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National Spicy Hermit Cookie Day

Food · November 15

A day for spicy hermit cookies, the soft, molasses-rich spice cookies packed with raisins and often baked as bars and cut into squares.

National Spicy Hermit Cookie Day falls on Sunday, November 15, 2026. That is 19 days away.

Hermit cookies are soft spice cookies, usually sweetened with molasses or brown sugar and studded with raisins. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves do most of the talking, and some bakers add ginger or allspice for a warmer bite.

They come in two common forms. Some are dropped from a spoon like ordinary cookies. Many are baked as long logs or a flat sheet, then sliced into bars after cooling, which gives them a chewy middle and a slightly crisp edge. A thin drizzle of white glaze is a common finish.

The name has a reputation for being a mystery, and the cookie seems content to keep it that way. What is clear is that hermits keep well. The spices and molasses help them stay moist for days, and many people think they taste better on the second day than the first, which made them a sensible cookie for tins, lunch pails and long trips.

Marking the day is mostly a matter of baking a batch or finding one. A pan of hermit bars fills a kitchen with the smell of clove and cinnamon long before anything is ready to eat. They pair naturally with coffee or a cup of strong tea.

If raisins are not to your taste, chopped dates, currants or nuts are common swaps, and the cookie stays recognizably itself.

Ways to celebrate

• Bake a pan of hermit bars and slice them once cool.
• Try swapping raisins for dates or chopped walnuts.
• Share a tin of hermits with a neighbor or coworker.
• Taste one fresh and one the next day to compare.
• Look for hermit cookies at a local bakery.

Dates

All national days on November 15

Also on November 15

• National Bundt Day
• Steve Irwin Day
• Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day
• I Love to Write Day
• National Philanthropy Day

Categories: Food days