Easy Greek-style Honey Gingerbread Cookies Recipe that can be made a few days before Christmas. They are soft and chewy honey cookies that can be prepared from scratch with the kids in no time.
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.
HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES – INGREDIENTS
- 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 or add cinnamon, ginger powder, ground cloves powder, anise and even raw cacao powder.
These lovely no butter gingerbread cookies require a handful of ingredients that most of us already have in the pantry.
HOW TO MAKE HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES
- In a large mixing bowl add egg and brown sugar, then beat with mixer on high speed for 3-5 min – until batter becomes fluffier.
- Then add vegetable oil and honey and mix on low speed.
- In a separate bowl add flour, spices and baking soda. Mix well until combined.
- Then add wet ingredients and knead (with robot / hand) until a soft, non sticking dough is formed.
- Sprinkle work surface with some flour (otherwise dough may stick) and roll out (2mm) the dough.
- Using desired cookie cutters make shapes, then transfer onto non-stick baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven on 360F/180C until lightly brownish. These honey cookies tend to burn out pretty quickly, so make sure to check your oven often during baking.
- Let cool completely and enjoy. At first cookies are harder, but become softer once you leave them in air tight container overnight.
HONEY GINGERBREAD TIPS AND IDEAS
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 aking 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 gingerbread dough is perfect for making gingerbread houses as well.
MORE EUROPEAN RECIPES:
- Homemade sausage patties (basic recipe)
- Oven Roasted Eggplant Wedges (with olives and tomatoes)
- Easy Braised Beef Recipe (VIDEO)
- Baked Lemon Mustard Steelhead Trout (VIDEO)
- Simple Brown Rice with leeks, tomatoes and olives
Easy Honey Gingerbread Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg, medium to large
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup honey, liquidly runny
- 2, 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, + more for rolling out and sifting
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 tbsp nutmeg
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat egg and brown sugar until foam –y texture is formed (like stiff peaks, but without separating egg white from egg yolk).Approx. 3-5 min.
- Then, add vegetable oil and raw honey and mix until well combined on low speed.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour and spices with the baking soda. Then merge the flour mix with the remaining (wet) ingredients and form soft dough (with hands or kitchen robot).
- The dough should be soft but should not stick to your hands. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and start rolling out the dough (2mm). I recommend flouring your rolling pin as well.
- Make your desired shapes with cookie cutters and place on baking paper. Bake in preheated oven on 180 C/ 350F for about 10-15 min or until cookies become golden (but not brown).
- Let cool completely and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
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