spring

This one goes out to the all the sweet and salty lovers. You know who you are! If a sprinkle of sea salt makes you absolutely weak at the knees, you will ADORE these salted honey cookies: soft and chewy cookies delicately sweetened with honey and brown sugar and finished off with a sprinkle of sea salt. They are uniquely delicious and the perfect bake for this weekend.

In the South, Food is Everything

I once saw this sign that said, “I didn’t grow up in the South, but I got here as fast as I could.” For years now, any time I thought of that sign, I’d always kinda shake my head in agreement: “Same.” I’ve been in Alabama nearly 20 years now, the past 10 of which have been spent in the deep South. The food, the pace of life, the kindness you meet in the faces of strangers- it all suits me. I just love it.

If I’ve learned anything in my short tenure as a southerner, it’s that people in the South love food. Here, recipes are generational, ingredients are time-tested, and time around the table is absolutely everything. Cooking here is a special thing, and I’ve found that people are eager to share the bounties from their kitchens, whatever they may be.

A Case for Honey-Flavored Cookies

Quite regularly, I’m given a jar of honey from friends. We’ve randomly wound up with a surprising number of friends who are apiarists (that’s beekeepers, y’all), and, praise the Lord, those are the most generous kind of people. Those little jars, usually adorned with homemade tags scrawled with loopy script, are like gold. It was recently, after being given a fresh jar of honey from a new friend, that I knew we needed a new recipe honoring the labor of love that is honey. This blog needed honey cookies.

Initially, I set out to make a graham cracker of sorts, but I later decided a chewy, everyday cookie would be much better. Inspired by molasses cookies, I combined butter, brown sugar, and just enough honey to make chewy, salty-sweet cookies that all would enjoy. A few batches later, we ended up with today’s salted honey cookies. Success!

Salted Honey Cookies

These salted honey cookies are unique in all the best ways. Here, butter and a bit of oil create an intensely chewy and soft cookie. Think oatmeal cream pie cookie texture- SUPER soft. Brown sugar adds a mild sweetness that plays backs-up to the honey, our star ingreident. And if honey steals the show, salt is its supporting character, adding a rich contrast to these cookies that make you keep coming back for more. Any cookie with a salted top usually benefits from the addition of something that isn’t notable sweet. But here, the salt enhances the honey flavor, bringing out a richness that is otherwise less present.

How to Make the Chewiest Cookies

These cookies start in a mixer with butter and oil. Oil is the ingredient that keeps these cookies seriously soft for days. Next, we add brown sugar and honey, creaming the four ingredients together until smooth. A little vanilla plus one egg comes next. Finally, we add the dry ingredients of flour, leavening, and salt, plus a little cinnamon! The cinnamon is not a dominant flavor, but it does add a smidge of background taste. The cookie dough is soft, so it needs a rest in the fridge. Then, rolled balls of dough bake in the oven just until the edges begin to set. Sprinkle each with a bit of salt (I prefer fleur de sel), and voila! Perfect salted honey cookies.

Give these honey cookies a try and let me know what you think! Happy baking, y’all!

If you like these salted honey cookies you should try:

No-Churn Honey Salted Almond Ice Cream
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies
Salted Maple Pie
The Best Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted Honey Cookies

Print Recipe

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4.7 from 7 reviews

These salted honey cookies are soft and chewy cookies sweetened with honey and brown sugar and sprinkled with a pinch of sea salt!

• Author: Kate Wood
• Prep Time: 5
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 18-24 Cookies
• Category: Dessert

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• Fleur de Sel, for sprinkling the tops of cookies

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, oil, brown sugar, and honey on medium speed using a paddle attachment until the mixture is smooth and consistent throughout, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract, stirring on low to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir on low, just until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and fold in any unincorporated dry ingredients.
2. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Use a large cookie scoop or spoon to portion out 3 tablespoon-sized rounds of dough onto the prepared sheet. Once finished, cover the sheet pan and refrigerate until firm, about 1 ½ hours.
3. Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Space just under half of the cookie dough balls out on a second parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven just until the edges of the cookies are set and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with a pinch of fleur de sel. Repeat this process with the remaining dough on a new cookie sheet. Allow to cool slightly prior to enjoying, although, cookies will are best after setting up slightly.

Notes

• For smaller cookies, use a medium cookie scoop to portion out 1 ½ tablespoon sized rounds of dough. Bake 8 minutes or until done.