Honey Cookies For Christmas

20 November 2008

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

If the stolen cookies are any of the delicious treats we give instructions for below - Honey Gingerbread, Honey Cookies and Hanukkah Fried Honey Puffs – we understand why! If cooking isn’t your thing, you can always give an unbaked, make-from-scratch cookie kit. To find out more, read on!

What better way to say “I love you” to friends and family without crunching your Christmas budget than home made cookies in an attractive jar?

A Taste of Home
Never mind that property prices are nose are diving and food prices skyrocketing. This is the season to remind ourselves that Christmas is about celebrating with families and friends and we can all do that, irrespective of our budget. A cookie jar filled with home made cookies as a holiday present offers loved ones a useful gift - the cookie jar - with a taste of home - your home!

All of these cookies contain honey. Be adventurous. Experiment with single variety honeys like lavender, Manuka, thyme, eucalypt or orange blossom and taste the difference.

Cookie Kit
And if cooking isn’t your thing, how about adopting the idea of putting together all of the dry ingredients in layers in a cookie jar, tie on a hand written recipe, and give it as an unbaked, make-from-scratch cookie kit. How cool is that?

Honey Cookies
A classic recipe for the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah - honey cookies. With a slightly firm outside and a wonderfully chewy inside, their deep and spicey taste is simply wonderful.

1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

For the icing
100g (3.5 oz) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
About 3 tbsp milk (see tips)

Method
Place the honey in a sauce pan and warm it until the honey becomes liquid. Add in, while stirring, oil, sugar and spices. Add in the baking soda, while stirring. The batter will become a lot lighter in color, and the oil will seem to separate from the rest of the ingredients. Don’t worry, it’s ok, keep going. Cool the batter for about 20 mins.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, and add them to the batter. Gently fold the flour and baking powder into the batter, using a wooden spoon, until the batter is uniform.

Chill the batter in the refrigerator for an hour. 20 minutes before baking and preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

Shape small balls out of the batter, and place them in the oven pan, lined with a baking sheet. Leave a 4-5 cm (2 inches) space between each 2 cookies.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until they raise nicely and get a nice shine. Keep a close eye on them because their perfect texture is lost when overbaked. Let the cookies cool for a while. Meanwhile prepare the icing by mixing the ingredients in a bowl.

Dip each cookie in the icing, and place back on the baking sheet, allow the icing to dry.
Place in a beautiful cookie jar, decorate it nicely and give away to your loved ones.

Cooking tips
* Having hard time measuring honey because it’s sticking to the measuring cup? Sprinkle a little vegetable oil into the cup and spread it evenly. Now place the honey in the measuring cup and transfer it smoothly to its destination.
* Make sure to leave 4-5 cm space between the cookies when you arrange them on the baking sheet, as they almost double their size while baking.
* Icing? The best one is made with icing sugar and milk. The good news about this icing is that you can fix it at any given time - is it too thick? Add a little more milk to the mixture. Too liquid? Add some more icing sugar. We suggest beginning with 100 g icing sugar and 2.5 tbsps of milk, and fix it according to taste.

Makes about 50 medium sized cookies

Honey Gingerbread Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each powdered cloves and nutmeg
1/2 lb (230 gm) butter, cut into dots
1/2 cup honey

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. (180°C)
Sift the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg together into a mixing bowl. Work the dots of butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. When thoroughly worked in, add the honey and stir until blended. Refrigerate for an hour, or longer if possible.

Roll the dough out about 1/8-inch (2 cm) thick on a floured board or between sheets of waxed paper. Cut it into the shapes of Gingerbread Men or Pooh bear or Christmas trees or angels. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes on a cookie sheet. Remove from oven and, after a minute, from cookie sheet with a spatula to cool on cake racks.

Makes 30 3-inch round cookies.
From The Pooh Cookbook by Virginia Ellison, (1969)


Fried Honey Puffs
Fried honey puffs are a traditional Hanukkah food from Spain, Greece, and Turkey. They are so good, you will want to make them year-round. Honey puffs are best eaten as soon as they are made.

300ml water
25g unsalted Butter
25g caster sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
115g plain flour, sifted
4 large free range eggs
350g Honey
grated zest of 1 orange
75ml orange juice
1 tsp orange flower water
vegetable oil, for frying

Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to the boil, and continue to stir until the butter melts. Remove from the heat.

With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour all at once and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one until the dough is completely smooth. Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, bring the honey to the boil. Add orange zest, orange juice and orange flower water. Reduce the heat and keep the mixture warm.

Pour the vegetable oil into a deep-frying pan, up to about 5cm in depth and heat to about 350°F (180°C). You will know the oil is hot enough if you drop a small piece of dough into the oil and it sizzles instantly.

Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough into the hot oil. Fry in batches until the dough balls puff up and turn golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on paper towels to drain.

While they are still hot, gently lower them into the saucepan of simmering honey using metal tongs. Coat them with the hot honey then transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Preparation Time 15 mins Cooking Time 15 mins

Serves 4 - 6


Make-It-Yourself Cookie Kits
Got friends who like cooking, or nieces, nephews and grandchildren who enjoy making cookies? Assemble the dry ingredients for favourite family cookies in a screw-top mason jar in layers. Write out the recipe on a note card in an attractive script, and tie the recipe to the jar with a “country” ribbon.

You can buy the dry ingredients in bulk (flour, sugar, chocolate chips, oatmeal, baking soda, peanut butter chips, etc) When you make the cookies, you just pour the contents of the jar into a mixing bowl and then add the wet ingredients (usually a couple eggs), and use your empty mason jar for storing the baked cookies! – Thanks to www.getrichslowly.org

Order New Zealand Active Manuka Honey Now
If you would like to try famed anti-bacterial Active Manuka Honey for any of these Honey Cookie recipes it’s easy! Check the latest deals on the www.honeybalm.com website, we ship worldwide. We have customers from USA to Australia and from UK to Japan.

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