Chewy Honey Oatmeal Cookies

I made this for a little party in one of my classes.  The students have been working hard on a service-learning project and we celebrated completing part of it with a pizza party--and some cookies!  These made quite a few (about 50) because they're small.  Another interesting element of the recipe is that the dough sits for awhile so that the oats can soften. If you try to make them right after you mix them, they'll be a bit soupy and hard to form.  I found the recipe on the Food52 website--a cooking website I should check out more often than I do!

Chewy Honey Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (the original recipe calls for quick-cooking; I used old fashioned)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup demerara sugar (could use turbinado or brown sugar)
1/3 cup honey
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (a lovely addition!)

Whisk the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, butter, egg, egg yolk and extracts until smooth.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. (I let them sit for an hour because I used old fashioned oats.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Using a teaspoon, scoop and roll the dough into cookies about the size of a walnut.  Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, until nicely browned at the edges.

Family and Friends' Fabulous Recipes

Dylan's Waffle Honey Breakfast

Ardent honey lover, skilled air traffic controller, New York resident and long-time friend Dylan sent us this photo of a recent breakfast, prompting me finally to post a number of honey recipes that friends and family have sent us this year.

Jessica's Great Granola Gifts

(adapted from a recipe on Epicurious)
Jessica is a friend who's become family.  She gave us a mason jar filled with this delicious granola as a Christmas gift this year.  We gobbled it up in less than a week.



1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 300.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place honey and oil in a sauce pan and gently heat over medium low flame until well combined and slightly warm.  In a large bowl, toss the oats, pecans, coconut, brown sugar and spices together.  Pour the honey/oil mixture over mix together being sure that the oats and nuts are well coated.  Spread onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for about 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool and add dried fruit and mix.

Ali's Honeyed Carrots with Beets
(also adapted from a recipe on Epicurious)
Our niece, Ali (now becoming well known as "Sam's mom") made these carrots for Christmas dinner this year.  Don't think there was a carrot left on the table.

1 large, fresh beet, roasted and chopped*
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1-2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped.

Place carrots, orange juice, butter, honey and ginger in a large skillet, cover and bring to a boil.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes over medium high heat. Remove lid, turn down heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until carrots are soft and glazed.  Stir frequently.  Remove from heat and toss in chopped beets and tarragon and serve.
* To roast the beet:  heat oven to 350 or 400.  Place the beet on a sheet of tinfoil that is large enough to wrap around the beet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt; roast for at least 40 minutes or until soft all the way through.

Kerry's Award-Winning Peanut Butter & Honey Dip for Fruit
Kerry and Tom are relatively new friends (and second-year beekeepers). This wonderful recipe won the fan favorite award at the 2011 joint Burgh Bees / Beaver Valley Area Beekeepers' picnic.
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter (more if you love peanut butter--almond butter also works nicely)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups whipped cream cheese at room temperature
Whip all ingredients together.  Refrigerate for 24 hours.  Serve as a dip for fruit or a spread for crackers.  Easy. Easy. Easy! :)

Cauliflower Salad and Delicious Honey Oat Quick Bread

If you've been indulging a bit much over the holidays, here a few healthier dishes to help kick-start the new year!  The cauliflower salad offers a cheery burst of colors and the honey oat quick bread is just slightly sweet--it almost tastes like a yeast bread.  Together they make a nice, light meal.

Honey Cauliflower Chopped Salad for a Crowd
1 small head cauliflower, broken into small (1/4-1/2 inch pieces)
1 red pepper, in 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 green pepper, in a 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cup black olives, sliced
Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed is nice)
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (could substitute red wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
1/4-1/2 cup honey (I used amber, summer honey; spring honey would also be good)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

Combine the vegetables, onion and olives in a bowl.  Place the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.  (Start with 1/4 cup honey.)  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss well.  Refrigerate for about an hour to let the flavors meld.  Taste and add more honey (or salt and pepper).  Can serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 8-10.

Honey Oat Quick Bread
This is adapted from an Eating Well recipe, which appeared in the January/February 2007 issue.  Check out the reviews at the link above.

2 tablespoons plus 1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
8 ounces yogurt (low fat is fine)
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey (I used amber summer honey but fall honey would be lovely, too!)
3/4 cup low or nonfat milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in the middle position.  Lightly oil 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in pan, covering bottom and, as best you can, sides.  Whisk the flours, baking powder, soda and salt together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat 1 cup of the oats, yogurt, egg, oil and honey, mixing well.  Stir in the milk.  Stir this into the flour, gently mixing until combined--taking care not to over-mix.  You want the batter to be combined so that everything is moist, but don't beat it.  Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth to the edges.  Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of oats on the top.  Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes until the loaf is very brown.  The top will crack. To test that it's done, insert a toothpick in the crack--if it comes out clean, it's ready!  Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes then loosen with a bread knife.  This is great toasted the next day! Makes 1 loaf--or about 12 1-inch slices.

Healthy--and Delicious!--Back-to-School Granola Bars: Two Versions

These two super-easy recipes are adapted from Honey for Health and Beauty, which I reviewed in a previous post (click on the link for the review).  They both are takes on granola bars.  The first is a classic, chewy-crunchy bar without flour or eggs.  The second is a bit more cookie-like, and softer but still very much in the granola bar family.  Even though the Apricot Honey Oat Bars are softer, they're a bit less sweet and so my bet is that kids will prefer the classic Honey Granola Bar recipe.

Honey Granola Bars 
(In Honey for Health and Beauty, the recipe is called "Pack-Along Snack Bars.")
This recipe is not only easy, it's also easy to adapt.  Add 1/2 a cup of raisins, currants or other chopped, dried fruits.  Use walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts or sunflowers instead of (or in addition to!) almonds.  Toss in a handful of dark chocolate chips when you pull the granola out of the oven if you want to make it extra "healthy."  :)

3 cups uncooked rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup flaked coconut (I used unsweetened, but sweetened would work, too)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup almonds (I used 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup walnuts)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, cinnamon and salt.  In a separate bowl, blend oil, honey and vanilla, mixing well.  Stir honey mixture into dry ingredients and stir well to be sure the dry ingredients are thoroughly coated with the honey mixture.  Spread onto a 9x13 inch pan (no need to grease).  Bake, stirring at 10 minute, 20 minute, 25 minute and 30 minute marks for a total of 35 minutes.  Line a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan with aluminium foil and then grease the foil.  Press hot mixture into the jelly roll pan, pressing it firmly into the pan using a rolling pin.  (It will seem like the mixture won't fit at first, but does.  You also might question whether it will all hold together once it cools, but it does that, too!)  Cool and cut into squares.  Makes about 48, depending on how big you cut them.

Apricot Honey Oat Bars
You can make a super-lean version of these bars (suggestions are in parentheses).  Like the recipe above, this one is also easily adapted to ingredients you have on hand.  About 1/2 cup of nuts would be a nice addition, as would chocolate chips.  Swap out the dried apricots for another dried fruit--or use a mixture. Dried dates would be really good.  The apricot flavor dominates here, so whatever fruit you use will flavor these bars.

1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1 1/2 cups uncooked rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup 2% Greek yogurt (or any plain yogurt--it's okay to use non-fat)
1 egg (or 2 egg whites), lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter, melted (or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.  Pulse dried apricots in a food processor until finely chopped (or chop by hand).  Add the apricots, oats, wheat germ, flour, salt & cinnamon to a large bowl and toss to combine.  In a smaller separate bowl, stir the honey and yogurt together.  Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine well.  Mix in the melted butter, stirring well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and  mix well.  Place in the prepared pan, spreading the mixture to fill in the corners and sides. Bake about 25 minutes until edges are brown and the center is firm.  Cool and cut into 2-inch squares.  Makes 15-20 bars.