First Hermits

Hermits are one of America’s oldest cookies, dating back to New England clipper ship days when sailors needed baked goods that traveled well without crumbling. These hold true to the original spirit: brown sugar, warm spices, dried fruit, and nuts dropped onto a sheet and baked until just set.

The spice trio of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg gives these their signature warmth, while lemon zest adds a subtle citrus brightness you won’t consciously taste but would absolutely miss if it weren’t there. It lifts the heavy spices and keeps the flavor from going flat.

Chopped dates and golden raisins provide pockets of chewy sweetness throughout each cookie, and walnuts add crunch. The simple powdered sugar glaze drizzled over the cooled cookies is thin enough to set into a crackly, sweet shell that adds one more texture layer.

Pro Tips

• Beat the butter and brown sugar until genuinely fluffy. This step traps air that makes the cookies light. Undermixing produces flat, dense pucks.
• Add the flour in two stages with the milk in between. This prevents the batter from getting too thick too fast and ensures even mixing.
• Drop by rounded teaspoons, not tablespoons. Hermits should be small. Large ones spread too thin and the edges burn before the centers set.
• Let cookies cool completely before glazing. Warm cookies melt the glaze into a sticky mess instead of letting it set into a clean shell.

Variations

• Swap dates for dried figs or chopped dried apricots for a different fruit character.
• Add a splash of dark rum or bourbon to the glaze for a boozy, grown-up finish.
• Roll the dough into logs and slice instead of dropping for a more uniform shape.