New England Hermit Cookie Bars

New England Hermit Cookie Bars are chewy, sweet, and spicy, reminiscent of gingerbread. These traditional Hermit cookie bars are simple to prepare and also freeze excellently!

By Rose Huxford

New England Hermit Cookie Bars feature all the classic holiday flavors you love—molasses, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. My version includes date syrup, real maple syrup, and mini chocolate chips to enhance the taste. For an extra touch, soak your dried fruits in rum and add a splash of it to the batter. Then, savor them with a side of vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream. These Hermit cookie bars can also be made gluten-free!

New England Hermit Cookie Bars

Pre-heat oven: 375 degrees F

Yields: ~16 bars

Prep-time: 10 minutes

Bake-time: 30-35 minutes

Total-time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or GF flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp ground cloves

• 1/2 cup quick oats, or old fashioned oats (optional)

• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

• 1 cup dried mixed fruits

• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

• 1 cup coconut sugar, or brown sugar

• 1/3 cup real maple syrup, room temperature

• 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses (I use Grandma's)

• 1/4 cup date syrup (I uses trader joe's)

• 1 tbsp chia seeds (optional)

• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup rum or orange juice

• powder sugar for dusting

By Rose Huxford

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F.

2. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish pan and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, soak the dried fruits in either rum or orange juice for about 10 minutes. Then, separate the dried fruits from the liquid, but don't discard the liquid.

4. In a medium baking bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, spices, oats, chocolate chips, soaked dried fruits and nuts. Use a spatula to blend all the ingredients.

5. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Then, add the maple syrup, molasses, date syrup, chia seeds, applesauce, vanilla, and the rum (or OJ). Whisk until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

6. Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use the spatula to blend everything together. The batter should be somewhat thick and creamy.

7. Carefully pour the batter into your prepared baking dish pan and smooth the top with your spatula.

8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until the sides pull away from the dish and a tooth pick comes out clean.

9. Allow to cool before dusting powder sugar to the top. Cut into squares and enjoy with ice cream or whip cream!

By Rose Huxford