Happy Saturday, friends! Our weekend began with a light rainstorm around 6:00am so since I was up early letting Yoda outside, I just happened to come back into the kitchen and check my four persimmons and… They were soft and ripe!!! A perfect morning to bake some persimmon cookies… :)’

Persimmon Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour AND 1 tsp. baking powder (***I used 1 cup bran + 3 cups all-purpose flour in this batch. The bran gives a nice texture to the cookie.)

1 stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup of persimmon pulp ~ grind skin and insides of persimmon in blender (cut off leafy tops and compost them). *** 4 persimmons makes about 2 cups of pulp

1/2 tsp. baking soda in pulp (set aside after blending together)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp’s of ground nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt

1 cup raisins or nuts (***I used both chopped pecans and golden raisins)

optional: 1 cup chopped dates

***This recipe doubles well and cookies can be frozen unbaked or baked.

Instructions:

Blend persimmon pulp with 1/2 tsp. baking soda per cup of pulp until creamy; set aside. Cream sugar and butter together, scraping sides and bottom to mix well. Add in the egg(s), vanilla, and pulp mixture – mix well creaming this wet mixture.

Add dry ingredients – flour(s) and blend well, then add in fruits and chopped nuts. Mix just until blended.

Drop by teaspoon/scooper onto greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Cook slowly at about 325 deg. F to 350 degrees until golden brown on top. ***I cooked these at 335 deg. for 18 – 21 minutes. Cookies will spring back but should be thoroughly cooked on the bottoms. Add more time as necessary and begin checking at 12 minutes when using higher temps. Enjoy!!!

I shared on Instagram today that my first fiancé’s mother, Belle, would bake these cookies for me a lot back in the early 1980’s. I am so glad I wrote down the recipe from her collection! And these cookies today turned out just as I remembered them… YUM!

I added chopped pecans and golden raisins and they add a nice flavor and crunch to these chewy cookies. :)’

While each batch of cookies baked, I watched garden shows on the tele… I found Bunny Guinness recently and really like her landscaping! She is really good and creates massive landscapes for her clients across the UK. This is her home’s north garden sitting area. Just lovely!

Needless to say, today’s cookies aren’t going to last very long…

Now I wish I’d bought more persimmons! Lol!!! 😉

Enjoy this recipe,

Barb 🙂

Happy weekend, friends! Fall is such a wonderful time for working outside in the garden as the weather is cooler and the sun has lost its heat making being outside just so much nicer. Fall is also wonderful for getting back in the kitchen and getting back to baking…

Today I am sharing one of my favorite things to bake in the fall and it is my mother’s Banana Bread recipe with a slight twist ~ turning them into Texas-sized muffins!

Basic Banana Bread Recipe

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

2 cups flour (*I used 1/3 whole wheat but you can also use bran flour for more texture)

3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup nuts (*I used pecans this time)

chopped nuts to add to the muffin tops

Recipe:

Take bananas and mash them very well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light then add to bananas. In another bowl, mix: the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.

Add this to the banana mixture then add 1/2 cup of nut meats, chopped. Stir well and put in buttered 9″ x 5″ loaf pans (*or muffins tins like mine!). Bake 1 hour for loaf pans and 20 – 25 minutes for Texas-sized muffins. For regular muffin tins, bake for 15 – 20 minutes. This recipe is perfect doubled, tripled or quadrupled for gift giving! Also freezes well.

These muffins are perfect for eating on the go and will stay moist even when you just want to eat only half of a muffin. I do this pretty often and just leave the other half in the basket or in a large Ziplock style bag until later.

I hope you will try making some banana bread for your family this fall or winter! Adding walnuts or chocolate chips to the batter changes the recipe enough to become a dessert muffin or loaf.

Just and FYI: I spent yesterday working on pulling in and formatting many of your email addresses into a spreadsheet. I would like to add you to my new email; however, as per all the special international laws regarding spam, I need your permission. If you would like to be on my mailing list, please sign up in the sidebar (or in the pop-up from Mail Chimp, if it works!).

I won’t send out emails everyday ~ that’s just not me. If it is once a week, it will probably be for Share Your Style since SYS is like a recap for what I’ve done over the week anyway. Anyway, I could really use the support!

Sharing with

Hearth and Soul ~ April J. Harris

Enjoy these yummy muffins,

Barb