Accidental Honey Graham Crackers

Could I get in trouble for using that name in the title? Hmm.. I'm going to guess I'm too small a fish to be bothered with, I'll risk it.
So, I wrote this blog entry several months ago in the beginning of my non-internet-having days. It has taken me a long time to get around to posting it. I'm a very bad blogger.

I don't eat refined sugar, but sometimes I find myself craving sugar
cookies, plain old sugar cookies like I used to make with my younger
siblings when I was babysitting. One night I was laying in bed being
drowsy, and I had an idea. Most ideas I have at that time of day are
pretty bad when I remember them later, but this one was good.

I used the recipe for old fashioned ginger snaps from the Fanny Farmer
cookbook, replaced the ginger with vanilla, and the molasses with
honey and rolled them a little thick, it should come out something
like a sugar cookie.

So I made up a batch, and they smelled awesome, and they came out of the
oven all lightly browned and fragrant, and I bit into one.... and I
was a graham cracker! We ate them with milk... they didn't last long!

Graham Crackers

½ cup mild flavored honey

¼ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350*. Heat the honey and butter to the boiling point in
a medium sized saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix the dry ingredients
together and add to the warm honey along with the vanilla. Blend
well. Roll out the dough on a clean unfloured surface until they are
about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into squares with a knife or pizza roller,
or into rounds with a cookie cutter or the edge of a glass. ( I would
recommend squares, re-rolling the dough as it cools can be difficult)

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 5 minutes until they are
lightly browned on the bottom.

Eat with milk. (or melted chocolate and marshmallows!) or crumble up to
make graham cracker crumbs to use as the bottom of a cheesecake. (I
should write a recipe for cheesecake. Mmm.)

Graham Crackers

Honey Oat Cookies Two Ways

I like oatmeal cookies.
Here is a recipe I ganked from the interwebs and modified to make into my personal cookie slave.
(don't try to reason with me about that previous sentence, there is no reasoning with me when I'm in one of these moods)

Honey Oat Cookie Base Recipe (plain jane)
1 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together the wet ingredients with the oats in a mixing bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to let the oats absorb some of the honeyfull goodness. Add the remaining dry ingredients but do not overmix.
If you like your cookies painfully plain, you can drop the dough as is by rounded teaspoonfulls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake @ 350* for 10 to 12 minutes, but if you actually like oatmeal cookies, I'm guessing you like them dressed up just a little.

Honey Oat Raisin Spice Cookies  (My Favorite!)
Stir in about 1 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/16 tsp cloves (just a tiny dash)
Add these ingredients along with the flour and cook as directed in the above recipe.

Honey Oat Carob Cookies  (dark and delicious!)
add about 1/4 cup carob powder along with the flour and cook as directed in the base recipe.
-I feel this recipe needs a bit of an explanation. I love carob. This is probably due to the fact that it was never pawned off on me as a chocolate replacement. (there can be only one!) I discovered carob on my own as an adult and love it for itself.

Honey Oat Cookies

There's a picture, don't you just want to grab a glass of cold milk and a dozen of those?

Other Variations:
Some people like nuts in their cookies. You could do that if you're one of them. I wouldn't go with more than 1/2 cup chopped nuts at a time until you know how nutty you want them.
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies? Sure, add 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes!
Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies? Sounds great! I would go with the zest of one orange and a cup of dried chopped cranberries along with some cinnamon.... definitely going to try this one some day.

Enjoy this recipe! I know I say this on all of them, but it's a fun recipe. Play with it, all it wants is to make you happy!

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies of Deliciosity - 3 ways

I love peanut butter cookies, and lately I have been having a craving for them.
Unfortunately, most recipes for honey cookies have a token teaspoon of honey and a cup of sugar - not good for those who refuse to eat the refined stuff - and sugar-free recipes all use chemical sweeteners which freak me out to no end.
So I made my own! This recipe has three versions - it's a forgiving medium, so have fun and play around with it!

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies - the recipe closest to the original
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup, or agave, or whatever)
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies - Option 2, Supersize the PB! (my favorite)
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all natural peanut butter
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup, or agave, or whatever)
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies - Option 3, Sweeter!
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup, or agave, or whatever)
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix wet ingredients in a bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix until homogeneous but do not over-mix. Form into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Press with a fork to make the charictaristic hatchmark on top and to flatten the balls. Bake at 350* 8-10 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to a rack to cool. These cookies are very tender, not overly sweet, and good with milk.

RECIPE NOTES:
If you use unsalted Peanut Butter, add 1/2 tsp salt to your dry ingredients.
If you want whole wheat cookies, this recipe is great for that. I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2/3 cup white flour.
If you don't want to use/don't have baking powder, use baking soda and add 1 Tbsp vinegar to the wet ingredients.