Fall in the Bliss house means apples, cinnamon, and molasses. It means endless tea and coffee and snuggling under handmade quilts… (even if the high is 80 degrees). My grandmother got me the Tate’s Bake Shop cook book years ago. Honestly I cooked one recipe from it, the chocolate chip cookie recipe, and didn’t love it so I haven’t looked at it much since then. If I’m making chocolate chip cookies then they’re based on Joanne’s recipe here.
The other day I was scanning through the book looking for something different to make. Something perfect for a mid morning snack with a cup of tea, something comforting and filling. When I flipped through I saw the recipe below for hermits and I realized I had never made them for Carver. My grandfather loves hermits so I got a taste for them at a young age. I don’t think I’ve seen hermits since leaving New England but they were a corner bakery staple, as they should be. Have you had one??
Traditionally Hermits are baked in logs like biscotti (though only cooked once), then sliced into bars. I was trying to get this whole act done during an afternoon nap for Charlie so the idea of pressing these into logs and having to go console him with sticky hands didn’t sound like fun. Baking them in a 9×13″ pan worked wonders. I also upped the fiber content by using half whole wheat flour. The original recipe calls for vegetable shortening but I rarely have that in the house so I just substituted an equal amount of butter.
Preheat oven to 325. Spray 9×13″ pan with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl combine flours, salt, baking soda and spices – stirring well.
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the molasses until fully incorporated – wipe down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Add flour mixture to the wet and mix just until combined. Then fold in the raisins.
Pour the batter into the prepared 9×13″ pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown at the edges and set in the middle.
Cool hermits in the pan for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and transferring to a cooling rack.
