Discover the ultimate hermit cookie bars! With a delightful resemblance to gingerbread cookies, these delectable treats boast a soft and chewy texture, crafted with a harmonious blend of ginger, molasses, and raisins.
For those that know me, know that I’m a bigger fan of savory than sweet. So baked goods aren’t usually on my agenda, but I had to share these New England Hermit Cookie Bars that were actually shared with me by my husband! A Boston Massachusetts native, when he was growing up he would find these cookies in a local bakery and purchase them by the bag for a couple of dollars.
Ingredients
- Flour: Provides the structure for the cookie bars.
- Warm spices: Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves all give these cookie bars a delicious, warm, autumn-like taste.
- Baking powder & baking soda: While these cookie bars don’t need to rise a whole lot, the baking powder and soda do give the necessary lift.
- Salt: Balances out the sweetness, and enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Brown sugar: Has a deeper, richer flavor of sweet compared to white sugar.
- Butter: Adds moisture to the dough.
- Molasses: Aids in giving the signature flavor to many baked goods, including gingerbread, as it has a darker, more caramel like flavor.
- Eggs: Eggs act as the binding agent in baking cookies.
- Raisins: Adds texture and pockets of added sweetness to the hermit cookies.
How to Make New England Hermit Cookie Bars
Start your hermit cookie bars by greasing your pan. I like to use both crisco and flour to make sure that nothing sticks.
Then take a large mixing bowl and add in the flour to mix your dry ingredients.
To the flour, add in your warm spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
Then add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Whisk all of the dry ingredients together, and then set this bowl aside.
Then in the bowl of your stand mixer, add your brown sugar.
Add your softened butter to the brown sugar, and cream them together until fluffy and creamy.
Then pour in your molasses while mixing on low.
Then add in your eggs, and mix until fully incorporated.
With your mixer on low, slowly add your dry ingredients until fully mixed.
Finish by folding in your raisins, weither with a wooden spoon or your mixer on the lowest setting.
Take your dough and spread it evenly on your prepared baking sheet. Toss them in the oven at 350 for roughly 17 minutes.
Let the hermit bars cool, then cut into squares with either a pizza cutter or a knife.
Serve and enjoy your New England Hermit Cookie Bars!
Substitutions
- Swap the raisins. You could use other dried fruits or nuts in place of the raisins, like chopped walnuts or cranberries!
- Add some chocolate. Plenty of people will throw in some chocolate chips with their hermit cookie bars.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do you store hermit cookies?
Hermit cookies store well. Up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature and they will still taste great!
Why are hermit cookies called hermits?
Because of it’s longevity, this cookie was often sent with sailors and other travelers as something to eat on longer journeys. So it traveled, as hermits often did.
What’s the easiest way to cut cookie bars?
Use a pizza cutter or knife and cut them into squares (or any shape you prefer).
More Sweet Snacks
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Balls
- Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Eat It, Like It, Share It!
Did you try this recipe and like it? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your dish.
Whip up a batch of these soft and chewy hermit cookie bars for your next cookie swap, classroom party, hostess gift, or holiday open house!
No fork required.
New England Hermit Cookie Bars
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups brown sugar (packed)
- 1 cup butter (softened – preferably unsalted)
- ⅔ cup molasses
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease and flour one standard jelly roll pan (standard cookie sheet) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves.
- With the mixer on medium, beat together brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in molasses then egg and mix until well combined.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Use a spoon to stir in raisins.
- Scrape edges of the bowl with a plastic spatula to get the mixture together in a ball then scrape out onto a cookie sheet.
- Flour hands then carefully press dough into even layer on the floured cookie sheet.
- Bake 17-19 minutes depending on oven. Typically I'll spend half the time on the top rack and the other half on the bottom. Remove from the oven when toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before slicing into bars.
We just returned from Cape Cod and had Hermits for the first time. Being a North Carolinian it is not a staple here. I used your recipe and the cookie sheet was a perfect fit. My husband likes them, and would like to have a more pronounced spice flavor. Which spice should i increase to accomplish a stronger flavor?
You could increase the amount of cloves and nutmeg in the recipe, or trying adding some ginger!