Henny Penny Farmette

Fall is the time when persimmons come to market. In general, you’ll see two different types. Fuyu is a squat-shaped, round fruit. Hachiya has a pear shape. Both fruits possess a bright orange color, thin skin, and leaves at the bottom when ripe.

Fuyu can be consumed at the crunchy stage like sliced apples in salad but you must not eat hachiya until it is soft and fully ripe because of its extreme astringency. You can slice off the top of Hachiya and eat it with a spoon like a soft pudding.

Turn your ripe persimmons into pulp before making baked goods such as bread, cake, and bar cookies. Nothing says autumn like this late autumn fruit in a lemon-drizzled bar cookie that uses the pulp of persimmons and chopped dates. In the recipe that follows, I used the Sunsweet brand of chopped dates.

RECIPE for Persimmon-Date Bars with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup pureed persimmon pulp

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (plus 2 tablespoons for glaze)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup finely chopped dates

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish.

Mix together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine persimmon pulp, 1 1⁄2 tsp. lemon juice, and baking soda. Set aside.

Using a whisk, mix together granulated sugar, dates, oil, and egg in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and persimmon mixture. Stir until just combined and then pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Use a spatula to flatten and smooth the top of the cookie dough.

Bake 25 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes while you make the glaze.

To make the glaze, whisk together 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Pour the glaze in zigzags across the bar cookie and then smooth out the glaze with a spatula. When the bar cookie has hardened, cut into rectangular bars or diamond shapes.

Tags: autumn baking, persimmons