Oatmeal Honey Cookies

Oatmeal Honey Cookies

Just in time for Rosh Hashana, a recipe that uses honey as one of its main ingredients. These oatmeal cookies are soft, mildly sweet and full of oat flavor. They capture the essence of autumn, and are a nice addition to your new year's table. There is no dairy in this recipe (butter makes the cookies much too soft) so they are fine with meat or dairy meals. Bake them with or without nuts; they are good either way.

Oatmeal Honey Cookies
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 c. vegetable shortening
1 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/3 c honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. quick cooking rolled oats
(optional) 2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Melt the vegetable shortening in a microwave-safe bowl, and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the brown sugar, honey and vanilla. Using the hard paddle blade, mix together until sugar has dissolved into the melted shortening. Allow to stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes; the shortening will begin to firm.

Alternate addition of the dry ingredients with the eggs, beating after each addition. Fold in nuts, if desired. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes; dough will be very sticky.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.

Immediately slide parchment onto wire cooling racks; allow to cool for 5 minutes, then slide cookies off parchment and onto cooling racks to cool completely. Makes 30 - 36 cookies, depending on the scoop size.

Soft and Chocolaty Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter is a universal language. Combine it with milk chocolate and you have an irresistible flavor combination that begs you to eat. Traditional peanut butter cookies can be a little dry and crumbly, but these peanut butter cup inspired cookies are large, soft, chewy and swimming with flavor. They are excellent for dunking in milk or coffee, and the extra large size turns a single cookie into a satisfying between meal snack or dessert.


To shape these cookies, use an ice cream scoop. Level off the dough, and then deposit the cookies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet using the lever that is attached to the scoop. Your cookies will be uniform in size and thickness.


These cookies freeze nicely. Make them in large quantities and then store them in recloseable plastic bags in the freezer for future cookie emergencies.



Soft and Chocolaty Peanut Butter Cookies
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. milk chocolate chips


In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Place peanut butter, softened butter and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Cream together at medium speed. Beat in brown sugar and eggs. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients just until the dough comes together. Fold in milk chocolate chips.


Using plastic wrap, cover dough and chill at least an hour, preferably overnight.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough onto prepared baking sheets using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop.  Bake for 10 -  12 minutes using middle racks, rotating sheets halfway through baking. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from sheet. Makes 2 - 3 dozen, depending on size of scoop used.