Honey Gingersnap Cookies

This year I joined the Third Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!  I'd never done something like this before and loved it!  What is a cookie swap?  Well, a bunch of people bake cookies, send them to other people, and everybody donates money to Cookies For Kids Cancer.  It's a win/win/win ending in cookies!  How could I not be a part of that?  Over $14,000 was raised this year and I already look forward to next year.  Here's what I made!

Honey Gingersnap Cookies

Before I get to the recipe, thanks to my fellow bloggers who sent me cookies!  These were delicious and I definitely recommend checking out their blogs and recipes.

Alma Cucina - Apricot Almond Birds Nest Cookies
Cupcakes and Kale Chips - Oatmeal Cashew White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Kitchenette Blog - Salted Toffee Crunch Cookies

Honey Gingersnaps on the cooling rack

My cookie choice had to be something new to me, and you all know how much I love new recipes.  I wanted something to represent Utah, which is the Beehive State, so honey cookies were the obvious choice.  I hunted for the perfect recipe that would be crunchy outside, soft inside but not cake-like, and come out beautiful.  What I really wanted was gingersnaps but with honey... then it dawned on me that I ought to make gingersnaps, with honey.  Sometimes answers are so simple if we be quiet and listen to the universe. 

One of my favorite recipe books is a short collection of cookie recipes by Better Homes & Gardens that I've had for longer than I can remember.  I love opening it up and staring at the photos.  One of those photos was the inspiration for this recipe - the photo turned out to be a completely unrelated recipe, but it guided me to what I wanted!

These cookies are soft inside, crispy outside, and absolute perfection with a glass of cold milk or hot coffee.   Rolling them in sugar is what gives them the pretty texture  This is a basic gingersnap recipe with honey in place of the molasses.  They disappear quickly so you might want to double the batch. This is a great last-minute recipe if you want to make cookies but don't have time to let butter soften - no butter! 

Honey Gingersnap cookies

Local ingredients:
Neighborhood Beekeeping for the honey
Lehi Roller Mills for the flour
Real Salt for the salt

Also thanks to OXO, a sponsor of the cookie swap, who sent me bright colorful silicone spatulas that have been a great addition to my kitchen.







Utah Honey Gingersnaps
Makes about 3 dozen


INGREDIENTS
2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
~
3/4 cup olive oil or other light tasting oil
1 cup brown sugar1/4 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
Extra sugar for rolling cookies in

DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and spices)
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, honey, and egg.
3. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
4. Preheat oven to 375 and prepare cookie sheet (cover in aluminum foil or parchment paper to prevent sticking).
5. Using a Tablespoon as a scoop and leveling off each one, make a pile of little ball-ish shapes.
6. Roll each of the little shapes into a ball.  Roll in granulated sugar, place on a cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.  Give each cookie a bit of space, they spread out some.  A dozen at a time in the oven works well.
7.  Bake for 11 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes then move to baking rack to finish cooling. 

Incubator Farm Support

I'm going to write about something different today, and that's where all of this beautiful food comes from.  Farms!  All over the country there is a movement happening, right now, toward locally grown and healthy food, unprocessed, unpackaged, just good old fashioned food.  That food is lovingly provided by farmers who feel the call to work the earth, plant seeds, harvest fruits and vegetables, and get them to local markets for us all to purchase and enjoy.

Have you ever thought about what it takes to be a farmer?  Getting started is tough - available land is much larger than a beginning farmer can afford or work, there is a big investment in tools and training, and farming as a business requires a strong network of relationships that beginning farmers just don't have.  It's daunting enough that the majority of farmers now are at retirement age.  Ten years from now, where will all of that beautiful delicious produce come from, if new farmers don't step up?

The solution to this is to support incubator farms, places where beginning farmers can use land to learn the ropes, have a shared set of tools and equipment with other farmers to reduce the financial burden of a startup, and take educational workshops on farming and business practices to allow them to really make a living off the land.  As the farmers gain the necessary experience they can move on to larger parcels of land and feel confident in their markets, expanding their businesses and purchasing their own land.

The Green Urban Lunchbox, a project of the Community Foundation of Utah,  is starting an incubator farm in Layton, UT (just outside Salt Lake City) on an old orchard.  Those of you not familiar with the Salt Lake area may not know that this is excellent farming land.  This 37-acre future farm is beautiful and ready to be leased in small parcels to new farmers wanting to get started in commercial agriculture.  The organization will provide training on farming skills, best practices, and networking with local restaurants and markets, and bring together the people who will grow food for the Salt Lake area for the next generation.  All they need now is tools, and this is what they are soliciting donations for.  Can you help?  Check out the video on Razoo (it's like Kickstarter for nonprofits) and please chip in if you can.  Every donation brings new farmers closer to their dreams and this parcel of land closer to being worked by loving hands to produce food.  

Please click here for the donation link and the video!