Persimmon cookies make a great gift

My mom's persimmon cookies recipe card is one of those cards that's extremely stained and faded. That tells me that it was used frequently. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas she would bake batch after batch of persimmon cookies and put them in little tins. She gave the filled tins to the postman, Fuller Brush man, Avon lady, sanitation workers, newspaper boy, and all the neighbors. She was quite popular around the holidays.

I'm not as energetic as Mom was, but I do make a couple batches of persimmon cookies every year. I give some away, but keep them mostly for myself. I love the spices in this recipe and the soft moistness of the cookie. Since they keep well in the freezer, I usually make a double batch.

PERSIMMON COOKIES

1 cup ripe* persimmon pulp
1 tsp. baking soda (over pulp)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat pulp, baking soda, sugar, shortening, and egg together thoroughly until creamy. Add salt, flour and spices . Fold in nuts and raisins. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

*Ripe persimmons are very soft and gushy. If your persimmons aren't ripe, put them in the freezer and freeze overnight. When they are removed from the freezer and thawed, they will be soft.

The large round persimmons become soft and are best for baking. The small flatter persimmons are crisp and are better for eating raw. Don't use the small, flat ones in baking.