French Honey Butter Cookies

One of the things that we tend to keep on hand in our kitchen is local honey. These cookies are French Honey Butter Cookies, but I have no idea in what way they are French. None the less, I thought a French-named cookie would be appropriate for the first day of the Paris Olympics. I don’t follow many sports, but I’m a huge gymnastics fan, and have been since the 1980s. What I love about the Olympics is the chance to see athletes from all sorts of places- not just the few folks regularly shown on television.

This is a slice-and-bake cookie, which is perfect when the house is warm. I made the dough one day, and then baked them first thing the next morning. This makes an extremely small batch of cookies, about18, so I was able to bake them all at once. This recipe used an interesting method, where you chill the dough to firm it up, then shape the dough into a cylinder. This recipe makes so few that I didn’t even divide the dough into two rolls!

The honey I used for this recipe had been picked up by my husband at a local food festival. It isn’t exactly a clear honey, nor is it a spread. It’s something in the middle, which was interesting to use. It didn’t mix in as quickly as a liquid honey, which is why you need to take some care with the glaze. I started with just a bit of milk, made sure the honey was incorporated, before adding milk to get the glaze to the right consistency. Watch the cookies while they bake, as I felt a couple of mine could have baked a minute less. The glaze covered perfectly, making for some lovely cookies.

French Honey Butter Cookies
½ cup butter, room temperature
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey
1 ⅛ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon milk

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar until well combined. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and honey and mix on medium to make a consistent mixture. With the mixer running on low, gradually stir in the flour and salt. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, the dough should be firm enough to form into a log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough log in plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Slice the dough into discs, about 1/3” thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until set. The cookies should be barely browned along the edges (at most). Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl whisk the powdered sugar, honey, and 1 teaspoon milk. Add more milk as the glaze starts to come together, until the glaze is thick but still somewhat liquid. Using a small teaspoon, spoon the glaze on the cooled cookies in a circular pattern. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Recipe from The Gardening Foodie

Strawberry and Cream Cookies

I was looking for summery cookies to bake and when I start looking, I can find all sorts of interesting recipes that I want to try! I have to balance my desire to bake with the fact that I have more free time and also the fact that the house is fairly warm. I try to find recipes that I can bake first thing in the morning, before it is too hot, and that will only use the oven for a short time.

These strawberry and cream cookies sounded perfect for summer, which was exactly what I had been looking for. There is an abundance of fruit in the summer, but it is difficult to use fresh fruit in cookie baking as fruits contain so much liquid. Once in a while you can make a quick jam with fruit, but that’s about it. These cookies use freeze-dried strawberries, which are now readily available at the store. They add the flavor of strawberries without some of the other complications.

I ended up making half a recipe (again, making sure the oven wasn’t on too long), and you do want to note the freeze-dried strawberry quantity. The half recipe used the smaller bag that I got at the store, about 25 grams. It seems like it should weigh more but it doesn’t, and you don’t want to have too many strawberries. I also had slightly less than the quantity of cream cheese, as I thought I had more on hand than I did, but it didn’t make much of a difference. These cookies are soft, but the flavor of the strawberries can’t be beat!

Strawberry and Cream Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups freeze-dried strawberries (about 45 grams)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium until smooth. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the egg and vanilla, stirring to incorporate.

With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough almost comes together. Add the white chocolate and the freeze-dried strawberries and turn the mixer on and off to distribute them into the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly browned along the bottom edges. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

No-Bake Honey Crunch Traybake

What is a traybake? If you visit this blog occasionally, you know that sometimes I make traybakes in the summer. Some traybakes are no-bake cookies, which is the case with these bars. Traybakes, when they are baked, often use up a smaller quantity of ingredients like sweetened condensed milk, so they can be great for using up odds and ends that you may have around.

Traybakes are typically a British/Irish/Australian bar cookie, and in this case the blogger is from Northern Ireland but now lives in the States. It can be hard to find no-bake cookies that are a little more interesting, so I have to search a lot more to find the right recipe. As this is an international recipe, it does call for a different biscuit/cookie. Rich’s Tea Biscuits are a plain cookie, and I ended up using Goya Marias. You could also use a plain digestive biscuit or a graham cracker in a pinch.

The bake for these cookies is simple, but I did change the topping. The original recipe called for a whipped cream topping, but that seemed too delicate for a warm day, so I just changed the topping to a powdered sugar icing. You can use any grated chocolate for the topping, or even leave it off if it looks good as is. These cookies are subtly sweet, and the icing adds that extra bit of sweetness that is appreciated!

No-Bake Honey Crunch Traybake
110 grams butter, room temperature
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
225 grams Rich Tea biscuits/Goya Maria cookies, crushed

½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1-2 tablespoons milk
Grated chocolate, for topping

Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, honey, and cocoa powder. Mix on medium until light and smooth. Stir in the crushed biscuits; if you’d like you can keep a few of the biscuits in larger chunks to add additional texture. Stir to combine and then press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Chill for at least two hours.

Once the base is chilled, make the topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, honey and a small amount of milk. Continue adding milk until the topping is a glazing consistency. Smooth the topping over the base and top with a small amount of grated chocolate. Refrigerate to allow the topping to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Traybakes & More

Sand Dollar Cookies

I was looking for a simple cookie that shouted summer and with the help of my husband, I found quite a few recipes that sounded wonderful. Some of them called for some ingredients I don’t have, but I plan to make some of those recipes soon. These cookies, which look like sand dollars that you would find at the beach, were summery and easy.

These cookies are basically snickerdoodles topped with some sliced almonds. Snickerdoodles are a favorite of mine so how could I pass that up? The recipe is a little different from the snickerdoodle recipe I often use, but there are many similarities. You top these with sliced almonds, to mimic the look of the sand dollar. I used the sliced almonds that don’t have skins, which I special order, but you could also use sliced almonds with skins, which are common at most grocery stores in the States.

While I made a half recipe of these cookies, I did make them of the size that was recommended. The cookies are quite a bit larger than I sometimes make, but I wasn’t sure if the size was needed due to the addition of almond slices. I think I was fine, but I could have placed the almond slices a little closer together, closer to the center top of the cookie. I really like these, because in all honesty they are snickerdoodles and I love snickerdoodles!

Sand Dollar Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 and 1/3 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour     
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

About 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Shape the dough into large dough balls (about 30 grams each) and then roll the balls in cinnamon sugar. Press five sliced almonds in a circle onto the top of each cookie ball.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Leena’s Finnish Slice Cookies

It’s been an emotional time for me at work, as my close friend and colleague is retiring. We have worked together almost since I started at the college, so we have known each other for a long time. I understand that it’s time to retire, and she talks of all the things that she hopes to do now that she’ll have time, but I will still miss her!

Part of her heritage is a connection to Finland, and when I saw these Finnish Slice Cookies, I knew that they would be perfect. It’s not often that you find a Finnish recipe, and this one described Leena making these cookies, which was lovely. Leena would make these and serve them with afternoon coffee, which sounded fantastic.

These are a form of butter cookie but have two uncommon ingredients. The first is vanilla sugar, which isn’t hard to find if you keep your eyes open. You could also use vanilla extract. The other the Tumma Siirappi, which translates to “dark syrup.” It isn’t dark corn syrup, and I couldn’t find this in a store. The recipe said it tasted like a combination of honey, molasses, and Golden Syrup, and I had all of those so that is what I used. You bake these in a log like biscotti and then slice them, but they remain soft since they are only baked once. These cookies are very buttery, and the flavors mingle from day to day. I will miss you Paula, but I hope you have some great adventures!

Leena’s Finnish Slice Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla sugar (or extract)
1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons Tumma Siirappi*
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar on medium until light. Add the egg yolk and Tumma Siirappi and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill about 20 minutes, until easy to handle.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll each part into a log about 9” long and 2” wide. Place the logs in the prepared baking sheets, placing three logs per sheet. The cookies spread so make sure they have room.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and reshape if needed. I used a small metal spatula to separate the logs after baking. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Once the cookies are slightly cooled, cut into diagonal slices with a sharp knife. Transfer the cookies slices to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Tumma Siirappi is a dark syrup from Finland. It can also be called Mörk Sirap or Mørk Syrap. You can find this online or in a specialty store. It tastes like a combination of honey, molasses, and Golden Syrup, which is what I used.

Recipe from The Culinary Cellar

Chewy Sprinkle Cookies

Summer is here and I suppose it is time to start thinking about different cookie recipes that are a little bit lighter. It’s hard with cookies, as in the summer I have more time, but then it isn’t the best atmosphere in my house to bake. Unless it is the hottest day, I try to find a recipe that is a little simpler and doesn’t require too long in the oven.

I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and while it isn’t exotic in terms of ingredients, the sprinkles made this cookie fun. The recipe notes that you can use whatever sprinkles you want, which makes this the perfect cookie for any occasion. I had some time, and I went out to find more interesting sprinkles. This was harder than expected, and I ended up with fairly traditional sprinkles, although the ones I used were a slightly different color palette.

These cookies use a combination of butter and shortening; the butter provides crispness, and the shortening provides chewiness, so these cookies are just lovely. The sprinkles, at least the ones I used, were round and liked to bounce, which was tricky! The dough is soft, and it helped to reshape the cookie into a round after rolling in the sprinkles. These baked up fine, although I worried about the 400-degree oven temperature, but it was no issue. These chewy cookies with a bit of crispness are lovely, and some of the sprinkles fall off while you are eating them, but that’s ok.

Chewy Sprinkle Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5+ ounces sprinkles

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar on medium until light. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and mix until the dough comes together.

Place the sprinkles into a small bowl. Shape the dough into teaspoon-sized balls and slightly flatten the balls. Roll the dough in the sprinkles and press so that the sprinkles adhere to the cookie dough. As needed, reshape the cookies so that they are rounded. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and look set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: sprinkles may stain or transfer their color to other items.

Recipe from Pear Tree Kitchen

Nutter Butter Bars

I did a lot of baking recently for a retirement party, but I still wanted to make cookies to share with folks at work. It’s been really strange baking for work, as we have a big mix of people on campus and off, and all sorts of activities happening as well. I wanted to make something that was popular with lots of folks, and I know that peanut butter is typically a winner.

This bar cookie calls for chopped Nutter Butter bars, both in the dough and sprinkled on top of the bars. I had all of the ingredients except the Nutter Butter cookies, but I knew I’d be stopping next to a grocery store. The grocery store had chocolate covered Nutter Butter cookies and Nutter Butter cookies with twice the filling. No regular Nutter Butter cookies? I figured that the extra filled Nutter Butters would be fine.

This recipe originally called for the Nutter Butter cookies and the addition of milk chocolate chips. I had already decided that I was going to leave out the chocolate chips, as I figured that the Nutter Butter cookies were rich enough. I guess if I would have used the chocolate covered Nutter Butters and done it all in one step! I liked keeping the recipe just with peanut butter flavor. These bars baked up with no fuss and also cut easily. I love the ease of the bars and the peanut butter flavor!

Nutter Butter Bars
½ cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
12 Nutter Butter cookies, chopped
Additional chopped Nutter Butter cookies

Heat the oven to 350. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and mix until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, mixing on medium until combined. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until almost combined and then fold in the 12 chopped Nutter Butter cookies with a spatula.

Press the dough into the prepared pan. The dough is sticky, so you may need to use your hands to press the dough in evenly. Top the dough with additional chopped Nutter Butter cookies. (I used 5 chopped Nutter Butter cookies.)

Bake for 28-30 minutes, until the bars begin to brown around the edges. Allow them to cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting into bars.

Recipe from Six Sisters’ Stuff