Hermit cookies are a soft and spicy bar cookie made with brown sugar, molasses and gingerbread spices. These bar cookies are easy to make, are dairy free, and have all the flavor of the old fashioned New England classic.
Gather and measure ingredients. Line two quarter cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Either measure out apple sauce, or make flax eggs by stirring together two tablespoons of flax eggs with 5 tablespoons of water and let sit 5 minutes before using.
⅓ cup apple sauce
Make or brew ⅓ cup of strong coffee. Add the raisins to it and set the mixture aside to cool and marinate.
⅓ cup (78ml) brewed coffee, warm, 2 cups (400g) raisins
Mix the cookies
Use a stand mixer or a hand-mixer to blend wet ingredients and both sugars in a medium bowl.
½ cup (95g) organic shortening, ½ cup (100g) organic cane sugar, ⅓ cup apple sauce, ½ cup (100g) coconut sugar
Stir in the molasses.
½ cup (125ml) molasses
In another larger bowl, using a whisk or spoon to mix up the two flours, baking soda, salt, and spices.
1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour, 2 cup (270g) whole wheat flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ¼ teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon ginger
Add the wet mixture to the large bowl with the flour mixture, and briefly mix the batter until just combined - don't overmix or the batter will become rubbery.
Drain the raisins, but reserve the coffee. If needed, add enough water to the coffee to make sure the level of liquid reaches ⅓ cup. Then add the coffee to the batter and mix the batter again, just enough to work the liquid into the batter.Be sure the coffee temperature is at room temperature before adding it to the batter.
⅓ cup (78ml) brewed coffee, warm
Fold in the raisins, and cover the batter with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-minutes to 1 hour.
2 cups (400g) raisins
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F.
Bake the cookies
You can press the dough into 2 (8-inch) square pans and bake like a bar cookie, but the traditional way to make a hermit cookie is to bake into logs and slice rectangular bars at an angle like biscotti. To do this, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Divide the chilled batter into four roughly equal portions. I just eyeball this.
Step 2. Hand-form 4 logs that are roughly 10 inches long, 2 ½ inches wide, and flattish. I baked two logs side-by-side at a time. To do this, form two logs at a time, side by side, on a parchment-lined quarter cookie sheet. They don't have to be shaped perfectly. As they bake, they will puff up a little, spread slightly and crack like cookies.
Step 3. Bake the logs for 18-20 minutes at 350 F. The cookie log is done when a few cracks appear on top so if you don't see cracks, leave them in a minute longer.
Step 4. Pull out the pan and let the cookie logs cool a minute or so on the pan. They may have bumped into each other, but once cool you can gently pull or cut them apart.Then slice each log at an angle, at 2-3 inches wide intervals. I get about 8-10 bar cookies per log.
How to Serve
Serve these bar cookies plain, or iced with my Vegan Royal Icing. Other options are to sprinkle sugar or cinnamon after baking but while still warm.
Store Hermits
They stay soft and stay fresh covered and at room temperature for a week. Then refrigerate or freeze in a container as you would other cookies.
Video
Notes
1. If you choose the log baking method as you see above, form the logs on two quarter sized baking pans. Bake one pan and refrigerate the other while the first is baking. Chilling keeps the logs from spreading too much.2. Use parchment paper instead of greasing the pan for a less-greasy cookie.3. Apple sauce. Instead of apple sauce, you can use flax seed or chia seed eggs. These are meant to replace eggs in the traditional recipe.4. Soak the raisins in coffee. This recipe is unusually delicious in part because the raisins are soaked in coffee. This gives the raisins a delicious molasses flavor. No, you don't taste coffee. Use a cup of instant coffee or freshly brewed.5. Use quality molasses. For best flavor, pay close attention to the molasses you use. I recommend you use Grandma's Original Molasses for best flavor. If you can't buy that brand, make sure you buy one that is unsulphured since the process of sulphering (to preserve it) changes the flavor negatively.6. To make the hermit cookie dairy free, plant-based and vegan, this recipe uses a non-GMO plant-based shortening, and apple sauce instead of eggs. Vegan butter can be used instead of shortening - use the type in a tub for adequate moisture.7. Gluten-free option. To make it gluten-free, replace the whole wheat flour and all purpose flour with 2 cups of 1 to1 gluten-free baking flour and 1 cup of oat flour.8. Since there is no raw egg in this batter, feel free to taste-test the batter before baking and decide if it needs more spices. You could consider increasing the cinnamon to 2 tablespoons, and adding ½ teaspoon of nutmeg.