These simple Salted Honey Cookies are the perfect balance of sweet and salty, with brown butter and a rich, honey-forward flavor. They bake up with chewy, soft centers and crispy edges, a hint of flaky sea salt making them an easy cookie recipe that is perfect for everyday baking.
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Why This Recipe Works
Creating the perfect salted honey cookies was a bit of a challenge, but one I enjoyed! My husband is a bee keeper and we keep a couple hives on our property. We always have a ton of honey in our storage room so this recipe was the perfect one for me to take on.
You can use whatever honey you have-clover, orange blossom, wildflower, black forest, etc. Of course, this will result in slight variations in the recipe and flavor of the cookies. Some honeys are light and floral, some are more robust. We moved recently, just a few miles away from our last house, and it is fascinating to see the difference in the honey flavor we get even with this slight move.
I wanted a chewy, not cakey cookie and with as much moisture as the honey adds to the cookies, that can be a bit tricky to get it just right. There was also the challenge of getting the right balance of sugars-too little brown sugar and the cookies weren't chewy enough, too much and the molasses in the brown sugar strangled the delicate flavor of the honey.
I wanted to make sure the recipe was simple, but delicious. The brown butter is an extra step, but it is worth the time! The brown butter pairs perfectly with the honey flavor, enhancing it, not smothering it.
If you're a cookie lover like me, try these other ones next: brown butter peanut butter cookies, salted white chocolate pistachio cookies, brown butter oatmeal toffee cookies.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. The butter is browned giving it a richer flavor that pairs perfectly with the honey flavor.
- Honey. Use liquid honey-clover, wildflower, orange blossom, any kind is okay.
- Brown Sugar. A little bit of light brown sugar adds flavor and chewiness to the honey cookies.
- Sugar. Use white, granulated sugar.
- Egg. Egg works as a binder and helps the cookies puff.
- Vanilla. A little vanilla adds rich bakery flavor.
- Baking Soda. Baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread.
- Salt. Salt enhances and balances flavors.
- Flour. Use all-purpose flour for the body of the cookie.
- Sea Salt. Top the cookies off with some sea salt, I prefer Maldon flaky sea salt.
How to Make this Recipe
- Brown the Butter. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking and stirring until the butter turns a deep amber color and smells rich and nutty. foams, then the milk solids turn a deep amber color and smell rich and nutty. Remove the pan from the heat and let the browned butter cool for 5 minutes before adding to a mixing bowl to cool. Cooling the butter slightly before adding it to a mixing bowl should prevent the bowl from cracking if using a glass bowl.
- Chill Butter. Add honey to brown butter and stir until combined. Refrigerate the mixture until it has cooled completely and is soft but solid.
- Cream Sugars. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, mix briefly until smooth. Then adds the eggs, and vanilla. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat on high speed for 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture should become lighter in color.
- Add Dry Ingredients. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix on low speed just until a soft dough forms. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, ensuring all of the flour is fully incorporated.
- Scoop & Roll. Scoop about ¼ cup of dough and roll it into a ball. Coat the dough ball in granulated sugar, then sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt, gently pressing it into the dough so it sticks.
- Bake. Place the dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, leaving plenty of space between each cookie for spreading. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set. Let the salted honey cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, you can freeze the cookie dough. Scoop the cookie dough into balls, roll in sugar, top with sea salt, then place on a baking sheet and freeze for one hour in the freezer. Then transfer to a airtight container or gallon-sized freezer bag-removing as much as possible from the bag. The cookie dough is best used within 3 months of freezing.
When ready to bake, thaw the cookie dough on the counter for 1 hour before baking. You may need to add an additional 1-2 minutes to the bake time. You may also notice that the cookies do not spread quite as much.
Yes the cookies dough or honey and brown butter mixture can be made and stored in the fridge.
The brown butter and honey mixture if being stored for more than a few hours in the fridge should be tightly covered. It can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. When ready to use, simply let it come back to room temperature on the counter. Doing this will speed up the cookie making process.
If you'd like to make the cookie dough in advance, store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Let the cookie dough return to room temperature by sitting on the counter for 30-60 minutes before baking. The dough should be soft and scoopable. Follow the remaining instructions on rolling the cookie dough in sugar and topping with sea salt before baking.
Yes, you can double the recipe. This recipe makes 14 large cookies, but if you want a bigger batch or want to make some for now and freeze some for later a double batch is the way to go.
Variations of this Recipe
Make Them Smaller. If you prefer a smaller cookie, scoop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Note: Because the cookies are smaller than the recommend ¼ cup of cookie dough there will not be as much of chewy to soft center ratio.
Flavor Variations. These cookies are phenomenal on their own, but feel free to use them as jumping off point to make your own creation! Please note that these alterations may change the flavor profile of these cookies and dull the honey flavor of these cookies. Here are a few ideas:
- Add warm spices-try adding cinnamon, clove, all-spice, and/or ginger, or pumpkin spice into the dough .
- Snickerdoodle vibes-add cinnamon to the sugar that the cookies are rolled in before baking.
- Add nuts-chopped roasted pistachios, peanuts, or pecans would add the perfect crunch.
- Add chocolate-dark, milk, or white chocolate would be delicious. I love the idea of white chocolate and pistachios being added in tandem to these cookies.
How to Store This Recipe
At Room Temperature. Once cool, store the baked honey cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They are best eaten within 3-5 days.
In the Freezer. To freeze these honey cookies, cool the cookies completely, then place in a freezer gallon bag or an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw completely before eating.
Salted Honey Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted (141 grams)
- ⅓ cup honey (113 grams)
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed (102 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 gram)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 325 grams
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Place butter in a medium saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Cook until the butter melts, foams, and begins to brown. The butter should turn amber colored and smell nutty. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour the butter and honey into a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix together. Place in the refrigerator to chill until the mixture has cooled completely. It should be soft, but solid.
- Add both sugars and mix until smooth. Then add eggs, and vanilla and mix on high for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides every so often. You can do this in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. The batter should lighten in color.
- Add the dry ingredients-flour, salt, baking soda and mix on low until a soft dough forms. Use a rubber scraper to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl making sure there are no pockets of flour.
- Scoop about ¼ cup of dough and roll into a ball. Roll the dough in granulated sugar, then top with some flaky sea salt-you may need to press the salt into the dough to get it to stick.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, leaving plenty of room for them to spread. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9-11 minutes, Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Felicia says
i was looking for a new recipe using things i already have, and come across this. I thought it was a cool idea to use honey! i did not have sea salt, i used pink Himalayan salt and also used great value honey and id give this a 10/10 in taste. Genuinely such a delicious cookie!
In Fine Taste says
Hi Felicia, thanks so much for taking the time to review these. I'm so glad you tried them and loved them!
- Alyssa