Day 6: Poppy Seed-Honey Cookies

Halfway through! I am keeping the cookie exhaustion at bay, thanks, in part, to cookies like these poppy seed and honey gems. I love these cookies. Bryan doesn’t love them, he just likes them. Take what you will from that. But remember, I’m usually right.

I like them because of the poppy seeds and honey and because they aren’t too sweet. They are delicious with a cup of tea, or even a glass of wine. The recipe can easily be halved if you don’t want 5 dozen cookies. I’ve never actually made the whole recipe, it would be a lot of cookies and I think these are most tasty for the first 24 hours of their life. I will still happily eat them for another couple of days, but their texture becomes less interesting. They soften and no longer have the crunch they had on day one. I’m excited to make these for Hanukkah.

I can’t cut straight lines to save my life. These diamonds are all goofy, though the photos make them seem less crazy than they were. Feel free to cut into squares or whatever shape you like. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed-Honey Cookies (aka Pirishkes, adapted from Saveur ^[1])

• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey

Heat oven to 350°F. Whisk flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl with a hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each; mix in dry ingredients. Form dough into a disk; halve. Roll each half on a floured work surface until 1/4-inch thick; chill. Cut out 1 1/2-inch wide diamonds from dough; transfer to paper-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Meanwhile, boil honey and 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Place all cookies in a single layer on one of the baking sheets; brush with honey. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes about 5 1/2 dozen cookies.