You may think by the post title ‘Hermits,’ that I’m talking about myself. While I was a bit of a cyber-hermit, I certainly haven’t been hermitting (yes, I just made up a word) otherwise.
I have a large family of 28 members and they were all in town for a week. With our family, there are certain cookies and candy that if they weren’t on the dessert table, there would be an uproar, and Christmas would be ruined. Okay, maybe there is a little exaggeration there…not really. Because there are quite a few others in my family that have food allergies, this meant I had to make batches of both ‘normal’ and allergen-free cookies and candy.
So I have been pretty busy baking both before and after work for quite some time. I will be slowly posting recipes for some of those treats.
Now back to the recipe for the hermit cookie. I came across these while going through my grandma’s recipes. Unfortunately, the recipes came with no directions to it (my guess is it was one she copied quickly out of a magazine).
I did a search for hermit cookies, and found one that was similar to my Grandma’s, and I successfully converted it to be vegan, and gluten-free. While a humble looking and sounding cookie, they are delicious, travel well, and stay moist.
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
- 8 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup teff flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup applesauce mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1-1/2 tablespoons orange juice
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse raisins and ginger until the mixture sticks together and only tiny pieces remain. Transfer to a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, starches, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small pan, melt coconut oil with cinnamon, and allspice and cook until fragrant, a few minutes. Stir into raisin mixture. Add brown sugar, molasses, and applesauce mixture. Stir until combined. Stir in dry ingredients and refrigerate for 2-24 hours, until dough has firmed up.
- Divide dough into 4 even pieces. Place two pieces on each lined sheet pan. Using a rolling pin or just your fingers, press/roll each portion of dough into an even 10 inch log (if dough is too sticky, sprinkle dough with rice flour), use a ruler to square the edges.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Only a shallow indentation remains on edges when touched, but the center will appear slightly soft. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk powered sugar and orange juice together to form a glaze. Drizzle over cooled logs, and let sit until glaze is hardened. Slice into 1 inch portions.
- When stored in a container, these cookies remain moist and delicious for a long time.