These stuffed persimmons are filled with chopped nuts, dates, chestnuts and lots of cinnamon; a healthy holiday treat at it’s best!
When you’re 31 and 99.9% of your friends are married, pregnancy announcements (usually via facebook and some lovely picture of the inside of your friend’s uterus now front and center as their profile pic) become so commonplace it’s like saying “oh, yeah I went to the movies this weekend, nbd.”
Honestly, I can’t say I mind this new age way of announcing this kind of news because at least my eye rolls behind the computer screen aren’t visible.
Oh, you’re pregnant? Awesome, one less person that will be able to do ANYTHING for the next 10 years.
It’s kind of funny actually, because as a couple that doesn’t want kids and wants (and is able!) to do things, we have no one to do them with anymore since all our friends have babies or kids in school even (this is the point where my mother would say “so just have them too then!”).
Dinners become planned events weeks in advance, vacations are barely even logistically possible and nights out when they do happen end at 10 at the latest since babies don’t know how to sleep in.
We’re a couple consciously without kids living the life of a couple with kids because all our friends have them. Ain’t that ironic.
I know what 99% of you are thinking right now: I’m a selfish bitch.
And to that, I say, I won’t argue there isn’t a bit of truth.
However, sometimes you meet or know that certain person who is just made to be a parent. The kind of person that is just so genuinely nice and good-hearted that when you’re around them they make you want to be a better person.
I’ve met and hung out with Audra 3 times and each one of those times has left me with that feeling of “ok Gina, you need to be more like THAT”.
Audra’s having a baby boy next month and I honestly couldn’t be more happy for anyone.
She actually came to my house to help show me how to (successfully) make strawberry rhubarb macarons when she was only 6 or 7 weeks along and told me she was pregnant in the car ride from the train station. The usual eye-roll/”there goes another one” reaction didn’t even cross my mind.
I was and still am SO happy for her. So, happy (virtual) baby shower, Audra!
Thank god this is only virtual because I think the amount of sugar in all the recipes below might induce labor if you actually ate it all!
Oh, and these pretty little stuffed persimmon things?
Those would be nuts, chestnuts, dates, cinnamon and pistachios all chopped up and stuffed inside a juicy, ripe persimmon drizzled with honey.
Don’t tell me the holidays can’t be healthy and delicious.
MORE PERSIMMON RECIPES TO TRY:
Persimmon Vanilla Bean Smoothie
Cinnamon Nut Stuffed Persimmons
Ingredients
- 6 ripe hachiya persimmons they’re the more oblong shaped ones
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup whole peeled and cooked chestnuts
- 2 large medjool dates
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
- honey for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice the top of each persimmon and set aside. Slice a small amount off the bottom so that the fruit can stand up.
- Using a sharp paring knife, cut around the core and scoop it out with a spoon creating a circular hole in the middle of the fruit for stuffing.
- Place all remaining ingredients in a food processor except fot the pistachios and honey).
- Process until finely chopped.
- Scoop the nut mixture into each persimmon filling to the top.
- Place persimmons in a baking dish, put their tops back on and bake for about 15-20 minutes until they just start to wrinkle.
- Remove from the oven, remove the tops, sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and drizzle with honey.
- These are best served warm and would be delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition Facts
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For the most precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator based on the actual ingredients you used in the recipe.
Gina Matsoukas is the writer, founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients as much as possible. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
lynn rossman
Sunday 29th of December 2019
Yup, those persimmons have to be squishy ripe if they are Hachiya, or you'll curl up puckering from all the tannin. As for the child issue, I laud you. I'm old enough to remember Zero Population Growth from the 60's. It was warned then that the earth had finite resources and if we didn't stop population growth we would overtax her and our climate. Well, guess what. Too many people went forth and multiplied. Our Ecological problems, right down to Climate Change can be attributed to too many people, not enough resources. But no one talks about it now. And oh yes, the recipe looks delicious. Can't wait to try it to use up my overabundant persimmons. Thanks.
Amanda Gibson
Saturday 1st of December 2018
This recipe must use persimmons that are riper than mine? Although to slice a persimmon of this variety, you can not wait too long or you will end up with a jelly gooey mess. Could you describe what texture of fruit to use? I have baked this dish at 400 degrees for an hour and the fruit is still hard and extremely bitter. This tastes worse than anything I have ever cooked, and I have a persimmon tree so I bake often with them. Also, I have no idea how you got this amount of filling into six persimmons. How much fruit did you scoop out? There are a lot of comments here about ultrasounds but, did anyone make this recipe with success? I was looking forward to a lower sugar persimmon option and wanted this recipe to work but it was a total fail!
amy
Sunday 24th of November 2019
I am also looking for some more details on how to make these- How much do you scoop out, and what do you do with the fruit that you've scooped out? Is it mixed in with the nuts to be stuffed back inside? One thing I do know is that this variety of persimmon must be super soft (often described as feeling like a water balloon) to be ripe, otherwise the tannins will make it inedible...
Christie Daruwalla
Thursday 11th of December 2014
So funny. When I was in my early 30's, I thought I didn't want kids. Fast forward 4 years and I wanted one right then and there. I would love these no matter what my age. I've been looking for something to do with persimmons and now I've found it.
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