Honey Cookies

Rosh Hashana

Happy New Year!

 

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year.  Many recipes for Rosh Hashana contain honey in them because honey symbolizes the "sweetening" of the New Year.  It's very traditional to make Honey Cake on this holiday but typically Honey Cake isn't the most exciting dessert especially for the kids.  These cookies are such a nice change from the usual honey cake.

 

 Our sister Susan always hosts Rosh Hashana dinner and cooks a fantastic dinner for the whole family.  We like to help out and each of us try to make one or two dishes that would contribute to the meal.  Susan keeps a  kosher home so it's also important that we follow those kosher guidelines.  This dessert is the perfect recipe since it uses oil instead of butter as the fat in the recipe which makes these cookies non-dairy (pareve) and can be served after eating a meat meal.  Susan found this recipe on Pinterest and was originally posted on Lil' Miss Cakes blog.  Please follow the link to view a really nice blog with lots of fantastic recipes.  I actually made these as a test recipe and served them at a PTA meeting at my children's school.  I LOVE these cookies.  They have a distinct honey flavor which is really delicious and the texture from the Turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) makes these crunchy on the outside while they are still moist and chewy on the inside.  Really a fantastic combination.  You can also change the taste of these cookies by using different types of honey as well as different types of oil.  I loved this recipe with Wildflower Honey and Olive oil, really unique delicious flavors.  Change it up and use the flavors that you prefer.   You can easily find Clover, Wildflower and Orange Blossom in your grocery store with Clover being the most common and most mild in taste.  I love the slightly bolder and floral taste of the Wildflower Honey.

 

Ingredients:

 

2/3 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw), for rolling

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the oil, honey, and sugar until smooth.  Add in the egg and vanilla mix until combined.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt.  If your dough is soft, refrigerate for 15-30 minutes until firm.  Shape the dough into balls and roll in the turbinado sugar making sure to coat the whole cookie.  Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 7-9 minutes until the edges are light brown in color.