Honey Ginger Iced Cookies
Hey guys! It's been a minute. For the last two weeks I have been running around like a mad woman. Life tends to work like that for me. I go through weeks of calm and relaxing weekends painting carrots. Then all of a sudden a whole bunch of exciting things happen at the exact same time. Here are some life updates...
I have become the resident party designer at my office recently. Which is awesome! They trust me to execute my weird ideas... like painting a mural and building a donut wall. I built and painted a mini mural to help my office announce the opening of a new Los Angeles Office! It was super cute with big palm leaf graphics and I was able to keep my hand steady to paint in our office font. yay! We had a wonderful party this past Wednesday and transformed a portion of our office into a LA Rooftop party; complete with string lights, palm trees, food inspired by LA neighborhoods, a super boozy drink called "LA Water", and 80 Bob's Donuts that spelled out "I <3 LA". It was great!
Reuben's best friend, Andy, was visiting from Michigan the last 10 days and we have been eating all of the BEST food. He just left and we miss him already! It was so great to have another food loving friend dine and explore with us. We debated whether a hot dog is a sandwich, critiqued our meals like food network show judges, I watched them drink lots of beer, and developed an idea to start a breakfast restaurant that only serves leftovers like cold pasta and Chinese food. MY DREAM. When friends are visiting on vacation it puts us in vacation mode as well, which is great but I need to go on a juice cleanse now. We took him to all our favorite restaurants (Brother's, Y&Y, Richmond Republic, Sakesan, and Good Luck Dim Sum just to name a few) and I realized that I really need to make a San Francisco eating guide. That's going to be my next project, so stayed tuned!
Oh. and I accepted a new job. AH! I'm super excited and nervous, but mostly excited! I'm feeling so so ready for a new experience! However, it's been really hard telling people that I'm leaving my current job because I've made some really wonderful friends at BAR. I'm having some of my main work ladies over for dinner this week so I'm just going to keep inviting them over for dinner all the time! I'm also going to bake some farewell mini cakes so people will still want to be friends with me after I leave.
Now, I have some blogging, recipe writing, and painting to catch up on! We leave for Ohio in 2 weeks so I'm trying to get as much work done as I can before we are off to the happiest place on Earth! A part of me really loves buzzing around and always keeping busy. I searched online yesterday for cute loose fitting jogger pants and a new blanket to add to my collection, which may be a sign that I'm just about to burn out and need to veg out on our couch for a little bit and watch Naked and Afraid. That's our new trashy TV obsession btw. 21 days without a single dumpling?!! Despite the slight exhaustion, I'm always thankful for the exciting and not so exciting things that happen in life.
You know what else is exciting? HEXAGON COOKIE CUTTERS! I'm super happy about the fact that I accidentally ordered a set of varying size hexagon cookie cutters! I was only planning on getting one... but now I have like 8. I have a background in architecture, so I'm really drawn to bold shapes and the potential of making something graphic with food. I saw these cutters on amazon and I instantly needed them. I've been brainstorming ways to utilize hexagon cookie cutters. "What foods are hexagon shaped???" Honeycombs, ZEBRA CAKES, oyster crackers! "What foods can I make hexagon shaped??" - cookies, biscuits, mini cakes, rice crispy treats, rice cakes! Do you have any ideas?
I knew I wanted to make something with honey to play off the honeycomb shape. And so, these cookies were born! These Honey Ginger Iced Cookies remind me of those iced animal crackers that I would always eye up at the grocery store, but a spicier adult version with less sugar and sprinkles. I might add sprinkles next time. They are soft and chewy, and I feel like they are somewhat good for me due to the ginger-honey combo. I'm just going to keep telling myself that each time I make these. They are dangerously easy to eat, so either prepare to snack away at them all or share with some sweet friends!
Honey Ginger Iced Cookies
makes 40 2" cookies
Steps :
Combine butter, sugar, honey, and salt in a large bowl or bowl of a stand-mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, scrape down the sides as needed, 3-5 minutes.
Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla into the creamed mixture and beat until combined.
Combine flour, ginger, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Slowly incorporate the flour into mixture and mix until just combined.
Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. The dough will be very soft. Place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Bring your dough out and allow them to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out half your dough to 1/4" - 1/8" thickness. Cut out cookies with your cutters. I used 1.5", 2", and 2.25" hexagon cookie cutters. Place cookies on lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8-11 minutes, depending on size, until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack. Repeat steps 6-7 with second half of dough.
Make icing by whisking together powdered sugar and heavy cream. Add a bit more cream if you feel your icing is a little thick.
Once your cookies have cooled completely, you can decorate your cookies by dipping half of each cookie in icing. Shake off any excess icing and then tip iced portion into crush pecans. Place back on rack and allow icing to set.
Enjoy and Share!
Cookie Materials :
1 C unsalted butter - room temperature
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/4 C honey
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Crushed Pecans - optional
Icing:
1 C powdered sugar
5 Tbsp heavy Cream