Honey Gingerbread Cookies Recipe – with honey, flour and a generous sprinkle of Christmas spices (Backgewürz). You’ll get soft and chewy honey cookies that can be prepared from scratch with the kids in 30 minutes time. They are durable and can be prepared in advance.
Lovely Honey Gingerbread Cookies recipe that has been in our family for generations. Growing up, my grandma and my mom made cookies mainly around Christmas time. Needless to say, this was my favorite time of the year. My joy was prolonged by the fact that my mom used to make these cookies a week or two in advance. In my mind, these are still the best Honey Gingerbread Cookies on the planet. I’m pleased that my kids think the same way too.
The beauty of these honey gingerbread cookies is in their durability. They are actually best if left to sit (room temperature, air-tight container) for a few days before consumption. Then, they become soft, chewy and so so easy to make.
INGREDIENTS & Susbtitutions
- Brown sugar – a tiny bit of sugar is added to lift up the honey sweetness of the cookies
- Egg – one egg acts as a binding agent, together with the raw honey
- Honey, raw – the sweetness, texture and chewiness of these cookies comes from raw honey.
- Vegetable oil – olive oil or sunflower seed oil can be used here
- Flour – I’ve made these cookies with both white unbleached flour and whole wheat flour – they both turn fantastic
- Baking soda – the rising agent is baking soda, not baking powder
- Spices – you can use gingerbread spice mix (like this one I like) or add cinnamon, ginger powder, ground cloves powder, anise and even raw cacao powder.
TIP: Choose a good quality liquid honey, otherwise the dough may get crumbly.
HOW TO MAKE HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES?
1st: Combine flour, spices, sugar and baking soda.
2nd: In a separate bowl add honey, oil and egg – mix everything together until you have a soft, easy to work with dough.
3rd: Roll out onto (Silicone Baking mat that is usually non-stick) the counter and cut out desired shapes. Transfer onto baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven, let cool and enjoy!
TIP: Cookies tend to burn out quickly, so check them regularly. Remove when slightly golden, but not brown.
HONEY GINGERBREAD Cookies – TIPS:
FREEZING THE DOUGH
If you are in the mood for it you can definitely freeze out the dough (or part of it) and use it later on. Once you take it out the freezer to thaw you might need to add some extra flour and or vegetable oil to make rolling out the dough easier.
INVOLVING THE KIDS:
If you’ve been around for a while you know I love including my little boys in the cooking process. I’m a huge believer that good eating habits are formed early on. And it’s not just about seeing moms and dads cook & eat together. Hands on involvement in the process is the most important part (I think).
My 3 year old had great fun rolling the dough, sprinkling additional flour and cutting out the shapes. Later, his rather impatient little nature drew him to the kitchen every 2 minutes asking if they are ready to eat.
The best part is however, that these cookies can last up to a week (without refrigeration) when kept in air-tight container. We keep ours in a Christmas-y metal box (the one in the pictures).
In fact this dough is perfect for making gingerbread houses as well.
Honey Gingerbread Cookies
Equipment
- 2 mixing bowls
- 1 baking tray and peper
Ingredients
- 100 g brown sugar
- 1 egg, medium to large
- 100 ml vegetable oil
- 100 ml honey liquidly runny
- 300 g white flour, all purpose/type 00
- 1 tsp. baking soda
Spices:
- 2 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. ground cloves
- 1 tbsp. ginger
- 1 tbsp. nutmeg
- 2 tbsp. cacao powder, optional
Instructions
- In a separate bowl add egg, honey and vegetable oil. Stir to incorporate well. If needed melt honey on low heat until it gets runny.
- Next, pour the liquids into the flour bowl and knead. The dough should be soft, oily and easy to work with. If dough is too oily and soft, refrigerate it for 10 minutes, so it becomes firmer.
- Roll out the dough into a thin (1-2 cm) thick circle and cut out (Christmas) shapes. Repeat until all dough is used.
- Arrange all cookies onto baking tray (paper) and bake in preheated oven on 180C/360F until slightly golden. Let cool and then transfer to an air tight container. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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