Honey cookies are soft, thick and chewy cookies made with floral honey and sweet cinnamon. These honey sugar cookies are easy to make and have a quick chill time. They’re the perfect cozy cookie.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
There are few things I love more than a soft, chewy and cozy cookie. My Maple Cookies, Iced Oatmeal Cookies, Chai Cookies, Chewy Molasses Cookies, Date Cookies, Chewy Maple Pumpkin Cookies are just a few cookie recipes I love from the blog. I know you’ll love these honey sugar cookies because:
- Layers of cozy flavors and textures. From the soft and chewy sugar cookie made with floral honey and cozy cinnamon to the crunchy sugar coating these honey sugar cookies will delight your senses.
- They are quick and easy to make. All you need to do is bring the egg and egg yolk to room temperature, mix the ingredients, chill for about an hour, then scoop, bake and eat.
Ingredients
This soft honey sugar cookie recipe requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge. Here’s what you’ll need.
- Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Gather butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, honey, an egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make these sweet and chewy cookies with honey if you need them.
- All purpose flour: Make these soft honey sugar cookies, gluten free, by using a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill. Measure based on weight (300 g) rather than volume in cups.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: Both of these are required for this cookie recipe to work as intended.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon and honey are a perfect match of flavors. Feel free to omit or use another ground spice such as ginger you like.
- Cornstarch: This gives the cookies a softer texture and helps prevent them from spreading too much.
- Unsalted Butter: Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter.
- Granulated Sugar and Light Brown Sugars: Maple sugar would also work well to make these cookies refined sugar free.
- Honey: Feel free to use your preferred honey.
- Egg and Yolks: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.
- Vanilla Extract: This is more for background flavor and nicely enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
Variations
- Honey Glaze: Mix 1 ½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon honey and 2 - 3 tablespoons (30 - 45 ml) milk or heavy cream until smooth and well combined. Top the fully cooled honey cookies and enjoy.
- Ginger Honey Cookies: Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger alongside or in place of the ground cinnamon.
- Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies: Mix in 1 - 1 ½ cups chocolate chips into the cookie dough right after the dry ingredients. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
- Lemon Honey Cookies: Zest 1 - 2 lemons into the sugar before mixing with the cold butter and honey. Top the cookies with a lemon glaze by mixing 1 ½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar with 2 - 3 tablespoons (30 - 45 ml) lemon juice. Top the fully cooled cookies.
How To Make
Learn how to make honey cookies in a few easy steps.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Set aside for now.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the cubes of cold butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey on medium speed for 2 - 3 minutes or until the butter and sugars are well combined. On low, cream in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Cover the cookie dough and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 - 60 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for about 20-30 minutes before baking the cookies. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour ¼ cup (50 g) of sugar into a small bowl if you would like to roll the cookies in sugar before baking. Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons, 30 ml), scoop the honey sugar cookie dough, roll the dough ball into the sugar and place the honey cookie dough balls onto the lined baking sheet about 3 inches (8 cm) apart. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 9 - 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set and the centers are slightly puffed. Cool the chewy honey sugar cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
How To Make Ahead, Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Make Ahead: Prepare the cookies according to the recipe directions up to mixing the dry ingredients into the wet and decide which storage method meets your needs.
- Store: Place the baked chai honey cookies in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days. To store unbaked cookie dough in the fridge, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in an air tight container. Before baking, allow the chilled cookie dough to sit at room temperature for 20 - 30 minutes before scooping into balls and rolling into the spiced sugar.
- Freeze Cookie Dough: Prepare the honey cinnamon cookies through the resting/chilling step. Chill the dough for 30 minutes, then scoop the dough into balls onto small lined baking sheet or large plate. Freeze the balls for 20 minutes then transfer them to a freezer proof container for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookie dough balls in the fridge overnight and proceed with the cookie recipe as written starting with rolling in the sugar.
- Freeze Baked Cookies: Place each of the baked cookies in a freezer proof container in a single line with parchment paper between each layer. Freeze for up to two months. Thaw the cookies by setting them out at room temperature for a few hours or until thawed.
M’s Expert Tips
- Use honey you like. I love using a multi-floral or clover honey to bake with.
- Measure the flour properly. I highly recommend using a food scale to get perfectly measured ingredients every time.
- Rest the dough. Resting the dough for even 30 minutes allows a softer and chewier cookie.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Always use the lowest speed on your electric mixer or mix in the dry ingredients by hand. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Give your cookies a “cookie scoot.” Within the first minute of removing the cookies from the oven, use a large biscuit cutter (wider than the cookies) to help shape any cookies back into a more round shape. Place the cutter over the cookies so the edges of the cookie are inside the cookie/ biscuit cutter. In a circular motion, gently nudge the edges back into a round shape.
FAQs
Adding honey to cookies makes cookies moist with a tight, fluffy crumb. Think of a thick, soft and chewy sugar cookie with honey flavor.
Honey can replace sugar in recipes. However, honey contains more moisture than sugar so other liquids in the recipe need to be adjusted.
I find that a medium cookie scoop, with about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough makes the perfect cookie. However, you can make a small (1 tablespoon) cookie if you like. Bake this size cookie for about 7 - 8 minutes. For a larger cookie, use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons, 45 ml) and bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
Chilling the dough allows the flour to hydrate and prevent the cookies from spreading too much. This honey cookie recipe needs some chilling time to get the best results.
Other Honey Recipes to Try
If you try this Honey Cookies recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! - M
Honey Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters
- 1 medium (2 tablespoon, 30 ml) cookie scoop optional
- 2 large baking sheets
- 2 sheets parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2½ cups (300 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- ¾ cup (170 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) honey
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar for rolling, optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Set aside for now.2½ cups (300 g) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the cubes of cold butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey on medium speed for 2 - 3 minutes or until the butter and sugars are well combined.¾ cup (170 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, ¼ cup (60 ml) honey
- On low, cream in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Cover the cookie dough and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 - 60 minutes.1 large egg, room temperature, 1 large egg yolk, room temperature, 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for about 20-30 minutes before baking the cookies. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour ¼ cup (50 g) of sugar into a small bowl if you would like to roll the cookies in sugar before baking. Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons, 30 ml), scoop the honey sugar cookie dough, roll the dough ball into the sugar and place the honey cookie dough balls onto the lined baking sheet about 3 inches (8 cm) apart.¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar for rolling, optional
- Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 9 - 10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set and the centers are slightly puffed. Cool the chewy honey sugar cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
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