I made my non-refined sugar version of these cookies today and I must say they are super-delicious. They are moist, spicy and filling since they have raisins and walnuts. The recipe calls to make them into two logs that are later sliced rather than putting them on the cookie sheet as individual cookies. I’d never done this before, but, again, they turned out really well. I only put one tablespoon of molasses since I also used honey instead of brown sugar and I was worried about the dough getting too runny. I think, however, if you are going with the regular recipe, the two tablespoons of molasses will make these cookies even richer and tastier.
I had frozen spicy buttercream frosting left over from making chai cupcakes a couple of weeks back so that’s what we used for a frosting. It was, of course, very good since buttercream is about as good as it gets, but I must say that any frosting made with confectioners’ sugar can only be good, too. So, do whatever suits. (If you want the chai honey-sweetened buttercream frosting recipe, let me know.)
Enjoy!
SPICED WALNUT RAISIN HERMITS from the book Big Fat Cookies
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 ½ tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ginger ½ tsp cloves ½ cup (1 stick butter) at room temp 1 cup packed light brown sugar (Or if you don’t want to use refined sugar substitute ¾ cup maple sugar + ½ cup honey) 1 large egg 2 tbsp unsulphured molasses (1 tbsp if you have used the honey above) 1 cup raisins ½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
ICING
½ cup conf. sugar 3-4 tsp milk
MAKE COOKIES
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter with the sugar in a large bowl of an electric mixer until creamed, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and mix until blended, about 30 seconds. On low-speed, mix in the molasses. Add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Hand mix in the raisins and the walnuts. Divide the dough in half and form it into 2 logs. Place the logs 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet, and pat each into an 11 x 2 ½ x 1 inch thick rectangle. Bake until the tops feel crusty but the interior feels soft when gently pressed, about 15 minutes. The edges will have just begun to brown. Cool the logs on wire rack (still on the parchment) for 10 minutes. Then use a wide metal spatula to remove them from the parchment and to the wire rack. Cut each log into pieces about 2 inches wide.
MAKE ICING
In a small bowl, stir the powdered sugar together with enough milk to form a thick but pourable icing. Use a small spoon to drizzle several thin lines of icing over each cookie. Let them sit at room temp until the icing is firm.
The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temp for up to five days.
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