Czech and Slovak heritage is of great interest to me, given my Father’s family roots. Late 2020, I participated in ‘Czech & Slovak Christmas’ offered through Global Slovakia Academy. It was a wonderful class, offering education of the Slovak advent and holidays, celebrations and food.
The Slovak Honey Cookies are traditional Christmas treats and I had to try them. They are very similar to our traditional Gingerbread cookies, using honey instead of Molasses. They are absolutely delicious and a new favorite for the holidays.
SLOVAK HONEY COOKIES
3 cups (400 g) plain flour
1 cup (140 g) icing sugar
4 tbsp (60 g) butter softened
3 eggs
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp of gingerbread spice mix
3 tbsp clear honey
- Preheat your oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Line a baking tray with paper.
- Sift together the flour, icing sugar, soda bicarbonate and spices.
- Add butter and honey to the dry ingredients along with the eggs, and mix well to form a soft dough.
- Wrap in a cling film and leave overnight in the refrigerator to chill.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of half a centimeter.
- Cut out with your desired cookie cutter and place well apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Decorate with icing if you wish.
ICING
1 egg white
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice.
- Whisk the ingredients together until stiff peaks form.
- Add more sugar if needed and have patience.
- Spoon your icing into a sandwich bag, twist the bag tightly until the icing wedges into one corner, and then poke or cut a tiny hole into the corner. Make sure your cookies are completely cool before beginning to decorate.
GINGERBREAD SPICE MIX
10g ground cinnamon
4g whole cloves
3g fresh ground nutmeg
3g cardamom pods
3g star anise
- Crush the cardamom pods, star anise and cloves using a pestle and mortar. Ground in a coffee grinder and add to the ground cinnamon.
Fork Lore 