Waffle Hermits (1947)

Looks aren't everything with this unusual cookie.

No one today really knows where hermits got their name. One of the US’s oldest-known cookies, we find recipes in publications and notebooks dating back to the middle 1800s. They’re always spicy cookies with dried fruit, usually raisins or currants, and well known as cookies that would ‘keep.’ Mothers would make a bunch so their families could enjoy them for a week or more, and some stories mention that sailors loved taking them on their voyages as a bit of home they could taste days out at sea.

Early 1900s cook books are full of hermit recipes, with some variation as to the specific spices and their quantities or the combination of dried fruit. For this week’s cookie, someone at the New York Herald Tribune’s Home Institute either had a ‘Eureka’ moment or heard from someone who did, and added this recipe that cooks the trusty hermit using a waffle iron.

When researching for recipes to try, I’m always on the lookout for interesting techniques. This one fit the bill quite nicely. A chance to use my waffle iron? Yes, please.

Waffle Hermits (1947)

From The Home Institute Cook Book by the New York Herald Tribune Home Institute

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon ginger

½ cup shortening

½ cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 tablespoon molasses

1 cup currants, washed

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices and sift 3 times.

Cream shortening until light; add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, molasses and currants.

Add flour, beating until smooth.

Drop one spoonful on each section of moderately hot waffle iron; bake 3 to 5 minutes or until light brown. Remove carefully with fork. Approximate yield: 3 dozen cookies.

Challenges and Changes

First off: this is a very easy cookie to prepare. Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, mix dry and wet together, done. A two-bowl cookie, if you will.

Now to address the challenge of the waffle iron. Back in the 1940s, waffle irons likely had smaller-squared grids than many do now. At my home test kitchen, I have a Belgian-style waffle iron with rather large squares and a small mini-waffle iron (thanks for the Christmas gift, mom!) that's the size of one regular panel with a small-squared grid. I opted to use the larger Belgian waffle iron because it allowed me to do four cookies at a time. Cooking one at a time on the mini-waffle iron would have made them possibly cuter but taken a LONG time.

The Home Institute says to have the waffle iron ‘moderately hot.’ As I usually do, I did a test cookie on one panel, at ¾ of the highest heat level for my waffle iron for 3 ½ minutes. I had meant to do four minutes but could smell the cookie was very dark at this point. I decided to lower the heat to ½ of the highest heat level and bake for 2 ½ minutes. I also decided to try to flatten each dough ball, as the test cookie didn’t really spread out.

With these adjustments, the cooking went smoothly. Apart from spraying my waffle iron at the start, I didn’t need to re-spray later (thanks, nonstick surfaces!). It was nice not having to deal with the oven for a change, and with the short cooking time I was cranking out cookies by the fours in short order.

The Ratings

Cookie Appearance: 9.6

Cookie Texture: 9.2

Cookie Mouthfeel: 9.4

Cookie Flavor: 8

Overall Cookie Rating: 8.7

This week's raters were all about the visual appeal of this cookie. I had worried that the lopsided squares would be a detriment, but it got high marks in all the appearance and texture categories.

The flavor rated reasonably high, with a few comments. Most praised the cookie's flavorful spice. One rater apparently missed my list of ingredients on the container and mistook the dark spots for chocolate chips rather than currants, and there's nothing sadder than the flavor of dried fruit when you're expecting chocolate - but he did remark that they were good. One rater felt they were a bit overcooked, and that may be valid. You really have to estimate the cooking time well with the waffle iron, and it may be on her cookie some currants got singed. All in all, though, I got more requests for the recipe for this cookie than I have for any of the others I've blogged about to date.

I myself was pleasantly surprised by this cookie. I ordinarily am not a fan of raisins, but the tinier currants offer the dried fruit flavor without being 'too much.' If I were to do anything differently, I would add a few drizzles of icing on top. Like regular waffles, a little something extra on top would make them perfect.

Next week’s recipe: Lemon Snaps (1921)