Peanut Butter Honey Cookies
If you are looking for a quick sweet treat using honey as a natural sweetener, these Peanut Butter Honey Cookies are just what you need. If you are a cookie monster, like me, you are probably already familiar with the deliciousness of peanut butter in cookies. In this recipe we have the option of making them just a little bit healthier than many traditional recipes.
Being a beekeeper with a lot of extra honey on hand, I am always looking for interested ways to use honey in recipes. You can do the same thing.
Baking Peanut Butter Cookies with Honey – (No Extra Sugar)
Ok, honey is sugar but it is much different than the bags of granulated sugar we often use. In addition to that sweetness that we all know, honey acts as a humectant.
It attracts moisture and that’s why the honey is used in baking in many commercial products. Honey promotes browning and moist baked goods. These cookies showcase all the flavors of peanut butter and honey.
Ingredients
In addition to a few common kitchen staples, you need:
- peanut butter
- honey
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Baking Chips
- white whole wheat flour
Peanut Butter: Though I normally use creamy peanut butter in recipes, you can use chunky if you wish.
Of course, any type or brand will work well. But, natural peanut butter is a good choice as it does not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Honey: This recipe uses a cup of honey and most of the flavor will likely be masked by the yummy goodness of the peanut butter and baking chips.
However, some varieties of honey (dark in color) can have a robust flavor. Keep that in mind when choosing honey for your recipe.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips: These chips are optional but they do make a big difference. They really enhance the peanut flavor.
White Whole Wheat Flour: Using whole wheat flour gives added nutritional value. White wheat has a smoother texture for cookies in my opinion. However, you are free to choose and can use regular flour if you wish.
How to Make Peanut Butter Honey Cookies
1. While the oven is preheating to 350° F, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. You can butter the pan instead but paper makes the cleanup much easier.
2. Mixing the honey and peanut butter together is easier if they are at warm room temperature. Both products can be stiff and difficult to mix when cold.
3. To ensure even blending, be sure to add the flour mixture in small amounts – just a little at a time. When it is time to add in your peanut butter baking chips, be gentle. You can use a blender on slow setting or use a large spoon to incorporate chips into batter.
4. It’s time to scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. You can use any size scoop but I find the tablespoon size to do well and produce a medium sized cookie.
Feel free to use a fork to squish them down in the traditional cookie shape – complete with cross hatch pattern. Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove from oven and cool .
Expert Tip
Are your peanut butter honey cookies too hard? If this is the case, you probably cooked them a bit too long.
Peanut Butter cookies continue to cook for a minute or so after being removed from the oven. Next time, remove them from the oven a little sooner and they should be moist and softer.
Let me say that this recipe for honey peanut butter cookies has more body than the traditional greasy variety.
If you did not overbaked them but they are a bit firmer than you prefer – I heartily recommend 10 sec in the microwave – delicious!
Storing Cookies for Later
- In the unlikely event that your family doesn’t gobble these up right away, they freeze well.
- Place in a tight sealing container with as much of the air removed as possible and store for a month.
- Keep some in the freezer for times when you need a quick honey snack and have no time to bake.
More Ideas
While you are busy making cookies, consider trying these crispy honey cookies too – you can even make them in fun bee-themed shapes.
And for holidays or special occasions, my honey cranberry cookies are unbeatable and make nice gift basket items. You can vary the fruit and use something different than cranberries if you wish.
Sometimes you need a quick little snack that is easy to make. Have you ever heard of cornflake cupcakes? Also known as Honey Joys they are an inexpensive quick treat to make for a crowd.
If you need a special desert, consider making a honey bee cake. This basic recipe is similar to a pound cake but it is buzzing with fun.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the world just needs a cookie. If you love peanut butter and enjoy using honey as a natural sugar source you must give this peanut butter honey cookie recipe a try.
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a 5 star (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) rating in the recipe card below. And, don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.
Healthy Peanut Butter Honey Cookies
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Read my disclosure.Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Baking Chips
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper.
- Mix peanut butter and honey well. When well mixed, add the egg and vanilla flavoring-stir in.
- In a separate bowl combine the baking soda and salt with the flour.
- Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter and honey mix, add a little at a time until well blended and a dough forms.
- Gently stir the peanut butter chips into the dough.
- Scoop tablespoon size pieces of dough and form into balls. If you wish, use a fork to gently press the balls down and give them the characteristic crosshatch design.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven until the cookies start to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven, let rest on the pan for 1 minute, then cool on a wire rack.