Hermit cookies are soft molasses spice cookies with chocolate chips and orange zest, finished with piped white stripes. That makes them a less obvious choice for a Christmas cookie tray or a cookie exchange, since the flavor sits closer to gingerbread than sugar. Makes 18 cookies.
Scoop the dough into balls before it chills, not after. An hour in the fridge turns this molasses dough rock hard. Portioning it while it is still soft saves a wrestling match and gives you even cookies.
These are not traditional hermits. The old version is packed with raisins and dates and baked as bars, while Zakarian swaps in chocolate chips and orange zest. He rolls them into balls too, so you get a rounder, softer cookie.
Hermit Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA dark molasses and brown sugar dough spiced with cinnamon, allspice and ginger, studded with chocolate chips and brightened with orange zest. Baked soft and piped with a vanilla bean glaze.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- For the Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 large egg whites, or 4 teaspoons meringue powder with 1/4 cup water
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
Directions
- Mix the dry: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and ginger together in a medium bowl and set it aside.
- Make the dough: Beat the butter, brown sugar and molasses in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, eggs and orange zest, scrape the bowl down, then add the spiced flour and mix only until the dough comes together. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop, then chill: Scoop the dough into balls about 1 3/4 inches across while it is still soft, then refrigerate them on a plate or sheet about 1 hour, until firm. Portioning first matters, because an hour in the fridge turns this dough too hard to scoop.
- Bake: Set racks in the top and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 325 degrees F, then line two sheets with parchment. Space the chilled balls about 1 inch apart and bake 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are no longer glossy and the edges feel firm. Cool a few minutes on the sheets, then move to a rack.
- Glaze and stripe: Beat the confectioners sugar, egg whites or meringue powder mixture and the vanilla seeds until smooth and shiny. Put it in a piping bag and pipe stripes across the cooled cookies. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
Notes
- The original says 1 1/2 inch balls for 18 cookies, but the dough weighs about 840 grams, which gives closer to 28 at that size. The 239 calorie figure matches 18 servings, so roll them nearer 1 3/4 inches. You will use about a third of the glaze.
FAQs
Will I really get 18 cookies?
Only if the balls are closer to an inch and three quarters. This dough weighs about 840 grams, so the inch and a half the recipe asks for gives nearer 28. The 239 calorie figure only works at 18, which tells you the bigger ball is the right one.
Can I use raisins instead of the chocolate chips?
Yes, and that is the traditional hermit. Swap half a cup of raisins or chopped dates straight in, or split the difference and use a quarter cup of each. Plump the raisins in hot water first so they do not pull moisture from the dough.
Do I have to use raw egg whites in the glaze?
No, and this recipe is unusually good about it, giving you 4 teaspoons of meringue powder with a quarter cup of water in place of the two whites. Use that if children are eating them. The glaze sets the same either way.
I have glaze left over, what now?
Two cups of confectioners sugar makes far more than stripes on 18 cookies need, so expect to use about a third. Keep the rest covered in the fridge for two days and thin it with a drop of water. It pipes onto gingerbread men just as well.
How long do they keep?
Three days at room temperature in an airtight container, which the recipe states and which the glaze decides. Unglazed they hold a week and stay soft, because molasses holds moisture. The same is true of these molasses cookies.
