Covered Bridge Cookies

"Hermits"

Chewy, moist and spicy.  What a Hermit should be.  Carl from Covered Bridge Cookies, over in Windsor, VT, has nailed this recipe. It’s moist and chewy on the inside, a little crusty on the outside, with plenty of spice, molasses and raisins to accompany a nice cup of tea or coffee.  It’s a marriage made in heaven.  This cookie screams fall and winter and even looks the part…its color is a gorgeous coffee brown and its outer crust is bumpy and irregular. It’s not summer sexy by any means.

But the “Plain-Jane” exterior fits a Hermit’s personality just fine. They are thought to be some of the oldest cookies around (literally) and New Englanders are especially fond of them; it’s thought that the recipe came over from England with the Puritans, who of course, settled in New England. You’ll find eating a Hermit or two really does take you back to a different era when the day ran a bit slower and things just were not so complicated.  Great for a plain dessert or snack but throw some vanilla ice cream on top for an extra treat.

Ingredients: White flour, malted barley flour, sugar, molasses, raisins, eggs, butter, ground spices, salt, baking soda.  Produced in a facility that handles peanut products.

Size: 10 oz or about 6 cookies