Posts Tagged: cookies

Please Pass the Chocolate Chirp Cookies

Bugs: they're what's for dinner! Well, at some dinners. In. Many. Parts. Of. The....

Chocolate Chirp Cookies, the work of Heather Baker, UC Davis graduate student studying malaria mosquitoes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Chocolate Chirp Cookies, the work of Heather Baker, UC Davis graduate student studying malaria mosquitoes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology cookie social! From left: account manager Guyla Yoak, contest coordinator; and winners Elvia Mayes, account manager; Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the department; Heather Baker, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Shirley Luckhart lab; Stacey Rice, junior specialist of the Larry Godfrey lab; and Mimi Portilla, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Sharon Lawler lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology cookie social! From left: account manager Guyla Yoak, contest coordinator; and winners Elvia Mayes, account manager; Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the department; Heather Baker, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Shirley Luckhart lab; Stacey Rice, junior specialist of the Larry Godfrey lab; and Mimi Portilla, graduate student/mosquito researcher of the Sharon Lawler lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Getting to know persimmons

On a wet and gloomy winter afternoon, there are few sights more cheering to my eyes than a persimmon tree loaded with its brilliant fruit, hanging from dark boughs like a mass of orange lanterns. But if you come across this bright spectacle on a winter's walk, don't rush to take a bite of that tempting fruit unless you're sure you know what's what.

See, there are persimmons, and then there are persimmons.

The type of persimmon that you can eat right off the tree is the Fuyu variety (left), a firm-fleshed, yellow- to orange-skinned fruit that is flat on the bottom and wider than it is tall—sometimes twice as wide. You can eat the fresh, sweet fruit like an apple or cut up in salads or you can dry it on the stem or cut in slices for a home dehydrator.

The fruit of the other main variety, Hachiya (right), is far from sweet when its flesh is firm. Hachiyas are orange to almost red, often somewhat pointed at the bottom, and about as tall as they are wide, sometimes taller. If you bite into one of these before it ripens, your mouth may stay puckered for week. If you can wait until the flesh is soft, though—almost as squishy as a water balloon—you will find something inside that's almost like ready-made jam. Just don't eat any of the peel if you don't want a pucker. You can dry Hachiya persimmons, hung from a cut-off bit of stem, or bake the fresh, ripe fruit pulp in a variety of recipes. Here's one:

Aunt Pat's Persimmon Cookies
This recipe for Hachiya persimmon cookies has been in my family for generations and is always a special treat in the cold months. The cookies have a moist, cake-like consistency and can be eaten fresh or bagged up by the dozen and stored in the freezer. They're quick to thaw and they taste great. We usually make a double or triple batch just to take advantage of the fruit's availability, so cookie storage can be an issue.

CREAM TOGETHER:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

LIGHTLY BEAT AND ADD:
1 egg

ADD:
1 cup Hachiya persimmon pulp (about 3 ripe [very soft] persimmons)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

SIFT TOGETHER AND THEN ADD:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Drop the dough in generously rounded teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 12 to 14 minutes.

More on Persimmons

Check out these links for more information on preserving, preparing, and growing persimmons:

• Persimmon Time (San Joaquin County Cooperative Extension)
• The California Backyard Orchard

(Photos: Wikimedia Commons)

Move over, Mrs. Fields

Move over, Mrs. Fields. Make way for Mrs. Miller. “Mrs. Miller’s Chocolate Chip Cookies,” that is.

“Mrs. Miller’s Chocolate Chip Cookies” scored a big hit at the annual Solano County 4-H Presentation Day, held in Fairfield.

Caitlin Miller, 10, of Vacaville, a member of the Elmira 4-H Club, chose to give a presentation on a cookie she loves the most:  her grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies.

Her grandmother, Alice Miller, of Washington state, formerly of Benicia, “makes them all the time,” Caitlin said.  “She showed me how to make them and they’re really good.”

The secret ingredient, cream cheese, keeps them soft.

The two judges, Sally Moore of the Roving Clovers 4-H Club, Dixon and Sarah San Nicolas of the Golden Hills 4-H Club, Vacaville, proclaimed the cookies “delicious.” They gave a blue (very good) award for her presentation.

Caitlin, a fourth grader at Cooper School in Vacaville, posted the recipe on her display board, complete with photos of the entire process.

She said she enjoyed making them.

Probably not as much as the crowd at the Solano County 4-H Presentation Day enjoyed eating them. Within a matter of minutes, not a crumb remained on the platter.

Here’s the recipe:

Mrs. Miller’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
12 ounces chocolate chips, semi-sweet
1 cup of nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Soften cream cheese and butter. Blend with brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend. Add flour, salt,  baking soda, baking powder and mix. Then add chocolate chips, and if desired, nuts.

Using an ice cream scoop, place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes (until lightly golden).

Caitlin Miller

ELMIRA 4-H CLUB member Caitlin Miller offers a plate of chocolate chip cookies at the Solano County 4-H Presentation Day. The secret ingredient that keeps the cookies soft: cream cheese. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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