Chewy Hermits

If you've ever spent any time in New England, you might have had a Hermit.  These are chewy, spiced cookies with big plump raisins that remind you of the holidays.  Hermits can be found in New England at any time of year, they are favorites there.

When I married my husband and went to visit New England for the first time, I was quickly introduced to these, as well as other New England favorites.

They've quickly become favorites of mine.  My husband already loved them and now our daughter does too.

I've discovered that these cookies can be made in three basic shapes.  The regular cookie, the bar cookie and the long thick rope shape that is then cut into half moon slices.  All are good, trust me.

In my research I discovered that Hermits were added to a local cookbook from the Trinity Church out of New York called Champlain Valley Book of Recipes, where this recipe was called Miss Perloa's Hermits in 1880.  Miss Perloa had a cookbook called "Appledore Cook Book" in which she had some cookie type recipes but none were labeled as a "cookie".  That same year another cookbook was published with her recipe for Hermits called "Miss Perloa's New Cook Book".

Since the time of the original recipe, it's been revised countless times.  I personally have never come up with my own version of this recipe but I'm glad I get to experience other people's masterpieces. I loved this recipe by The Lemon Bowl.  Nice and chewy, tons of flavor and lots of raisins. Delicious!

Chewy Hermits

Recipe from The Lemon Bowl

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup dark molasses syrup
• 1 large eggs
• 2 cups raisins

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º
2. Spray a standard jelly roll sheet (cookie sheet with sides) with non-stick spray, set aside.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. The flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, salt and cloves.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the butter and the brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy on medium speed.
5. Add the molasses and mix.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed. Once blended add the raisins.
8. Spread the dough out on the prepared sheet pan and level out so it's the same thickness throughout. Use your hands.
9. Bake for 17-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Indian Pudding

While I was researching this recipe I was pretty shocked to find out that this is a New England dessert and nobody else will probably have any idea what you're talking about if you mention it.  Weird huh? I'm not from New England and yet I've heard of it.  I've never tried it but I know of the name.  My husband is from New England and he's never tried it either. Fascinating isn't it? Okay maybe just to me. 

Here's the history as I've come to find out. This dessert has always been a staple at Thanksgiving through much of the 20th century in New England. Historians have traced it back to as early as the 17th century. It probably defended from England's hasty pudding. This pudding uses cornmeal which was more abundant to the early settlers than wheat was. Molasses was also readily available and inexpensive during that time due to the production of rum during the 17 and 18th centuries. This pudding is also baked for a long time at a relatively low temperature which would have been conducive to the hearth that was in every home in New England to heat the house. 

The taste is very "fall like".  By that, I mean the molasses and cinnamon and ginger are prevalent flavors.  The texture is custard like. It's extremely moist, with small little grains from the corn meal.  It's very tender and ice cream is perfect when served with it.  My husband really enjoyed it, he's the custard lover in the family.  I wouldn't describe this as "creamy" but it's not chunky or anything either.  Have you ever soaked cornbread in milk? Its sort of like that....I thought that flavors were wonderful and I can see why it's a holiday favorite. 

Indian Pudding

Recipe from Cape Cod Cookbook

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp cornmeal
• 1 quart (4 cups) milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 whole eggs, beaten separately
• 1 cup evaporated milk

Cooking Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the cornmeal and milk and whisk together so there are no lumps.
2. Heat over medium heat until the mixture has scalded (look for tiny bubbles along the edge of the pan).
3. Add the butter, molasses and seasonings and whisk until smooth.
4. Pour a tiny bit of the liquid in with the beaten eggs and whisk, add more of the liquid and whisk some more. After the eggs have heated you can pour them into the liquid mixture in the saucepan. Whisk until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture into a well greased casserole pan.
6. Add the evaporated milk to the top but do not mix together.
7. Bake at 350º for 1 hour.