Hermits
Hermits are chewy molasses spice cookies baked as two flat strips and cut into bars after cooling. This version leans hard on ginger and cloves, so the heat comes through against the dark sugar and molasses, with raisins adding pockets of sweetness. Baking them as slabs means no scooping or rolling. They taste better the next day from an airtight tin and keep for about a week.
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375°F/190°C and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, raisins, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and salt. Break up any lumps of brown sugar as you go, since floured sugar clumps look very much like floured raisins.
Stir in the molasses, melted butter, vanilla and egg until no dry flour remains. Shape the dough into two strips, each about 6 × 3 in/15 × 7.6 cm, and set them on the pan at least 1.5 in/3.8 cm apart.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick pushed into the center of a strip comes out dry.
Let the strips cool slightly, then slide them, still on the parchment, onto cooling racks. They are ready when the bottoms feel only a little warmer than room temperature.
Move the strips on their parchment to a counter. Cut them into strips 1.5 in/3.8 cm wide, using a pizza cutter if you have one, then lift each piece off the paper with a thin spatula.
Serve with a glass of milk or a cup of tea. The flavor improves after a night in an airtight tin.
Make it personal.
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