Holiday Baker Man: Hermit Cookies

Hermit cookies are a spiced cookie with glaced fruit and raisins. Yummy with a cold glass of milk!

I have bought Hermit Cookies at our local grocery store with varying success. Sometimes fresh and awesome, sometimes a few days old - starting to get dry, and sometimes when I have been tired after a trip I forget to check the date and end up with dust cookies.

Enough!

Last fall I made a batch of Apple- Raisin Cookies from Martha Stewart - found here. These were good, but the taste also reminded me of Hermit cookies from my local Safeway. So.... I set out to transform the cookie recipe.

For 60 cookies this is the recipe that I came up with:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Cup Softened Unsalted Butter
2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
6 Tablespoon Milk
2 Cup Raisins
2 Cups Glace Fruit in small cubes

Hermit Cookies - Cooling

A couple of notes here. For Whole Wheat Flour I use White Whole Wheat Flour and for the Glace Fruit I search (high and low as it turns out) for all fruit mixture - no rutabega! When I was adding the fruit I noticed some whole cherries which I removed and cut up into smaller pieces.

More after the jump....
Pre heat oven to 350˚. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silpat.

In a mixer cream the butter, sugar, and spices on high until light and fluffy - up to 5 minutes here. Then scrape down the bowl.

Hermit Cookies - Creaming Butter & Sugar

Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then scrape down the bowl.

Hermit Cookies - Adding the Eggs

Mix the flours, the spices and the baking soda together.

Hermit Cookies - Flour Mixture

Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing well. Then add in the milk and mix again.

Hermit Cookies - First the Flour

Hermit Cookies - Then Some Milk

Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just barely mixed.

Hermit Cookies - Just Mixed

Remove the bowl from the mixture and hand mix with a spatula until the flour has disappeared. Add the raisins and mix in by hand. Then add the glace fruit and mix well by hand again.