How Do You Make a Vegan Hermit Cookie?
I have long adored the multiple textures and flavours jammed into a little soft cookie called a "hermit."
Sweeteners
When my grandmother made hermits, she used molasses as part of the sweetening. I think that a little molasses might be a great addition to this cookie, and if I experiment further with this vegan (that is, no eggs or dairy or lard or other animal-based ingredients) recipe, I will try a little molasses in lieu of the maple syrup I used in this rendition.
However, the maple syrup and the coconut nectar sugar (you can substitute brown sugar if you like) make it just the sort of sweet I enjoy.
Spices
My grandmother's hermit was spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and stuffed with walnuts and dates. This particular recipe uses only cinnamon and nutmeg as the spices, and I have added chunks of apple to the walnuts and dates.
Storage: Why They're Called "Hermits"
In the tradition of old German cookie recipes, like pfeffernuss or pepper nuts, a Christmas treat recipe that my German mother-in-law let me in on (too bad I was so young and distracted—and probably uninterested—to actually learn her recipe), the hermit cookie is said to improve over time.
These cookies were apparently hidden away in tins in the monastery (or wherever they were first named) for the individuals who lived hidden away, doing their contemplative spiritual practice on their lonesomes. (For more information about human hermits, scroll down below the recipe.) This particular hermit cookie is best hidden away in a freezer if you want to keep the cookies unmolested for a couple of weeks.
Recipe Note
The instructions below are written both for the baker making cookies "from scratch" with traditional tools and, alternatively, for persons using a Kitchen Aid standing mixer.
Prep and Baking Time
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 3/4 cup coconut oil, extra virgin, melted
- 3 cups coconut sugar (or packed brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 flax eggs: 2 tablespoons flax meal, 5 tablespoons water
- 2 cups chopped walnuts
- 2 cups chopped apples
- 2 cups chopped dates
Instructions
- In a small dish, mix up the flax egg: Stir together flax meal and water until it is a smooth, glutenous texture and put aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Alternatively, spray with cooking oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. (If using a Kitchen Aid mixer, with bowl raised, use whisk attachment on "Stir" to combine—about 20 to 30 seconds.)
- In another large mixing bowl, combine and stir together: coconut oil, flax egg, sugar, and maple syrup. (Switch to the cooking paddle in your Kitchen Aid Mixer, raise bowl, and stir the above together for about 30 seconds.)
- Stir in flour and mix well. (Continuing with cooking paddle in Kitchen Aid, gently stir in the flour—about 20 to 30 seconds—and then increase the speed to about 3 for about 2 minutes until well mixed.)
- Fold in the dates, apples, and walnut pieces. (In Kitchen Aid bowl, add dates, apples and nuts, and on "Stir" only, fold the dates, apples and walnut pieces into the batter.)
- Drop rounded teaspoons-ful of cookie batter onto the pans, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, checking around the 8-minute mark. Cool completely on a rack. They are good warm, but they are even better on day 2 or 3 if kept in a tin or the fridge. Beyond a couple of days, freeze.
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