How To Make CHEWY PUMPKIN HERMITS

If you like chewy cookies, you'll love these pumpkin hermits. They're spicy, they're chewy, and they're topped with vanilla glaze, just in time for Thanksgiving. Let's get started on this quick and easy recipe. To a mixing bowl, add one stick of softened unsalted butter. Add one cup of packed brown sugar. Mix together well using a blending fork or a spoon, or you could use a mixer if you wanted to, but I'm mixing these by hand today. If you're looking for more pumpkin recipes, be sure to watch my fall baking playlist. I'll include a link in the description box for all my fall baking favorites. Next, you'll add one third cup of pumpkin puree. You can use canned pumpkin, or you can roast your own sugar pumpkins and make your own pumpkin puree. You'll notice there's no egg in this recipe. The pumpkin takes the place of the egg. Now we'll add one quarter cup of molasses. You can make this recipe a day or two ahead of time. Hermits keep really well, and the molasses makes them nice and chewy, so they're great to make ahead for the holidays. Make sure everything is mixed together well, and then we'll add our dry ingredients. You can use pumpkin pie spice in this recipe if you want, but I'd like to show you my favorite spice blend here in just a minute. Next, add two and three quarters cup of all-purpose flour. Be sure not to pack the flour into the cups. Try fluffing the flour before you measure. I like using a kitchen scale when I measure ingredients, so I'll include a recipe measured in grams below. Add two teaspoons of baking soda, one half teaspoon salt, and now for the pumpkin spice blend. Two teaspoons of ginger, two teaspoons of cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon of allspice. I also like to add a little freshly grated nutmeg. It never fails, I always drop the nutmeg in every video I make. If you don't have all these spices, and you just have pumpkin pie spice, use about four teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Stir in the dry ingredients just until blended, then we'll add the chopped raisins. I have to say, this large blending fork is probably my most used kitchen item, so I'll include a link in the description if you're interested in finding one. Next, you'll add a half cup of chopped raisins. They're easier to chop if they're chilled ahead of time. If you're not a fan of raisins, you can just leave them out. But if you haven't ever tried chopping them, I really think you should try it. Even people that say they don't like raisins, sometimes they like the chopped ones, so give it a try. Make sure all the flour is mixed in, and all the raisins are spread throughout. Cover the dough and quick chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Or if you need to make the dough ahead of time, you can just chill it in the refrigerator overnight. Chilling the dough will make it a lot easier to handle when it's time to shape into logs. This recipe will make about 18 nice size bars. Once the dough is chilled, divide in half and roll each half into a log. Depending on the size of your cookie sheet, you can bake one at a time, or possibly fit both logs on the same sheet. Each log should be about 12 to 14 inches long. The dough spreads quite a bit as it bakes, so I'm just baking one at a time. It doesn't have to be perfect, but try to get the dough as even as you can. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 22 to 24 minutes. While the hermits are baking, we'll make the vanilla glaze. Start with one and a half cups of powdered sugar. Add one and a half to two tablespoons of half and half. And one half teaspoon of vanilla. I like starting with one and a half tablespoons of half and half, because sometimes that's all you need. You'll see the finished texture of the glaze here in just a minute. Keep stirring until smooth, and I think this looks about right. If the glaze looks a little too thick, you can go ahead and add the remaining half and half. This makes enough glaze for both logs. So this is the texture you're looking for. Easy to drizzle, but not too thin. This is an easy glaze recipe that would be good for cinnamon rolls and to drizzle over pound cakes. And now it's time to check in on the hermits. The first tray baked in about 24 minutes in a standard oven. I baked the second tray in a convection oven, and it baked in about 21 to 22 minutes. Allow to cool on the sheet for about five minutes, and then it's ready to glaze. These are delicious without a glaze, but I really love the vanilla glaze on top. You can get creative and drizzle little lines across the top, or just spoon the glaze on and spread with a spatula. As the bars cool down, the glaze will start to firm up. They'll be easy to cut, and you can even stack them on a plate if you need to. If you love chewy cookies, you might want to check out my chewy pumpkin cookie recipe. I'll leave a link in the description. You can cut these as big or small as you need to. I usually cut each log into about nine pieces, so you'll end up with about a dozen and a half bars. For this recipe and many more, visit my website at doublestopbakeshop.com. Don't forget to check out my fall baking playlist, and if you like what you see, please consider subscribing. Share these recipes with your friends and family, and if you try it, let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.