Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle

My neighbor has a beautiful Persimmon tree that is full of cute little "pumpkin" fruits this time of year.  I had never actually eaten a persimmon before but I was intrigued.  So when the fruits were ripe Miss Jen generously brought over a few for us to try.  I was excited to eat one of these beauties and since it is time again to bake with my #Twelve Loaves ladies, I thought that this would be the perfect Fall Treat! (I mean bread...) I don't know if this recipe truly qualifies as a muffin, really it is probably more like a cupcake, but I'm going to go with muffin since it does have "bread" in it's name after all!

This recipe was adapted from the Gingerbread recipe in one of my favorite cookbook's, Lion House Recipes.  Seriously this book is awesome, I use it all the time...

For November the #Twelve Loaves group is baking with Spices! Every month is a new theme and we make yeast or quick breads.  Look for the Linky below to share your November Spice Bread! The temperatures are dropping and it is my favorite time of year to bake especially with different spices! Here is what the #Twelve Loaves ladies are baking!

• Cinnamon-Cardamom Buns by Heather at girlichef
• Cinnamon Crusted Pumpkin Bread by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
• Cinnamon, Orange and Chocolate Chip Bread by Deepti at Bakingyummies
• Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cocoa Clove Pumpkin Bread by Renee at Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Ginger Pull-Apart Bread by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Honey Spice Bread by Holly at A Baker's House
• Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle by Krista at A Handful of Everything
• Pumpkin Cardamom Bread by Dionne at Try Anything Once Culinary
• Spiced Buns by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Sumac Spicy Crackers by Rossella at Ma chetiseimangiato
• Sweet Potato Spice Swirl Bread by Paula at Vintage Kitchen Notes

Print Recipe

Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup molasses
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 persimmon
1 cup water, divided
1 bag caramels, or your favorite caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.  Peel and core the persimmon.  

Finely dice or pulse in a food processor.  

The persimmon should yield a generous 1/2 cup.

In a small saucepan combine the diced persimmon (generous 1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup of water.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer about 15 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid cream the butter and sugar.

Add the beaten egg and molasses and beat well.

In a separate bowl sift together the salt, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of water to a boil.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in two additions.

Add the persimmon from the saucepan and the hot 1/2 cup of water and beat until smooth.

Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners and spray each with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a large scoop transfer the batter to each of the cup.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Drizzle with melted caramels or your favorite caramel sauce.

(To melt the caramels unwrap the caramels and melt with 1-2 Tbsp of water over medium heat until melted and stirs easily.  Drizzle over the muffins with a spoon.)

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, 

here’s what you need to do!

1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!

2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.

3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this November, 2013, and posted on your blog by November 30, 2013.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Renee from Magnolia Days.