I’ve challenged myself to post 29 honey recipes in the next month – BEFORE Rosh Hashana. 
Not just your Bubbe’s honey cake. As a beekeeper and avid cook I can take you and your honey places you’ve never been before- culinarily speaking.
So let’s get buzzing.
Honey bees make honey from plant nectars. Nectar is a mixture of water, sugar, plant pigments, and related materials that attract bees to flowers. Most nectars have strong odors to aid the bees in finding them. Did you know bees can smell better than a dog? The change from nectar to honey involves the removal of water and the addition of two enzymes that alter the character of the sugars in the nectar. More on that another time.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
Why?
Hard core beekeepers used to show up to pot-luck style events with a jar of honey and a spoon. COVID kinda’ eliminated that so this has become my go-to sweet to bring. Lots of dietary conundrums these days (gluten, sugar, eggs, dairy…) so this recipe tics a lot of boxes and you don’t have to heat up your kitchen. Not good for the serious Vegans or those with peanut allergies, but you could conceivably sub another nut butter for the peanut butter.
So what about that Peanut Butter? 
Did you know most commercially made peanut butters are made from peanut powders? Even the organic stuff! We highly recommend Holy Butter, who actually grow and grind their own peanuts.
What you’ll need:
- 255g oat flour* (approx.)
- 2.5g salt
- 170g peanut butter
- 5ml vanilla extract
- 142g honey
- 128g chocolate
- Microwave
- Spoon or spatula
- Microwave safe bowl
- *food processor (optional)
*Sure, you can buy oat flour, but if you have a food processor, just whiz your oats up in that.
Not being very fond of chocolate, these are just minimalist enough for my taste. Also knowing very little about chocolate, I don’t pay much attention to what type/brand/flavour/cacao content it has. They’re also great without the chocolate.
Phase 1
- Line a tray with baking or waxed paper – this is a good opportunity to make sure there’s room in your refrigerator
- In the bowl melt the peanut butter and honey in the microwave in 10-15 second bursts – this will take about a minute
- Whisk the vanilla into the melted honey/peanut butter mixture
- Gradually mix the oat flour and salt into the melted honey/peanut butter. You may not need all of the oat flour. You may need to use your hands. The dough should be slightly tacky yet unable to absorb any more flour.
- Using a spoon, cookie scoop, and/or your fingers grab a walnut-sized ball of dough and flatten into a disc about 1.5cm thick.
- Park these on the paper-lined tray in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes
I did not grow up with traditional PB cookies, but some people just have to have that cross-hatch pattern on top. If you insist, do that BEFORE refrigerating.
Phase 2
The chocolate part. Without going into great, ignorant detail I’ve used baking chocolate, chocolate chips, bar chocolate, whatever has been stowed in the baking drawer. I’m sure they all have unique properties. I am not the person to address that. Ask me a honey question instead.
- In your magically washed-and-dried microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 20-30 second bursts
- Dip your cookies from the fridge into the chocolate. As much or as little as you prefer, returning them to the tray and the fridge for the chocolate to set
- Enjoy!
Keep these refrigerated in a closed container. They keep for 10 days if they last that long. They also freeze well.
Let me know how it turned out for you. Serious contender against commercial peanut butter cups?
