Show Me the Honey: How to Cook with that Gooey Goodness

So, you’ve read about all the benefits of raw honey for your stockpile.  You’ve gone out and purchased a vat of honey that would make Winnie the Pooh eager to lay siege to your home. But what on earth are you going to do with all that sweet, golden goodness? Honey can be used in place of sugar in many recipes. It is ever-so-slightly sweeter than sugar, and adds moisture.

When substituting honey in place of sugar:

1. 1. Use an equal amount of honey for sugar up to the amount of 1 cup.  If the recipe requires more than one cup of sweetener, use 3/4 cup of honey to replace each cup of sugar.
   2. In recipes that require an entire cup of honey or more, reduce the other liquids in the recipe by a total of 1/4 cup per cup of honey.
   3. Reduce the temperature of the oven by 25 degrees if you are replacing sugar with honey.
   4. Add 1/4 tsp of baking soda per cup of honey.

Darker honeys have a bold flavor and light honeys have a milder taste. Dark honey is a good replacement for brown sugar and light honey is a good equivalent for white sugar.

Want to show them the honey? Check out these recipes!

Honey Garlic Green Beans

This is a household favorite and it’s also delicious with broccoli, wax beans, and snow peas.  I use this sauce to quickly stir fry beans that I canned from the garden, too.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of green beans, washed and prepped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1-2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce

Directions

• Steam your green beans until they are bright green.  Be sure not to overcook them for best results.  Put aside.
• In a large skillet, heat oil and begin to saute your garlic.
• As soon as the garlic is golden and fragrant, add your freshly steamed beans.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
• Turn the heat all the way up.  Add honey and soy sauce, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes.
• Serve.  If you want, you can top this with a handful of sesame seeds.

Honey Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

2-3 pounds of any combination of the following vegetables, cut into chunks:

• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Potatoes
• Rutabagas
• Brussels Sprouts
• Onion

Sauce

• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of seasoning salt
• 1 tbsp of parsley
• 2-3 cloves of finely minced garlic

 Directions

• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the ingredients for the sauce with a wire whisk until well incorporated.
• Immediately add the vegetable chunks and toss well.
• Place the vegetables on a slightly greased cookie sheet and drizzle any remaining sauce over them.
• Roast at 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes, or until fork tender.  You will want to stir the veggies a couple of times for even browning.

Honey Cookies

 This recipe was sent in by a reader.  Thank you very much, Bob – we’ll be adding these to Easter dinner!  

My grandparents came to this country from Austria-Hungary in 1908. This is a recipe that my grandmother brought with her. This is my favorite cookie. These cookies are keep extremely well (they contain no shortening) and are great for mailing to servicemen and women.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 egg white (set additional egg whites aside)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 1 cup of honey, warmed

Directions

• Sift dry ingredients on a board or in a bowl.
• Add eggs and enough honey to make a medium stiff dough.
• Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds (I use a juice glass.)
• Brush with slightly beaten egg whites.
• Dip in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped nuts.
• Place on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown, at 350 degrees.

For colorful Holiday cookies you can use a cinnamon-sugar mix colored by a couple of drops of food coloring.

Here’s an extra bit of information on honey.

Please note: If you are going to use honey for its health benefits, it must be raw honey. Heating honey (pasteurization) destroys all pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, and aromatics.

Honey that has been heated and filtered is called commercial, regular, or liquid honey.

Raw honey is honey that is in the same condition as it was in the beehive. It is produced by extracting honey from the honeycomb of the beehive and straining it to remove impurities.

Raw or organic raw honey is recommended for cooking or baking (even though it will be heated) because the flavor and aroma will be more intense than if you used regular honey (liquid honey).

 Do you have any yummy honey recipes you’d like to share? Please post them in the comments!