Over the years, I have had a few favorite “go to” cutout cookie recipes. Most have similar ingredients and use specific techniques for preparing a crispy, yet tender almond flavored disk. Recently, we purchased a 3 pound package of bees and placed them in a backyard hive. Since then, I have been testing recipes that have a very special ingredient in the mix…that ingredient is honey. I recently made this recipe for a baby shower that my office hosted for a co-worker. While I don’t eat a lot of sweets, I’m told these crispy, tender morsels tasted divine.
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in yolk, then honey and extracts until smooth. Carefully beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough to a 1/4″ thickness. With a 2″ cookie cutter, cut shapes and place on cookie sheets. Optional: freeze for 30 minutes before placing in preheated oven. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Glaze cookies and decorate cookies as desired. The recipe that I use for the glaze can be found here.