A couple of months ago my officemate, Jason, who knows of my Foodaphiliac tendencies brought me a jar of raw honey that his father cultivated out in Lancaster. It is hands down the most delicious honey I've ever tasted, and while I've been using it in tea and on toast in the mornings, I'd been waiting for a opportunity to highlight this honey in my baking adventures.

The following recipe is what I've come up with for a dense and chewy cookie that has similar texture to a snickerdoodle, but with honey as the central flavor. The cookies puff up in the oven, then flatten slightly as they cool. The outside turns golden brown, while the inside remains chewy and moist, a really good combination in a cookie in my opinion. The peanut butter and nuts can be subsituted with other nut butters and nuts as you desire or prefer them. Peanut butter is always something I have on hand, and the cahews were a last minute but inspired idea. Best of all, the ingredients are combined by hand in one bowl, so there's very little clean up.


2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup roasted and salted cashews

Mix oil, peanut butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add egg, honey, baking soda, vanilla extract, and salt and mix to combine. Finally, add the flour and mix until just combined. I took aboout half of the cashews and chopped them roughly to add to the dough, then added the rest of the cashews whole.

Drop by tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen.