheet and organized the ingredients so that I could see the patterns.  You can download my spreadsheet as a 2 page PDF (printable as horizontal-legal).

With few exceptions, the basic persimmon (or even pumpkin) cookie looks like this:

Basic Persimmon Cookie

• 2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
  
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c fat (shortening/butter)
• 1 c fruit, pureed
• 1 egg (or replacer of your choice)
• 1 c raisins
• 1 c nuts (optional)
  
• salt (from a pinch to 1 tsp)
• cinnamon (1/2 to 1 tsp)
• ground cloves (1/4 to 1/2 tsp)
  
• other spices - ground nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom

Instructions: cream sugar & fat.  Sift dry ingredients together in separate bowl.  Add persimmon & egg to creamed sugar/fat & reblend.  Add dry ingredients.  Add raisins.  Spoon onto cookie sheet, bake 12-15 minutes.

RESULT: I made a 4x batch of this recipe and my conclusions and taster responses are as follows:

• Scott: tastes like Thanksgiving/Xmas, can't tell if it's persimmon or pumpkin
• Scott's vegan co-worker: approved.
• Front neighbors: offered that if they were millionaires, they'd give me the start-up cash to go into business creating my own line of foods.
• Me:  too sweet and not persimmon-y enough.

After thinking about it - and running some ideas past my friend Lacey (author of "I Can't Believe It's Vegan" and partner in new vegetarian wine bar in Oakland called Encuentro) in a chat session last night - I decided on these modifications to the recipe, including omitting nutmeg.

Vegan Persimmon Cookies, Take 2

• 2 c AP flour
• 1/2 c Sucanat
• 1/4 c shortening
• 1.5 c persimmon pulp
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 T flax meal + 3 T water
• 1 c raisins
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground cloves

Cream sugar & fat. Puree persimmon in blender, add baking soda/powder/salt/spices & blend again. Add persimmon to sugar/fat & cream again. Whip flaxseeds & water in blender or food processor til frothy. Add to wet mixture & combine thoroughly. Add flour & mix till combined, scraping the sides and bottom. Add raisins. Spoon onto silicone baking sheet liner with teaspoon, rounding batter with fingers or spatula. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Optional: top cookie with 1/4 tsp size of persimmon paste.

RESULT:  if you overbake, the cookies are a bit dry.  The persimmon flavor comes through a bit better; the cookies are more cake-y than crisp/chewy.  I am going to do another batch with 1/3 c shortening instead of 1/4 c to see if that improves texture a bit. I am also going to do a version with granulated maple sugar instead of Succanat.  I'll just update this blog entry instead of starting over.

Persimmon Blondies

IMGP9283
Originally uploaded by jennconspiracy

These tasty treats were easy to whip up and taste great - they blend persimmon, brown sugar, Chinese 5 spice and chocolate chips into a rich, moist blondie that I am looking forward to making again (with pecans!).

This is another recipe test for Hannah's new cookbook so that means no recipe secrets here!

Cherry Macaroon Tart

IMGP9134
Originally uploaded by jennconspiracy

The second recipe test for Hannah's new book - turned out awesome - it's super easy to make: a sweetened coconut crust with a filling of sweetened cherries with a bit of almond essence.

Very tasty - I thought the crust would be crispier instead of chewier, but it lasted several days before soaking up the juice from the cherry filling. It was delicious at all stages!