Vegan Hermit cookies became my favorite as soon as I tasted them for the first time back in 2008. For those who are wondering what it is, it's a spiced cookie studded with raisins, dates and nuts.
I made a copy of this vegan hermit cookies recipe from a book that I borrowed from the library back then and finally got a chance to bake it after so many years!
I guess it was a vegan cookbook and don't remember the name now. It had a couple of interesting vegan baking recipes.
We all loved these eggless hermit cookies. I baked it for a gathering and it was a huge hit. It turned out to be one of the best vegan cookies that I have ever baked! I actually chose this recipe because the recipe mentioned that it will yield 6 dozen cookies and I wanted that much.
But I was able to get only 52 cookies because I used a tablespoon to scoop out the dough instead of a teaspoon mentioned in the original recipe. I test baked a teaspoonful of dough and the hermit cookie was very small so I opted for a bigger measurement.
Another cookie recipe that can feed a crowd is this big batch multi-grain chocolate chip cookie recipe.
I have used flax egg instead of Ener-G egg replacer as the egg substitute, which made the cookies soft and chewy.
Fall is the perfect season to play around with different spices and these hermit cookies without eggs is a good recipe to try this Fall especially during Halloween and Thanksgiving when you have lots of guests over. You can also try using pumpkin pie spice to make it more season appropriate.
If you tried this Vegan Hermit Cookies recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Hermit Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Soft Vegan Margarine I Used Becel Vegan Spread
- 2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Flax Seed Meal
- 3 And ½ Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 1 And ¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon Allspice Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Almond Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2-4 Tablespoons Water
- 1 Cup Walnuts Chopped
- ½ Cup Raisins
- ½ Cup Dates Diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C for 15 minutes. Lightly grease the cookie sheet. Stir together the almond milk and lemon juice; let sit 5 minutes so it curdles.
- Cream margarine and sugar for about 5-6 minutes.
- In a large bowl mix together the flax seed meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; set aside.
- To the creamed sugar mixture; add the flour mix and curdled milk alternately mixing together with a spatula.
- I added about 2 tablespoons water to the dough to get the desired consistency.
- Add the nuts and dried fruits. Mix well.
- Drop by tablespoon on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. I took out mine in 14 minutes.
My Notes
- If you are not able to find whole wheat pastry flour, use a mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour.
- The original recipe had used 1 tablespoon of Ener-G egg replacer powder and a teaspoon of baking powder, which I have substituted with a tablespoon of flax seed meal and increased the quantity of baking powder by ¼ teaspoon.
- Any non dairy milk can be used to prepare the sour milk. The original recipe had mentioned soy but I used almond milk instead.
- You can also use vinegar instead of lemon juice to curdle the milk. In that case a tablespoon of vinegar (any type) should be enough.
- Die-hard spice fans can increase the quantity of spice by another ½-1 teaspoon as mentioned in the original recipe.
Taste & Texture
Nutrition
John Kingsley says
Just tried these vegan hermit cookies, and they turned out amazing! The spices, raisins, and walnuts blended perfectly, making them so flavorful and chewy. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Madhuram says
You're most welcome, John. Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your valuable feedback.
Lovely Cynthia says
These turned out great! I left out raisins but didn’t change anything else.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Cynthia.
lisa says
I made a half batch of these today and they turned out great! I substituted the flax seed and extra baking powder by using EnerG Egg, as mentioned in the recipe notes. and i used half butter/half applesauce to cut down on the fat content and it worked out great. I left out the dates because I didn't want my cookies too sweet, but as suggested could have used less sugar and added in the dates as well. great recipe!
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Lisa.
ann says
I appreciate your site very much as I'm allergic to eggs. I am wanting to try the Vegan Hermit Cookies. Can you please tell me what purpose the flax seed meal plays in the cookie recipe? This is an item that I don't have on hand. Would it be ok to leave this out? Thank you. Ann
Madhuram says
Thanks Ann. The flaxseed meal is used as an egg replacer for binding would be my guess. As mentioned in the notes, the original recipe used Ener-G and most of the visitors to the website keep asking me for an alternative if a recipe uses Ener-G and that's why I went with flaxseed meal with this cookie recipe. If you don't have either flaxseed meal or Ener-G, what you can do is try halving the recipe and omit the flaxseed meal and water I have mentioned in the recipe and use 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and see how the recipe turns out. Test bake a single cookie at first and decide according the outcome for the rest of the dough.
Hari Chandana says
Wonderful recipe.. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Rupa Lakshminarayan says
Thanks for another new recipe !