Love and Olive Oil

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

I simply adore persimmons, which I believe to be entirely underutilized in cooking and baking. In fact, my all-time favorite green bean recipe (which I made again this year for Thanksgiving) utilizes persimmons in a savory manor, but they are most often found in sweet treats and bready things.

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

These scones, or scone muffins (scuffins? Hmm, not quite as appetizing-sounding as a cronut) give you the best of both scones and muffins: a light and crunchy top and a moist and tender bottom. Moist and tender (that’s the magic of buttermilk), and studded with sweet diced persimmons and spicy candied ginger.

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

I topped the scones with some pearl sugar for effect, mainly because Philip gave me some a few months back and I’ve been looking for an excuse to use it. It gives the scones a nice ‘snowflake’ effect and an added crunch as well. But you could certainly use coarse/turbinado sugar if you wanted instead, or leave it off completely.

I also think these scones would be just delightful with a simple sugar glaze, if you were keen on a sweeter confection to accompany your morning tea.

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

This recipe utilizes the firmer, crunchier Fuyu persimmons. They look like squat orange tomatoes with brittle brown leaves. While the fruit gets sweeter as it ripens, you do want firm-ripe persimmons for this recipe (the flesh should give ever so slightly under your touch). Over ripe fruit will be impossible to dice, trust me, and won’t hold its shape as well in the batter.

Fuyu Persimmons

Did I mention I love persimmons?

Seriously though. I’m on the hunt for someone with a persimmon tree. I know they grow in Tennessee… I just need to expand my circle of friends until I find one. But for now I’ll continue to buy them at Trader Joe’s for $.69 a piece until they disappear for another year.

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

Ginger Persimmon Scone Muffins

The best of both scones and muffins: a light and crunchy top and a moist and tender bottom, studded with sweet persimmons and chunks of spicy candied ginger.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 Fuyu persimmons, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
  • 1 egg, whisked with 1 tablespoon milk or water
  • pearl sugar, for topping (optional, you can also use any raw or coarse sugar)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin or spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger. Add butter cubes and work in with a pastry blender, two knives, or your hands until butter is broken into pea sized chunks. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk, then stir in with a wooden spoon until almost incorporated. Add chopped persimmon and candied ginger and fold until evenly distributed.
  3. Divide dough among muffin cups (a large cookie/cupcake scoop is the perfect size).
  4. Lightly brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
  5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops are evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack and let cool until scones are cool enough to remove from tins. Serve warm (scones will also keep in the refrigerator for a few days or even frozen; rewarm before serving).
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22 Comments

  1. Hi, I am so very eager to try this recipe. Looks so originally fresh. Thank you for sharing. I noticed the dough itself doesn’t have egg which I thought was necessary for muffins. Is that left out on purpose or is it a typo? 

  2. These look incredible! How long/what temperature would you recommend for reheating these muffins? I’m just worried about drying them out. 

  3. Came out beautiful but definitely not something I would make again. They just didn’t pop the way I expected them to.

  4. I made this for breakfast for the family. It was gorgeous as it was delicious! I used 3 persimmons and fresh minced ginger. My mom said the persimmon & ginger combo was very creative :). Thanks for sharing, obsessed with this website!

  5. I just made this with some persimmons I got at the Farmer’s Market yesterday. I also added sliced almonds on top with the demarara sugar & baked it in a large muffin pan with 6 jumbo size. The dough worked out perfectly. Thank you for sharing this flavorful recipe for a November morning.

  6. Delicious. I will definitely use the base of this recipe going forward – love the scone/muffin combo of textures.

  7. Probably the most healthy muffin recipe. Really amazing!

  8. I’ve made these twice now! Had some leftover Hachiya persimmons that just weren’t softening as much as I wanted them to. One Hachiya was about the size of two Fuyu. I also doubled the powdered ginger and was possibly very generous with the candied ginger (I like ginger!). I was looking for a way to use up my persimmons in baking but without detracting from their sweet and subtle flavour. A lot of other recipes I looked at called for a lot of spices and seemed like they would overwhelm the persimmon flavour. The candied and powdered ginger is a perfect delicate partner and these turned out fantastic! I did one batch using the knife method, and another using my hands to crumble the butter, just because I was feeling lazy. 25 minutes in my oven (gas) was perfect. I may have eaten one straight out of the oven, and it was worth every burnt taste bud. My mom took these to work and said her coworkers were raving about them! :) Will be keeping this one for the ages!

  9. I am in a new house, with a new persimmon tree, and feel like I am at the beginning of an exciting new relationship with this lovely fruit! Since the squirrels just discovered the tree, I had to harvest all the fruit at once, and am obsessively trying recipes. This is my favorite so far, since it allows the flavor of the fruit to shine through, and the combination with the candied ginger is so perfect. My husband inhaled two of these “scuffins” practically the moment they were out of the oven, so we have a winner! Thank you!

  10. @Christine – I’ve never made these gluten free but I imagine you could use a gluten-free all purpose mix and it should work reasonably well. As for the dairy, you could try soymilk mixed with a teaspoon or so of vinegar (which will curdle it similar to buttermilk). Again, I haven’t tried this personally, so I can’t attest to how well it will work in this recipe.

  11. For anyone with a gluten intolerance I used pilsbury gluten free all purpose and they turned out wonderful. Doubled the ginger still not tasting it.

    • Might I suggest fresh ginger? Old crystallized ginger will definitely have lost much of its flavor.

    • Thank you!!  I was wondering if they could be made gluten free.
      I love buttermilk but will also try some subs for my dairy free friends.  Suggestions?  Sounds like a yummy yet easy recipe.  Looking forward to whipping up a batch!

  12. Oh yummy! That texture looks so perfectly tender. And I love that flavour combo! I’d love one of these with a cup of tea :)

  13. These scone muffins loo incredible! You did an amazing job!

  14. These scone muffins (I agree, scuffins doesn’t have quite the mass appeal of cronuts, given that it sounds like something you’d use to scrub the floor with) look like the perfect afternoon treat! My grandmother has persimmon trees in her backyard (that’s California for you) and she used to mail us boxes of persimmons every  season.

  15. This sounds fantastic! YUM!

  16. Oh wow, that is soo cool! I’ve never had persimmons before. Where do you get them? I must try.

  17. Have you tried dried persimmons?  They are fabulous.  Almost like a date, only better.  It’s funny, I don’t care for them fresh but I love them dried.  If you get a tree you must dehydrate some.  You will love them.  I am going to try your recipe using dried persimmons.  I will let you know how they turn out.

  18. These look gorgeous, always love recipes with a variety  of ingredients in them.

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