Family Recipe Friday ~ Hermit Cookies

Hermit Cookies are rich, spicy cookies. My mother found this recipe in a Boston newspaper in the 1970's. My father loved these cookies. When I am asked to bring something to a pot luck supper, or to a cookie swap, I often bring these. Once you try homemade hermit cookies, you won't want to go back to store-bought!

1 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I use Crisco.)
2 cups (white) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses

4 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup raisins

In large bowl, mix shortening and sugar, then mix in the eggs and molasses and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix together. Add raisins. Dough will be very stiff.

Wet hands; roll dough into sausage strips about 1” in diameter, and place on ungreased cookie sheet, leaving plenty of space between strips. Lightly squash with glass which has been dipped in water, then sugar. (If desired; I just gently flatten the strips with the bottom of the glass.)

I happen to have baking stones, but you can use cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 °F for about 9 minutes – just until the top puffs up and cracks, but cracks are still yellow. You want the insides to be soft. Let cool on the cookie sheets, then cut into bars about an inch wide.

Store in an airtight container.

Family Recipe Friday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.