persimmon raisin muffins

Persimmons | photo: Tomomarusan

It's persimmon season.  I love these tasty little fruits, with their rich fragrant scent and amazing flavor.  Luckily for me there is a pick your own place not too far away.  Each year I go and pick pounds and pounds of them.  I eat as many as I can before they get so ripe and so soft that they are in danger of sliding out of the fruit bowl and off the counter.  They have to be pretty soft before they are ripe enough to eat so this window is pretty small.

When I get to this point I turn the rest into pulp to store in the freezer.  This allows me to make cakes, cookies, and other persimmon delights for as long as the supply lasts. Apparently you can make jam from persimmons but I somehow never seem to get around to doing that.  I'm also not sure if I would use it as I'm currently the only one in the house who likes persimmons.

One of my favorite things to bake with persimmons are these muffins.  They're a great treat with a rich dark flavor that is so reminiscent of the crisp fall weather.  I'm sure they would freeze well but somehow they've never lasted long enough for me to test that theory.

Persimmon Raisin Muffins

3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 egg
1 cup sucanat
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375°F
Grease loaf pans
Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt
In a separate bowl beat egg, add persimmon pulp and sucanat
Add vanilla, raisins and pecans
Add sifted ingredients and mix well
Spoon into greased muffin tins
Bake 15 minutes or until tops spring back when tapped
Remove from oven and cool in tins 3-4 minutes before moving to wire rack
Finish cooling on wire rack