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| Molasses hermit cookies, a delicious chewy ginger molasses cookie. |
I have conflicting memories of visits to the dentist when I was little. As much as I adored our dentist and in spite of his little treasure chest of goodies, what kid enjoys the dentist?
But across the street from the dentist’s office was Titus bakery, a real old fashioned, hole-in-the-wall, neighbourhood bakery.
We’d sometimes stop in after our appointments for a treat and I remember being in awe of the place, filled wall-to-wall with cookies and doughnuts. I remember jumbo soft molasses cookies with dollops of jam and racks of old fashioned sugar donuts. But what I loved most were the giant trays of hermits at the front counter. Dark and spicy with crackly tops, they were irresistible.
If you’re not familiar with hermits, they’re a delicious chewy ginger molasses cookie that’s made in great slabs and then sliced on the diagonal. Sometimes they’re drizzled with a little glaze.
Drizzle with a simple vanilla glaze:
Our family recipe for Hermits has gone missing. They were made in a 9”x13” pan and were more cakelike in texture than a traditional hermit. But mom has another hermit recipe copied from an old Martha Stewartshow that comes pretty close to the Titus Bakery version in taste and in texture. If you want the real deal, Titus Bakery is still on Prince Edward Street in Saint John.
Mom’s chewy molasses hermit cookies
- 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour (can combine half whole wheat and whole white)
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2 tsp baking soda
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2 tsp cinnamon
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2 tsp ginger
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¼ tsp cloves
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¼ tsp salt
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½ cup butter
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1 cup brown sugar
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¼ cup molasses
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1 large egg
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¾ cup raisins or dried cranberries
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Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
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In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the molasses and then the egg.
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Combine well then stir in the dry ingredients.
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When it comes together as a dough add the raisins.
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Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 12” log.
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Place in a parchment lined baking sheet a few inches apart. Flatten the logs slightly.
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Bake at 375 F for 18 minutes. Start checking them at the 15 minute mark because you don’t want them to get dark around the edges.
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Remove from oven, cool on the pan and cut into strips on the diagonal.
Drizzle with a simple vanilla glaze:
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6Tbsp. icing sugar
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½ Tbsp. milk
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1/3 tsp. vanilla
Combine ingredients and spoon over the baked bars. Let harden then cut bars on the diagonal.
Did you get my e-mail Thursday am. Many ended up in spam… just coasting through to read The Canadian Food Experience Project posts… are you doing one for each site – or posting only on one site?
🙂
V
Hi Valerie – I'll post to at least one site each month. If I'm cooking with molasses I'll post to my Crosby's site.
thank you for sharing this! my family has gone to Titus' Bakery for years, all the kids enjoying a trip to the bakery to get a sack of cookies!