| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 14 to 16 bars |
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger (not in syrup)
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- Dark rum, such as Mount Gay
- Grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the egg, scrape down the bowl, then mix in the molasses.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined. Mix in the raisins and crystallized ginger. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured board, form it into a disk with lightly floured hands, and cut it in half. Roll each half into a log 12 inches long and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes; the logs will still be soft in the center.
- Meanwhile, whisk the confectioners’ sugar with 5 to 6 teaspoons rum to make a pourable glaze. While the logs are still warm, drizzle the glaze back and forth across the logs with a teaspoon and sprinkle them with the lemon zest. Allow to cool. Cut each log crosswise into 1 1/2-inch-wide bars.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 15 servings |
| Calories | 255 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 32 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 30 mg |
| Sodium | 188 mg |
Reviews
So yummy. These are the perfect holiday cookie! Instead of shaping into logs, I scooped as cookies and baked for 15 minutes. Didn’t have rum, so used bourbon instead. Very tasty. Big hit with everyone-will definitely make again! Thanks Ina!
Easy to make and delicious! I excluded the raisins and made them gluten-free. My husband loves these!
Outstanding! My husband told me he remembers these from childhood but these were much better! They are not heavy or chewy and the spices make the whole house smell like a holiday.
If you like Ginger, you will not be disappointed with this dessert. And I do encourage you to us the rum and lemon zest as the recipe shows; it balances out the ginger spice. I cooked them as instructed and they were a perfect chewy moist texture. I will be using this recipe for gifts. Thank you Ina
These are great! I was going to omit the lemon zest but glad I didn’t.
I love the flavor of Hermits. So I made these one rainy afternoon. They were easy and took no time at all. Thank you for sharing you recipe with us.
These are absolutely freakin’ DELICIOUS! Perfectly & robustly spicy, dark and molasses-y. These are not cookies for (most) children, or for adults with childish taste buds. Don’t overcook! Get ‘em out while they’re still very soft, as directed in the recipe. I use a high grade vanilla extract for the icing, instead of rum-be sure to ice while still warm. I’ve made these several times, and they are really shockingly good! Perfect for the holidays. They ship well in holiday containers, and stay fresh for quite awhile.
Absolutely delicious. Just the right amount of spice. Be sure to cut the ginger up very small or it may be a bit too much of a bit. Love these!
Wow! These are *definitely* spicy! With the rum glaze, too spicy. Made my mouth burn! I would make these again, but with some changes. Instead of all rum in the glaze I would use half milk and half rum. For the spices in the bars, I would cut them by 1/3. Definitely a lovely flavor, just needs a bit of toning down for my taste.
Oh…I shaped these directly on the cookie sheet (with a silpat vs. parchment) by hand without chilling the dough. Saved quite a bit of time.
My very favorite cookie recipe! They are soft and chewy with a lovely deep flavor. Perfect for the holiday season!