Hermit Bars to Remember the Hermit Saints

Old-Fashioned Hermit Bars are a classic New England cookie that are spicy and sweet thanks to addition of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. There are several variations, but the basic cookie/bar is full of spices and dried fruits (usually raisins). Origin of the name for these spicy bars is not known - and several theories exist, including that they look like a rough brown hermit's robe. Regardless of the origin, the name is intriguing as it evokes the idea of the hermit saints - those who isolated themselves from society to live a life of asceticism. There is a tradition of holy hermits (Eremites, "inhabitants of a desert" from the Greek eremos). Several well known hermit saints have January feast days: St. Simon Stylites (January 5) and St. Paul, the first Christian hermit (January 15) and St. Anthony of the Desert (January 17), father of Western monasticism. And while a life of asceticism would not include indulgent sweets, in this week of two great hermit saints, you can still enjoy some hermit bars or cookies. 

Old-Fashioned Hermit Bars  

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1½ tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar 

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2/3 cup chopped raisins (or other dried fruit, ie cranberries)

1 cup powdered sugar

5 tsp milk

Instructions

In bowl combine together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and continue to mix. Gradually add the flour and spices mixture until just combined. Stir in the raisins.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes.  While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 375° and grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

After chilling shape it into a ball and divide in two. Shape each half into a log, 12 inches long and arrange on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 3 inches between the logs. Press down lightly on the tops of the logs with your fingertips to give them a slightly squared-off shape.

Bake on the center rack for 15 minutes, or until the edges are just barely crisp.

While bars are cooling, combine the powdered sugar and milk until smooth but not too runny. Drizzle over the baked logs while they are slightly warm.

Allow the icing to firm up then cut into bars.

[Variations on the hermit cookie genre can include drop cookies or flatten the dough in a baking dish for brownie style.]

There are so many hermit saints of the Church, that Hermit Bars can be a feast day item throughout the year. 

St. Paul, the Hermit - Pray for Us!

St. Anthony of the Desert - Pray for Us!

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Welsh Cakes

This post was written by Catholic Cuisine contributor, Charlotte from Waltzing Matilda. 

A sweet friend called my attention to this recipe and we decided to give it a try a little early to see if we wanted to add it to our St. David's Day feast. The kids loved them and begged me to make some more tomorrow! My husband's family has some Welsh heritage so we've found ourselves with a special, little devotion to this Welsh saint. This Welsh prince turned priest was responsible for founding many monasteries and condemning the Pelegian heresy. The original recipe is written using British cooking terminology, so I've made some changes to make it easier to understand for us 'mericans! ;)

Welsh Cakes

2 C. all purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 stick (4 Tbl.) of salted (preferably Welsh) butter

1 egg

1/4 C. milk, (more if needed)

1/4 - 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1/3 C. caster sugar* (plus extra for dusting; see note below)

1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. allspice** (see note below)

extra butter for greasing

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until it forms crumbs. Add the sugar, raisins and egg. Mix to combine into a ball using a splash of the milk if you need to get it to hold together.

Roll out dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3-4 inch rounds. Use extra butter to grease a heavy griddle. Heat griddle to medium heat and cook cakes 2-3 minutes per side.  Turn only once.

 They should be a caramel brown, like pancakes, when cooked, although, some people prefer them almost burnt. Remove from pan and dust while still warm with the extra caster sugar.  Enjoy!

*Caster sugar is regular white sugar that has been processed to a finer texture. If you don't have any, just take a clean food processor or clean coffee grinder and process some regular white sugar until fine but not powdery. If you don't have any way to make your own, you can use powdered sugar but it's a different texture and usually includes some cornstarch. I used a coffee grinder for mine and in the picture below you can see that the homemade caster sugar is lighter and fluffier.

Homemade caster sugar on the left and regular white sugar on the right

** I read in other recipes that you could add some "mixed spice" for a more authentic flavor. British "mixed spice" is basically pumpkin pie spice but since I don't use pumpkin pie spice, I added my own blend of spices.

(Just to clarify… I don't use pre-made pumpkin pie spice because it usually has cloves and ginger in it. My family doesn't care for the taste of cloves and only tolerates ginger in small quantities. I mix my own spice blend only so I can control the flavorings. No other reason. If you want to use pumpkin pie spice, I would think a teaspoon would be all you need.)

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