How about some good ol’ dee-lish-us American Honey Cut-Out Cookies for this President’s Day or for the 4th of July!! Enjoy!!
Did you know that North Dakota is the number one producer of honey in the nation? The Department of Agriculture says producers with only five or more bee colonies produced a total of 33.7 million pounds of honey in 2017.Back in 2014, North Dakota reported a total of 42.14 million pounds of honey. This equates to a value of more than 84 million dollars! And, in 2010, North Dakota had approximately 246 registered beekeepers, although that number has been growing each year. Each beekeeper manages between 1,000 and 1,500 bee colonies, with the average yield for each colony being about 78 pounds. Now, that is one sweet deal!
So, to honor all of those busy American bees, as well as neighboring South Dakota’s incredible Mount Rushmore, we baked these delicious Presidential Honey Cut-Out Cookies from a recipe we found in America’s famous Old Farmer’s Almanac. ( Cookie cutters available on ETSY.com)
Presidential Honey Cut-Out Cookies
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
Serves: 3 Dozen
PREP TIME
2 hours 20 mins
COOK TIME
8 mins
TOTAL TIME
2 hours 28 mins
INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
½ cup honey
1 large egg, beaten
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
Get out a large mixing bowl and combine the butter, brown sugar and honey. Once it’s nice and creamy, add the beaten egg and the vanilla and stir until smooth.
In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the unbleached flour and the whole wheat flour. Add the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir to blend.
Work the flour mixture into the butter-honey mixture, a little at a time, until you have a dough.
Flour your working surface and turn out the dough onto it. Divide the dough in half and flatten each dough into a 1-inch thick disk. Now, wrap up each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
When you’re ready to cut out your cookies, preheat your oven to 350° and lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
Using a rolling pin, evenly roll out one dough disk to about ¼-inch thick. Then, use your favorite cookie cutter, and place the cut-out shapes onto your greased cookie sheets. Repeat the process with the scraps and with the second dough. Note: depending upon what size shapes you use, you may need 3 baking sheets.
Place the sheets into your preheated oven for 7 minutes. Then, open the oven and turn the sheets around to the other side in order for the cookies to brown cook and evenly. Cook for another 7-9 minutes.
Once the cookies are done, remove them from the oven, and using a spatula, gently place each cookie on a rack or a big sheet of aluminum foil to cool.
(To serve, you can ice your cookies with my Royal Icing. My sister, the artist, decorated these cookies the same way she does everything: with great care and talent.I don’t expect you’ll want to pull out all kinds of paintbrushes and make 6 different colors of icing to match what she did. So you can leave this icing white, or add a few drops of any color food coloring you desire. However, these cookies are delicious with no icing at all! They’re just perfect for dunkin’ in your breakfast or late afternoon coffee.)
Presidential Honey Cut-Out Cookies Royal Icing
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
INGREDIENTS
3 oz. pasteurized egg whites
(comes in a little carton in the grocery cold dairy section)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted twice
INSTRUCTIONS
Get out a large bowl and a hand mixer, or a stand mixer.
Beat the egg whites and vanilla until frothy.
Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, and mix at low speed until it is all incorporated and becomes shiny.
Turn the speed up to high and beat for about 5 or 6 more minutes until the mixture becomes stiff and you can make peaks.
You can divide it up into bowls and use any food coloring you choose. If you are not going to use it immediately, then store it in your refrigerator in an air-tight container. It will keep up to 3 days.