Hermit Cookies for Dad

Although today is mother's day, I am sharing with you the recipe for my Dad's favorite cookies.  We lost my Dad a year ago today, so it seemed fitting to make something in tribute to him this week.   My Dad was what you would call a good eater - while I wouldn't consider him a foodie (that term was before his time anyway), he certainly loved to eat and I feel that he passed his love for certain foods down to me.  These hermit cookies are one of those foods that he loved that I now love too.  It seems like hermit cookies are hard to find now - if you haven't had them they are a brown sugar molasses bar cookie, highly spiced, filled with raisins and walnuts, and deliciously chewy.   They are an old fashioned humble New England cookie without much flash, but carry a lot of flavor.  When I was thinking of what to make this week for my Dad, hermits were the first thing that came to mind, because we always had them in the house growing up since my Dad loved them.  Every week my mom would load up with treats at the bakery, paying special attention to the things my Dad loved - hermits, poppy seed bagels, bulky rolls (not that she would neglect us kids, there were always loaves of challah, half moon cookies and gingerbread men for us).  Obviously, we were not one of those houses with no sugar cereal and no dessert!  Luckily, even though they were his favorite, my Dad was willing to share his hermits with me, and I developed a taste for them! Talking to my sister on the phone this week, the other foods we immediately came up with when thinking about Dad were pickled herring and borscht.  Unfortunately, his love for those foods was not passed down to me!  I will not go near the herring, but in a couple of days I will share with you some borscht I made - the cold kind, which is what my Dad had for lunch most Saturdays.  Borscht conveniently fits in with the book I just finished - Snowdrop, which takes place in Moscow.  For now, please enjoy these hermits.  I will be thinking about my wonderful father as I eat them.

Hermit Cookies, adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients (makes 20 small cookies, fewer big ones)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons raisins or currants
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour or spray with kitchen spray a 13 by 9 baking pan.
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
4. In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together until it is light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg.
6. Beat in the molasses.
7. Add the flour mixture all at one and mix on low until combined.
8. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
9. With an off set spatula, spread the batter thinly in the baking pan.  My batter did not fill the entire pan but left about 1/2 inch uncovered.  This is OK.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
11. Let sit on a rack until completely cool then cut into bars.