French Honey Butter Cookies
These French Honey Butter Cookies are soft in the middle with irresistibly crispy edges. They are so easy to make, and you only need a handful of ingredients.
Servings 20 cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ½ cup butter softened to room temperature (see note 1)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar (sift the powdered before measuring)
- 1 egg yolk (at room temperature)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon honey (see note 2)
- 1 ⅛ cups All purpose flour (same as plain flour -UK) OR cake flour (see note 3)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the glaze
- ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
Make the dough
- Cream the butter and sugar: Use a spatula to mix the butter and sugar until it turns pale in color and light in texture.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and honey: Mix in until combined.
- Sift in the flour and salt, and mix to form a soft dough.
Refrigerate the dough
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (see note 4)
Divide and roll the dough
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it in 2 equal portions.
- Roll each piece into a cylinder shape of approximately 4 inches (10cm) long and 1 inch (3cm) thickness. (See note 5)
Freeze the cylinder-shaped dough
- Wrap the cylinder shapes separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes OR freeze for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 356° F / 180° C (160° C fan). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking silicone mat
- Remove from the freezer or fridge and unwrap the shaped dough
- Slice into 0.4 inches (1 cm) thick disks, and place on a baking sheet. (See note 6)
- Optional: If the cookie slices become soft while slicing, refrigerate the cookie sheet with the slices for about 10 minutes. Chilling the cut cookie disks will prevent spreading during baking.
Bake
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden.
- Remove from the oven but leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. The baked cookies will be soft when you take it out of the oven but crisp as they cool.
- After 5 minutes on the baking tray, the cookies will be firm and crisp enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Make the glaze
- In a bowl, whisk powdered sugar, honey and milk together until thick and smooth.
- Spread the glaze over the cooled cookies.To glaze the cookies, you have two options: use a spatula to spread the glaze or use a piping bag (without a nozzle) to pipe it evenly onto the cooled cookies.
- Leave the glaze to dry and set for at least 10 minutes. Once the glaze is dry and set,the cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
1. Butter: Use what you have, either salted or unsalted. If you are using unsalted butter, then add a pinch of salt to your flour. Salted butter will not require adding salt to the recipe. Get the butter out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking. All the ingredients are incorporated much easier and quicker in soft butter. This also prevents overworking the dough, which produces dense instead of crispy cookies.
2. Honey: You can use thick or runny honey for these cookies. Whatever honey you go for, make sure it’s got nothing added to it and is just 100% pure honey. Maple syrup can be used as a substitute for honey. It will add a similar sweetness and a hint of maple flavor to your cookies.
3. Flour: Use either cake flour, all purpose or plain flour. Do not use self-rising flour. Self-rising flour is not recommended as it changes the flavor and texture, making it dense instead of crisp and light.
4. Do not skip the steps of chilling the dough: First after mixing (refrigerated for 20 minutes) and, second after dividing and shaping into a cylinder (refrigerating for 45 minutes or freezing for 25 to 30 minutes) These are important steps. The first refrigeration firms the dough, making it easy to roll into a cylinder. The second time (freezing) cools and firms the cylinder shapes making it easy to slice into disks.
5. Refrigerate the dough if it becomes difficult to handle: The dough has a high ratio of butter and can get difficult to work with if it gets too warm. If the dough gets too warm, simply put it back into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. This helps to cool the butter, making the dough much easier to work with.
6. Adjust the baking time if cutting the cookies thinner or thicker than specified in the recipe
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 7g | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.4mg
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