Persimmons Cookies

Persimmons Cookies, attributed to Freida Fritz of Jerseyville B, may be one of the most distinctly local recipes in 75 Years of Caring and Sharing. The cookie itself is warmly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, but the real story is in the contributor’s note about gathering persimmons around Eldred, Illinois.

Freida describes looking for the fruit in fall after a big frost, removing the skins, and pushing the pulp through a strainer by hand to remove the seeds. She also warns that heating the fruit during that process can make it puckery and bitter.

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Persimmons Cookies

Preserved from 75 Years of Caring and Sharing, printed page 226.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: community cookbook recipe, persimmon cookies, vintage dessert

Ingredients

• 1 c. persimmon pulp
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 c. chopped nuts
• 1 c. raisins
• ½ tsp. cloves
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 c. flour
• ½ c. cooking oil

Instructions

• Have all ingredients ready and measured.
• When you start mixing, add soda to persimmon pulp.
• Stir in remaining ingredients as given.
• Bake on greased cookie sheet 8 to 10 minutes in 375° oven.
• Do not overbake.
• These cookies are soft and moist.

Notes

Source note: Get the persimmons in the fall after the big frost if you can find them around here. I got them around here. I got them around Eldred, Illinois, but the flood killed the trees. The big ones you get in the store won't do. You have to take the skins off. Push through a strainer with your hands to get the seeds out. Don't heat them or they will be puckery and bitter. Good luck if you can find them, as people have cut down trees.