12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies #1 - Honey Cookies

I recently received two bottles of honey. However, since I hardly ever eat honey, there they sat forlornly on my shelf. That is, until I found a recipe for Honey Cookies on Anna's Cookie Madness website. This is just the type of recipe that lets the flavor of the honey shine through. I used a regular clover honey, but I imagine that other types of honey would be even better. I also used regular sugar instead of turbinado sugar for rolling since that's what I had, but if you have it, turbinado sugar would be great for adding that nice bit of crunch in every bite.

The cookies are soft and chewy, kind of like a honey version of a sugar cookie. And yes, you can taste the honey in them. It's a very nice flavor, not so strong as to be overpowering. I think they would be even better with the addition of some honey roasted peanuts to give them a salty/sweet taste. A dash of spices would probably be good too. It's definitely a recipe that I intend to play around with in the future. If you're looking for a change from your regular holiday molasses cookie, then I suggest you try these.

(P.S. if you click on the photo, you'll get a much better look at the cookies)

Honey Cookies (from Cookie Madness)

1 1/3 c. oil
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. honey
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
sparkly sugar or Turbinado sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine sugar, oil, eggs, honey, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Mix well, then stir in the flour, stirring just until it is mixed in.

Shape the cookies into balls about 3/4-1" in diameter and roll them in sparkly sugar (or Turbinado). Place 2 1/2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 min. They should be nicely browned around the edges, crackly and golden.

**This recipe makes a lot of cookies (at least 7 dozen). I made only 1/4 of the recipe and still got 2 dozen.