I love an excuse to bake cookies, just ask Manatee. I grew up eating homemade cookies, so for me it’s just part of my routine. I need something sweet and homemade in our house.

Cookie Love Bloghop

December is the perfect month for me because suddenly cookie baking is not only justified, but celebrated. I was thrilled when I was asked to co-host the Cookie Love Bloghop. All month bloggers across the internet are linking together all of their cookie recipe posts. You can join too! You can link up any cookie recipe from the month of December 2011 to the rest of our posts. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #cookielove event! The twitter hashtag is #cookielove.

Check out the recipes by my amazing co-hosts:

Becky at Baking and Cooking: A Tale of Two Loves
Erin at Big Fat Baker
Salome at Bloc de recetes
Valerie at Bon a croquer
Terra at CafeTerraBlog
Lora at Cake Duchess
Karriann at Creative Cooking Corner
Easily Good Eats
Georgie at Georgiecakes
Richa at Hobby and More
Deb at Knitsamatic
Mike at Mike’s Baking
Junia at Mis Pensamientos
T.R. at No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
Jessica at Oh Cake
Elizabeth at Queen’s Notebook
Linda at Savoring Every Bite
Reem at Simply Reem
Soni at Soni’s Food for Thought
Deanna at Teaspoon of Spice
Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!
Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food
EA Steward at The Spicy RD
Susan at The Wimpy Vegetarian

Raji at Vegetarian Tastebuds

Kickoff Recipe: Honey Butter Lace

Today is the kickoff event and I wanted to start with a super easy cookie recipe that I made for a dinner party a few weeks ago. It’s a recipe by Martha Steward and I always swear that she joins me in (disapproving) spirit when I bake her recipes. Probably because I always seem to mess them up, and yet, due to her amazing recipe development skills, they still turn out.

For the party, I was also making Boca Nera (dark chocolate pudding) and an apple cranberry cake. Yes, I know that was probably enough for 7 women, but I wanted something light and crunchy so I could hit all the different textures. Enter Honey Butter Lace.

Honey Butter Lace
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies Cookbook, Honey Florentines

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or Earth Balance vegan spread*
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour*
Pinch of kosher salt

*I used Earth Balance spread so this would be a non-dairy treat. I also used the whole wheat pastry flour. 

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  3. Melt butter (or vegan spread), brown sugar, and honey in a small saucepan at medium heat.
  4. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in flour and salt.
  5. Working quickly, drop 1/2 teaspoons onto baking sheets, keeping blobs 3 inches apart.
  6. Bake until cookies spread out and turn golden brown (they may still be bubbling!), about 6 minutes.
  7. Let cool on wire racks and then carefully remove cookies with your fingers.
Confession: Okay, as I mentioned, I have a tendency to break free from the recipe. This time was not my fault. I only had one piece of parchment paper and as I have learned in the past, there is no substitute for parchment paper. 
So I turned to Martha and said, “I am sure the cookies don’t spread out that much, do they?”
She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and left the room.
I got all the dough onto one baking sheet and before I even put them in the oven, they were melding together. When I checked on them after 6 minutes, this is what I saw:
A hot bubbling mess. “Martha!” I yelled. “It’s still bubbling!” I wrung my hands, I pulled my hair and I waited a few more minutes.
It was a little overdone. I thought about throwing it away, but tried some and it was amazingly good. Caramelized honey, butter, and the hint of salt. Yum! I broke them apart and decided to serve them at the party.
Recipe Review: These were a huge hit at the party. Even though I also had chocolate pudding and cake, the cookies were the first to be finished. And for the record, my guests did a pretty awesome job on the pudding and cake. 🙂
These are a great addition to your cookie and dessert selections. Even when you screw them up, they still taste really good! I can’t wait to try again and actually (gulp) follow the recipe.
Thank you, Martha! I know cooks like me must drive you nuts, but I love your recipes. 🙂

 


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