A sweet and spiced persimmon cookies recipe with cranberries, white chocolate chips, and pecans. A perfectly soft and moist treat to make during the holidays!
As the holiday season comes to an end, it doesn’t mean that the flavors of the winter have to! My sweet friend Amy brought me some gorgeous Fuyu persimmons from her grandparent’s tree. Amy told me that they were the perfect ripeness for baking, so I was excited to try a persimmon cookie recipe to highlight the honey-like flavor from these delicious fruits.
These cookies pack warm winter spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. The texture is like a soft and moist muffin with slightly crispy edges on the outside, a perfect compliment for the ripe persimmons.
The persimmons were soft to the touch and carried an intense and delicious sweetness. It was easy to scoop out the pulp from the very ripe fruit.
I pureed the pulp in the blender for a few seconds to make sure that the mash was consistent in texture before adding it to the dough.
When selecting the type of sugar to use in your recipes like granulated sugar and brown sugar, the kind you choose will affect the cookie texture.
Granulated sugar typically yields a crispier cookie, whereas brown sugar is a humectant, retaining moisture and producing a chewier cookie. I used both kinds for this persimmon cookie recipe to give texture properties of both.
Portion scoops are extremely helpful to consistently measure out drop cookies (soft dough scooped into mounds for baking), such as the persimmon cookie recipe or chocolate chip cookies.
I used a size 50 portion scoop, which is 5/8 ounce or approximately 1.25 tablespoon size. The number of the scoop determines the number of servings in each quart of a mixture. For a number 50 scoop, one quart = 50 servings.
The beautiful dark orange flesh gave the dough a pretty golden color to the cookie. I added a little bit of rolled oats and pecans for more texture, as well as dried cranberries and white chocolate chips to enhance the sweetness of the persimmon.
More persimmon recipes
To ensure consistent cookies batch to batch
1) Use a portion scoop to achieve same sized cookies, 2) Uniformly place and space the dough on the sheet pan, 3) Uniform baking time will be achieved by maintaining size and placement of the cookies.
Persimmon Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup persimmon pulp, puréed (3-4 very ripe and soft Fuyu persimmons)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅓ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Set the oven rack to the middle position. Heat to 325°F (163ºC).
- Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add 1 cup of persimmon pulp purée and mix until combined.
- Sift the dry ingredients together; flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Whisk the dry ingredients together, and then slowly add into the mixer on low speed. Mix until just combined.
- Add the oats, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and pecans. Mix on low speed until combined, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
- Portion the dough (about 1 ¼ tablespoon) onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Make sure that the cookies are at least 2 inches apart. Use your fingers or a spoon to flatten the dough into ¼-inch thick cookies, the dough will be slightly sticky. Top with extra cranberries, white chocolate, or pecans if desired.
- Bake the cookies one tray at a time. Bake until the edges set, the surface feels firm and golden brown, arproximately 14 to 16 minutes.
- Cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Bake the remaining cookies, making sure the oven increases back up to the proper temperature.
Recipe Video
Equipment
Notes
Want to save this recipe?
Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.
Tried this recipe?
Tag @jessica_gavin on Instagram. I'd love to see how it turns out!
YolanDa Gliko says
The persimmon recipe i just tried was a hit in my home! Its different than the one i have been making for many years. I founD that i can use Ripe fuyu and hachiya persimmons for cookies. Really good cookies.
Jen says
Hello, I was wondering if I could use almond flower in this recipe?
Amie Wills says
I love you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m blessed with a persimmon tree in my backyard and I decided this year I would actually bake with them. this was a fantastic recipe to add to the collection. I made the “mistake” of sharing them at church and they were gone before I knew it – everyone loved them!
Jessica Gavin says
Wow, thanks Amie! What a wonderful comment to receive, I’m so glad that you enjoyed the cookie recipe. You are lucky to have a persimmon tree in your backyard!
Jen says
This was one of the best recipes I’ve turned out!I had to make a few tweaks due to supply issues, but each turned out just dandy! Instead of almonds, I did raw, unsweetened large coconut flakes. Also, I only had about a 1.2 cup of persimmon puree, so I combined it with banana puree to round out the full cup. And lastly, I did not have any white chocolate chips, but honestly, I think that they would have been too sweet with chips added. I also made a quick date/raisin/papaya jelly on the stove, and topped the cookies with that .I almost died when they came out of the oven. Simply heaven!!!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you Jen! I love how you improvised with the bananas, so smart!
Jennifer DeLoach says
Sounds great! How did you make the date/raisin/papaya jelly?
Alicia Brewin says
your brown sugar says 1 1/2 cups then it says 1/4cup. which is correct?
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks for the catch alicia! It is 1 3/4 ounces or 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Sorry for the confusion!
Maryjo Walker says
What changes are necessary for high altitude(5,280)
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Maryjo- For high altitude baking of cookies I would start with increasing the oven temperature to 350 degrees F to set the structure of the baked good. Check at 10 minutes for doness and keep baking as needed. Let me know how that goes!
Audrina Diocson says
Can I make this keto friendly, switching AP flour to Almond flour, sugar to erythritol and the oatmeal to flaxseed meal?
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Audrina- I haven’t tried those substitutions before but it’s worth a try! The batter might be a little wetter, but let me know how it goes.
Anneliese Cornale says
I made these cookies today and they were a hit.. I made mine smaller using a heaping teaspoon of dough and to get a flatter and crunchier cookie I flattened with the spoon! Love the mixture a lot!
Jessica Gavin says
Thank for the great tips Anneliese! Happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Kate says
Hi! Happy Christmas! I made these today and they’re delicious. Some things to note: They needed more time, maybe 18 minutes. The first batch came out pretty mushy so I let them go for another 4 minutes. FOR SURE put extra white chocolate chips on the top, and a dried cranberry and some chopped pecans. It does take extra time, but oh my goodness, how delicious,,,, and how much prettier they are. Definitely worth the extra minute or two. I’m going to try to freeze some for when I return to work next week. Fingers crossed that works well! Thank you, LOVE the extraordinary cookies.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for the helpful feedback Kate! Definitely adjust the cook times as needed. Sometimes the persimmon is more or less pulpy, so you may need more time to drive off excess moisture. Let me know how the frozen ones turn out 🙂
Vicki says
Your recipe calls for pecans, but your video says almonds. I’m assuming either would be fine, although I would think toasted almonds would be better? I am making your cookies later today and I know they will be delicious!! I always pulp my persimmons when in season and freeze them for future use. I am a big fan of persimmons, it is traditional in my family to have persimmon pudding for Thanksgiving family dinner. Just isn’t the same without this if you grew up in the south!! There are too few recipes for this wonderful fruit.
Vanessa Wood says
Hands down the best recipe for Persimmon Cookies! I for one cant stand the raw persimmons but put them into this recipe and you’ll surely love them! Just the right balance of spices, tartness from the cranberries and just the perfect touch of sweetness from the extremely ripe persimmons and delicate white chocolate! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Bev says
Sadly I did not get the good results that everybody else got with these cookies. I LOVE persimmons and would be blessed to have a persimmon tree in my yard! (that lucky lady that has one! Lol). BUT, my cookies came out flat and big and didn’t bake right. I am sure it is operator error, and will I try them again, but sad that I had to throw them out. With all of the negative said, I did taste one, and the taste is delicious. I will try them again, and see where my mistakes were. They are a nice change and if done right, I am sure that they will make a nice addition to any cookie tray. Thanks Jessica for the inspiration with them, and to all the positive bakers whose cookies did turn out right!
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Bev- Thank you for your feedback! How soft was your butter, and how did you measure your flour? Also, how runny was the persimmon puree?
Beverly says
Thank you for responding. My butter was at room temperature, and the flour I dole out of the container (I keep my flour in the refrigerator in a container) and I spoon it out to the measuring cup. The persimmon puree was pretty runny. I processed the persimmons in a mini food processor. I think, personally, that I made the cookies way too big, and I shouldn’t have flattened them. I appreciate your writing back to me. Like I said though, the taste was really good!
Jessica Gavin says
Thanks for sharing your observations, Beverly! Yes, I think keeping them smaller in mounds would help with the spread.
Beverly says
I will try that the next time and let you know. I have eaten all the persimmons now, so I have to buy more, but when I try them again I will give you an update. Who knows, there are so many things with baking that could or could not ruin them. It is a science they say! Thanks again. Have a great holiday!
Kimberlina Escalera says
These cookies are absolutely delicious 😋 I made them with my little niece and they came out perfectly.
I didn’t have any nutmeg or all-spice but the cookies were still very flavorful.
Thank you for this recipe! Happy holidays
Jessica Gavin says
Happy to hear that you and your niece enjoyed making the persimmon cookies together!
Charlene says
Absolutely Fabulous! Great way to use those too ripe persimmons. These cookies are yummy, not too sweet. I used toasted walnuts vs pecans. Just a delight!!
Sim says
Hi Jessica, I am excited to try your recipe. I got a boxful of persimmons from my Aunt in CA and they’re perfectly ripe for baking. In your video you used a mixer with paddle attachment. Unfortunately I don’t own this type of mixer, I only have a handheld one. Can I still use it to make these cookies? Please advise. This will be my very first cookie baking with fruits.
Jessica Gavin says
Yes, you can use a hand mixer for the cookies.
Judy says
How do you think these might taste with milk chocolate or semi sweet chips instead of white chocolate chips?
Jessica Gavin says
I think they would be delicious with milk or semi-sweet chocolate! I would go for semi-sweet to balance the sweetness of the persimmon.
Kathy says
I’m use to recipes listing tablespoons and cups for measurements. It’s really much too confusing to convert your ounces measurements to understanding. Do you have this recipe in regular measurements?? Appreciate it!
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Kathy- I’ve updated the recipe, I hope that helps!
Roslyn says
How many cookies will this recipe batch yield?
Jessica Gavin says
30 cookies
Brenda says
Hi! Jessica,
I was concerned that the temp for baking the cookies was only 325°, so I baked one sheet pan of cookies at 325° and tasted it. I wasn’t pleased. So, I baked the second at 350°. At 350° the cookies had a much better texture, not so doughy inside and rubbery outside. However, at both temps the cookies tasted good, but I felt the taste at the higher temp was best.
Also, on the printed form of the recipe, the weight in grams for the cranberries and the pecans was off. I did not use the white chocolate chips.
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Brenda- Thank you for your feedback! Did you bake the cookies for a shorter time at 350? Fascinating results, I’ll definitely have to try it.