National Spicy Hermit Cookie Day
These cookies, full of hidden treasures—crunchy on the outside, soft within— are like a delicious secret handshake among dessert aficionados.
Celebrate the nostalgia and heritage of hermit cookies with limited-edition flavors and behind-the-scenes storytelling about this forgotten classic dessert.
- Rediscover the 1888 cookie that sailors loved: hermit cookies are back
- Spicy hermit cookie taste test: crunchy outside, soft inside—what's your favorite filling?
- From picnic staple to modern twist: how brands are reinventing the hermit cookie
- DIY hermit cookie baking challenge—tag us with your homemade creations
The first mention of the “hermit cookie” was in the magazine Republican, published on July 1888. The author, Anna Barrows Papers, was a public school teacher at the time and taught cookery and home economics to children. Her article mentioned the idea of what foods to bring to a picnic. Of the first two mentions, which were potted meats and acid jellies, both of which don’t sound as good, the last mention involved a cookie that’s “quite as good as a fruitcake.” As a prideful representative of domesticity, she praised the cookie’s simplicity as well as its flavor, as is the ultimate convenience cookie.
The lore behind the cookie however still remained elusive. It is believed that sailors and travelers would take this cookie with them along their journeys. From the 1890s to the 1950s, the hermit cookie was a favorite cookie among many people because of its arrangement of spices and long lasting preservability and it was most popular in the New England area of the United States. Its ingredients can be added or changed up according to preferences and be enjoyed by anyone as a childhood favorite. Generally made with allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and raisins, the hermit cookie is a cookie that can please anyone.