H is for Honey Lace Cookies (Jessica)

Hello Honey!

The lovely town of South Pasadena has an even lovelier Farmers' Market every Thursday evening. In the summer, the market draws a large crowd, but honestly, it's crowded in the winter too. Who can resist the cute neighborhood and delicious samples? Pomegranate juice and goat cheese? Yes, please!

At some point during "the winter" of my first year in Southern California, I discovered this Farmers' Market. Enjoying fresh produce outside in February was a shock! I distinctly remember realizing how far from home I really was on that night. Fast forward three whole years (how has it been that long?!) and now the South Pasadena Farmers' Market is just another part of the cute town that's become home (OK, not my REAL home, that'll always be in Massachusetts, but this is a second home). It is ESPECIALLY delightful in the summer months when the sun doesn't set until the market closes and I walk around drooling over the California strawberries.

One of the booths at the market each week is a man who makes all different kinds of honey. A couple of months ago, I had some extra time at the market and I decided to buy some of my favorite honey. This involved tasting every single kind, of course! In the end, I came home with the best and that is what went into this week's cookie recipe. The high quality of the honey made all the difference!

Honey Lace Cookies
by Martha Stewart

*Note: I made double the original recipe (and made about 30 cookies) and that's the way to go if you want to actually serve these cookies somewhere. The amounts here include that doubling.*

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Large pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter, sugar, and honey.

 Transfer to a bowl. Whisk in flour and salt until smooth.
3. Working quickly, drop 1/2 teaspoons of batter onto prepared baking sheets, at least three inches apart.

 4. Bake until cookies look like lace and turn golden brown, about 6 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don't over-bake!
5. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and let cool completely before removing and serving.

Review:
These cookies are beautiful! They really do look like lace. I ate them plain and they are very sweet, but I think they would be perfect with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm! They tasted a bit like butterscotch.  Because they are so sweet, this isn't the kind of cookie you could eat a whole plate of at once. They should be used more as a garnish (for ice cream!). A quick and easy recipe!

See you next week,

-Jessica