Soft, sweet, citrusy, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, these persimmon cookies are easy and fun to bake with kids. Fill up a jar and watch it disappear soon! This Persimmon cookie recipe can also be used to make cookies with other sweet fruits like apples, chikoo, and mango.
When given an opportunity, little girls love to bake in the kitchen! Cookies are one of the easiest kitchen activities that you can do with your children. Watch them measure up the ingredients, mix and run the beater, shape the cookies, decorate and watch over the oven every few minutes to see how they are rising and also the ever-present question — are they done yet?
Last year during Thanksgiving, we were visiting our cousins in California and they have a generous Persimmon tree in their backyard. They share all their bounty with their neighbors and this time I suggested how about we try some Persimmon cookies. Their girls were super excited to explore more with Persimmons than just eat them as is, which is absolutely heavenly too!
Currently, with most of us under lockdown due to covid-19 outbreak, the best way to engage kids and finish your household work is to actively involve them in the tasks. Last week I shared some ideas on how kids can kids help in the kitchen. I will soon also put together some easy and fun cooking with kids recipes.
Here’s starting with the first one 🙂
Some notes on this Persimmon cookie recipe:
- These cookies are eggless and vegan with flax eggs used in place fo eggs and Olive oil in place of butter.
- Since I was baking with kids, we used organic white wheat flour instead of whole-wheat flour. They were happier with white flour.
- Let the kids experiment with different decorations on top. We only had some sprinkles on hand so we tried those and also a little icing sugar glaze on a few. But they taste wonderful as is.
- Persimmons are very seasonal fruit. We sometimes freeze their puree to enjoy them later on in smoothies and baking. But the same recipe can be used with other sweet and sub-acidic fruits like apples, papaya, chikoo, mango, etc.
Easy Baking with kids: Persimmon Cookies
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 2 cups White whole-wheat flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp Nutmeg powder
- ½ cup Olive oil
- 1 cup Sugar
- 4-5 Persimmons peeled and grated into about 1 cup pulp
- 1 Flax-egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseeds soaked in 3 tbsp water for 15-20 mins)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC/ Gas mark 4. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper lining.
- In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In another larger bowl, whisk together olive oil and sugar until well combined. Beat in the persimmon pulp, flax-egg, and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture, little by little until well combined.
- Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges and set.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for another five minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Nutritional Information is the approximate information for 1 of 36 cookies.
- Recipe adapted from Two peas and their pod
Persimmons in India
Persimmons are not very common in India. They are native to East Asia and were brought to India by the Britishers. They mainly grow in the hills of Himachal and Uttarakhand and also down south in Ooty. They are often referred to as Japani-phal (Japanese). In Hindi, Persimmons are actually called Amarphal and Ramphal.
Find persimmons in your local farmers market but use this recipe to make different kinds of fresh fruit cookies. Simply replace the persimmon puree with 1 cup of any other sweet fruit pulp.
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Thank you so much for this recipe Ashima. Here in New Zealand it is persimmon harvest time. I’m so happy to find this healthy, eggless recipe.