New England Hermits

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Two large baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Wire cooling racks
• •Cookie scoop (#40 size recommended)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare pans and oven

   Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven and heat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. The parchment matters here. Molasses-rich doughs stick tenaciously to unlined pans, and you'll tear every cookie trying to remove them.

2. 2

   Combine dry ingredients

   Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice in a medium bowl. Take a moment to inhale. This is the smell of colonial New England kitchens, when spices arrived by ship and cost a laborer's weekly wage. The combination should be assertive but balanced, with cinnamon leading and the cloves providing backup warmth.

   Freshly ground nutmeg makes a noticeable difference. If you have whole nutmegs and a microplane, use them.
3. 3

   Cream butter and sugar

   Beat the softened butter and dark brown sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed. Work them for a full 3 minutes until the mixture turns lighter in color and increases in volume. The brown sugar should dissolve into the butter, creating a smooth paste with no visible granules. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through.

4. 4

   Add wet ingredients

   Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. The mixture may look slightly curdled. That's fine. Pour in the molasses and vanilla, then beat on low speed until the batter turns uniformly dark and glossy. The molasses transforms everything, giving the dough its characteristic mahogany color and that faint bitter edge that keeps hermits from cloying.

5. 5

   Add dry ingredients

   Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two additions, mixing on low speed just until the flour disappears. The dough will be thick and sticky. Overworking activates gluten and produces tough cookies, so stop the mixer the moment you see no more dry streaks.

6. 6

   Fold in raisins and walnuts

   Using a sturdy wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the raisins and walnuts until evenly distributed throughout the dough. You want fruit and nuts in every bite. Push through the resistance of this thick dough. The raisins may clump together initially. Keep folding until they separate and spread throughout.

   If your raisins are dry and hard, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly and pat dry before adding. Plump raisins bake better.
7. 7

   Portion the dough

   Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. These cookies spread modestly but need room. A cookie scoop makes quick work of this task and produces uniform cookies that bake evenly. You should get about 18 cookies per sheet.

   For bakery-style presentation, use a #40 cookie scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons). The uniform size ensures even baking.
8. 8

   Bake the cookies

   Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the halfway mark. The cookies are done when the edges feel set but the centers still look slightly underdone and soft. They'll firm up as they cool. A properly baked hermit should crack slightly on top and feel just barely resistant when pressed. Overbaked hermits turn dry and cakey. Pull them early.

9. 9

   Cool completely

   Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. They're fragile when hot. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely, at least 20 minutes. The texture continues developing as they cool, transitioning from soft and almost cake-like to chewy and dense. Resist eating them warm. I know it's difficult. But hermits are better at room temperature.

10. 10

    Store for improvement

    Layer cooled cookies in an airtight container with parchment between layers. Seal tightly and store at room temperature. Here's the hermit's secret: they actually improve over 2 to 3 days. The molasses and spices meld. The raisins soften further. A fresh hermit is good. A three-day hermit is magnificent. This is why colonial bakers prized them.

Chef Tips

• •Dark brown sugar and unsulfured molasses both matter. Light brown sugar and blackstrap molasses will give you a different cookie entirely. Dark brown has more molasses content, deepening the flavor, while unsulfured molasses tastes cleaner and sweeter than sulfured versions.
• •Toast your walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking frequently, until fragrant. Cool completely before chopping. This single step transforms the nuts from background players to co-stars.
• •These freeze beautifully. Layer cookies between parchment in a freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for an hour, or warm briefly in a 300°F oven to restore their soft centers.
• •For hermit bars (a traditional variation), press the entire batch of dough into a parchment-lined 9x13-inch pan and bake at 350°F for 22 to 25 minutes. Cut into squares once completely cooled. Some New England families prefer this method for easier transport to church suppers.
• •If you have access to golden raisins, try using half dark and half golden. The flavor difference is subtle, but the visual contrast makes each cookie more interesting.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days before baking. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before scooping.
• •Portioned dough balls can be frozen on a sheet pan, then transferred to a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Bake directly from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
• •Baked cookies store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, improving in flavor for the first several days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 31g)