Bity
These old-fashioned hermit cookies are the ones I bake when the kitchen needs to smell like December, even if the calendar disagrees. They are thick and soft in the middle, chewy at the edges, dark with brown sugar and molasses, and studded with plump raisins and toasted nuts in every bite.
In short, hermit cookies are soft drop cookies made with butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, folded with raisins and walnuts or pecans, chilled for 30 minutes and baked at 350°F (180°C) for 11 to 13 minutes. They take about 63 minutes in total, the recipe makes 30 cookies and each is about 130 calories.
My neighbour brought a tin of them round one winter and I ate three before I had even put the kettle on. After that, I had to learn to make my own. They are wonderfully forgiving, they keep for days, and they taste even better on day two, once the spices have settled in.
Quick Breakdown
Why You’ll Love These Hermit Cookies
- Thick and soft. A short chill and a hands-off shaping method keep them tall instead of flat.
- Pantry ingredients. Butter, brown sugar, molasses, flour, three spices, raisins and nuts. Nothing fancy.
- A big batch. One bowl of dough makes about 30, enough for the tin and the neighbours.
- They keep beautifully. In fact, they stay soft for up to 5 days, which makes them ideal for posting or gifting.
- Warm, grown-up flavour. Cinnamon, ginger and cloves give them a gingerbread feel without the rolling pin.
What Are Hermit Cookies?
Hermit cookies are an old New England bake: a soft, spiced brown sugar and molasses cookie packed with dried fruit and nuts. Recipes for them go back well over a century, and you will find them baked both as bars cut from a log and as rounded drop cookies like these.
Nobody is completely sure where the name came from. The story I like best is that they keep so well you could hide a tin away like a hermit and still find them soft weeks later. Whatever the truth, the keeping quality is real, because molasses and brown sugar both hold on to moisture.
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted butter. 1/2 cup, softened until a finger leaves a dent. Too warm and the dough turns greasy.
- Light brown sugar. 1 cup, packed. It gives chew and a caramel flavour.
- Egg. 1 large, at room temperature so it blends in smoothly.
- Molasses. 1/4 cup. I use a light or dark unsulphured molasses, never blackstrap.
- Vanilla extract. 1 teaspoon.
- All-purpose flour. 2 1/2 cups, spooned and levelled.
- Baking soda and salt. 1 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon.
- Spices. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
- Raisins. 1 cup. If yours are dry and hard, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes and pat them dry.
- Walnuts or pecans. 1/2 cup, chopped.
The type of molasses matters more than you might think. King Arthur Baking explains that blackstrap molasses is boiled three times and turns notably bitter, so it should only go into recipes that ask for it. Light is the mildest, while dark gives a bolder, gingerbread flavour.
How To Make Hermit Cookies
1. Cream the butter and sugar. First, beat the softened butter and brown sugar for about 2 minutes, until pale, creamy and fully blended. I use the paddle of my stand mixer, although a hand mixer works just as well.
2. Add the wet ingredients. Next, add the egg, molasses and vanilla and beat again until the mixture is smooth and the colour of toffee.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a second bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt so the spices are evenly spread.
4. Bring the dough together. Then add the dry ingredients gradually on a low speed, stopping as soon as a thick dough forms. Fold in the raisins and chopped nuts by hand.
5. Chill. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Do not skip this, because cold dough spreads far less in the oven.
6. Heat the oven. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Scoop. After that, portion the chilled dough into balls of about 2 tablespoons each; a medium cookie scoop keeps them even. Roll each one lightly between your palms and set them 2 inches apart. Leave them as balls; do not press them down.
8. Bake. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set while the centres still look a little soft and underdone. They should stay fairly thick.
9. Cool. Finally, leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. They carry on setting as they cool.
Why Did My Cookies Spread or Turn Hard?
Hermit cookies spread when the dough is too warm and turn hard when they are overbaked. Chill the dough for the full 30 minutes and take them out after 11 to 13 minutes, while the centres still look soft. These are the usual problems:
- They spread flat. The dough was too warm or the butter too soft. Chill for the full 30 minutes, and pop the scooped tray back in the fridge between batches.
- They are hard and dry. They were baked until they looked done. Instead, pull them out while the middles still look soft; the tray finishes the job.
- They taste bitter. Blackstrap molasses is almost always the culprit.
- They are cakey. Too much flour. Spoon it into the cup rather than scooping, or weigh it.
- The bases are dark. A thin, dark tray runs hot. Use a heavy, light-coloured sheet and the middle shelf.
Tips for the Best Hermit Cookies
- Grease the measuring cup with a drop of oil before the molasses goes in, so it slides straight out.
- Toast the nuts in a dry pan for a few minutes. As a result, they stay crisp inside the soft crumb.
- Bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf for the most even colour.
- Keep the dough balls tall. A rounded mound gives hermit cookies that thick, bakery-style centre.
- Rotate the tray halfway through if your oven has a hot corner.
Storage and Freezing
- Room temperature. Once completely cool, store hermit cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Keep them soft. Tuck a small piece of bread into the container. University of Illinois Extension explains that the molasses in brown sugar absorbs water, which is what keeps baked goods moist, and the bread hands its moisture over in the same way.
- Freeze baked. Freeze in a single layer, then bag them for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter for an hour.
- Freeze the dough. Freeze scooped balls on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen, adding a minute or two.
Variations and Substitutions
- Different fruit. Swap the raisins for currants, chopped dates or dried cranberries.
- Nut-free. Leave out the nuts and add an extra 1/2 cup of raisins.
- Glazed. Stir powdered sugar with a little milk and drizzle it over the cooled batch.
- Bolder spice. Use dark molasses and add a pinch of nutmeg or allspice.
- Bar style. For the traditional look, shape the dough into two flat logs, bake until just set, and slice on the diagonal while warm. You will need to watch the timing, as logs take longer than drops.
If you love this kind of dark, sticky spice, my gingerbread loaf uses the same molasses and ginger. For another chewy batch, try these sourdough discard cookies, or keep a bag of freezer cookie dough balls ready for emergencies.
What to Serve With Hermit Cookies
Hermit cookies were made for dunking. A mug of strong coffee or tea is the classic partner, and a glass of cold milk is hard to beat. In winter, I serve them with my iced gingerbread chai, which echoes the same spices. For a dessert plate, crumble one over vanilla ice cream, or set them beside a warm skillet cookie for the chocolate lovers at the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingredients and Baking
Why are hermit cookies called hermits?
The most common explanation is that they keep so well they can be hidden away, like a hermit, for a long time. Nobody knows for certain, but the name has been around for more than a century.
Can you use blackstrap molasses in hermit cookies?
No, I would not. Blackstrap is strong and bitter, so it overpowers the spices. Instead, use a light or dark unsulphured molasses.
Do you have to chill hermit cookie dough?
Yes. Thirty minutes in the fridge firms up the butter, so the dough holds its shape and bakes up thick rather than thin.
Should hermit cookies be soft or crisp?
Soft and chewy. Take them out when the edges are set and the centres still look slightly underbaked, because they firm up as they cool.
Storage and Swaps
How long do hermit cookies last?
Up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. A small piece of bread in the tin keeps them especially soft, and baked cookies freeze for up to 3 months.
Can you make hermit cookies without nuts?
Yes. Leave out the 1/2 cup of nuts entirely, or replace them with an extra 1/2 cup of raisins or another dried fruit such as currants or chopped dates.
Can you freeze hermit cookie dough?
Yes. Freeze the scooped balls until solid, bag them, and bake straight from frozen with an extra minute or two.
How many calories are in a hermit cookie?
About 130 calories per cookie when the dough makes 30, with roughly 21 g carbohydrates, 12 g sugar and 5 g fat. These figures are estimates and change with the nuts and fruit you use.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans chopped
Instructions
- Beat the softened butter and brown sugar for about 2 minutes, until creamy.
- Add the egg, molasses and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients gradually, mixing just until a thick dough forms. Fold in the raisins and nuts.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough into balls of about 2 tablespoons, roll lightly and place 2 inches apart. Do not flatten.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set and the centres still look slightly soft.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
