Chewy Spiced Cookie Bars – Hermit Bars

How great when an accidental find turns out to be as good as these Hermit Bars.

Hermit Cookies are something I found by accident when checking a few videos on Youtube. They are spiced and have dried fruits in them.  In some instances I saw chocolate in them too.  So I decided, that as autumn approaches these would something very good to snack on during that season.  I also decided that I wanted to make bars, or squares of mine rather than cookies, as they actually seemed slightly easier to make.

The recipe is very simple and is quick to make and would be perfect as the cooler days are with us, and the days become shorter.

Mine turned out very well indeed.  They baked well and were still soft as they came out of the oven, but  firmed up so well as they cooled down.

The taste was so good, the spices blended so well together, with sultanas and raisins giving the chewy texture just that little bit extra too.

If you don’t have a tin which is 13×9 inches(33×23 cm) you can use a smaller pan maybe 9×9(23×23) but bake for a little longer since the bars will be thicker.
Avalanche Bars, or Squares don’t take much effort to make either and they taste so good.

Ingredients:

• 360g(2 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp) plain flour(based on scooping packed flour into 250ml cup)
• 200g(1 cup) caster sugar, or granulated
• 205g(14 1/2 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
• 170g (1/2 cup) black treacle, or molasses
• 150g(1 cup) dried fruits such as raisins and sultanas
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F
2. Line a 13×9 inch(33 x 23cm) pan with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
4. Add the black treacle and mix again until fully combined(I used my hand mixer).
5. Add the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt into the flour and stir around.
6. Pour the flour mixture into the wet mixture and mix to combine until everything starts to clump together and all the flour is absorbed.
7. Add the dried fruits and mix until combined.
8. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands to spread it evenly across the base.
9. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, the edges should be drying out and pulling away from the sides a little.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning out onto a flat surface and cutting into bars or squares of the size you prefer.