Honey Cookies

Every Rosh Hashana {Jewish New Year} I bake up something made from honey. Honey is used in cooking and baking around the New Year to symbolize a sweet new year. These honey cookies are sweet, moist, and chewy! And, in my opinion, tastier  and easier to make than the traditional honey cake. 

What you will need:
⅔ cup oil 
1 cup sugar 
¼ cup honey 
1 egg 
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
2 cups flour 
2 tsp. baking soda 
½ tsp. salt 
Turbinado or powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
In a stand mixer, beat the sugar, honey, and oil until smooth. 
Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. 
Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes until firm. 
Shape the dough into balls {I use a cookie scoop for equally sized cookies} and roll in the turbinado or powdered sugar, making sure to coat the whole cookie. 

Bake on a baking sheet for 7-9 minutes until the edges are light brown in color. 

Happy New Year!

Chewy Almond Thumbprint Cookies

These cookies are so tasty, you won't even miss the regular wheat flour in them. Perfect for Passover coming up in just a few short weeks, but honestly love them all year round! The toasted almond flour gives great depth of flavor and the fruit jam options change the cookie flavor profile up!

What you will need:
4 cups blanched almond flour
2/3 cup coconut sugar 
¼ cup honey,
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon) 
¼ tsp kosher salt 
1 large egg, at room temperature 
3 tablespoons fruit jam 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spread the almond flour on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and toasted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately add it to a medium bowl to cool for 5 minutes. Line the baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.

Add the coconut sugar, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and egg to the toasted flour. Using a rubber spatula, stir until well combined and evenly moistened. 

Scoop heaping 1-tablespoon scoops of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between each. 

Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand, then make a small indent in the center of each cookie using your thumb. 

Fill each indent with 1/2 tsp jam. Bake until golden brown and just set, 15 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

Swirled Sugar Cookies

I use my basic sugar cookie recipe to make all sorts of treats.  From football sugar cookies, to heart-shaped sugar cookies, to swirled, it’s a great recipe to have on hand and modify to suit your needs.  Follow along for a quick tutorial on making these colorful swirled cookies using this sugar cookie recipe for the dough (and baking instructions), sure to please all your sweet tooth needs!

Make up a batch of sugar cookie dough, divide and place into 2 separate bowls. 

Knead food coloring into one of the parts of dough.  I made one half aqua and left the other half as is.  Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour or even overnight.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball of dough separately to about 1/4" thickness.

Apply a little water to the colored layer of dough to help the layers stick together. Lay the uncolored dough on top of the darker colored layer of dough.  

Trim the edges so you end up with a neat rectangle.

Save the scraps!  You can still bake the scraps up into yummy cookies!  They’ll just look ‘marbled’.

Start rolling your dough gently from one of the wider ends, brushing water on the dough as you roll it up.  Once it’s rolled up, you can work the log to even it out if the middle is thicker then the ends, and to even out any gaps.

Pour out some sprinkles, brush the outside of the log more water and roll it in the sprinkles.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for an hour, or stick in the fridge for a couple hours.

Once chilled, slice the dough with a sharp, thin blade into 1/4" rounds.

Bake according to recipe directions.  Voila!  Pretty, swirly cookies!

Enjoy!

 

Gingerbread Men Cookies

These gingerbread men cookies are full of ginger and spice, and maybe not everything nice! They are so easy to make too.

What you will need:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) softened butter
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup honey (or molasses)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1-2 tbsp. hot water

Makes 2 dozen

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add honey, egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets covered in parchment paper. 

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies with icing or leave them undressed.

Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days. 

Enjoy!

 

Soft Baked Pumpkin Cookies

My first post when I started my blog almost a year ago was my Roasted Pumpkin Puree. That was the first year we had gone pumpkin picking and the first time I ever tackled a whole pumpkin! Well, my love for pumpkin has grown since then! 

This year I wanted to try a new recipe from the pumpkins we've picked. These soft baked pumpkin cookies melt in your mouth with their great pumpkin flavor and warm spices topped with a sweet vanilla glaze.

What you will need:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda 
1 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. ground cinnamon 
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
1/2 tsp. salt  
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze (recipe follows) 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  

Beat sugar and butter together in you mixer until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt while the mixture is on low speed. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. 

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For glaze: 
Combine 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and allow glaze to set up before putting them away.

Enjoy!