Book Club: The Starless Sea's Lemon Honeybee Cookies
Long time, no post, my lovely nerds! I know it’s been a minute since I last shared a recipe with you all, but I’m happy to say I’m back with not just this but several posts on the horizon. As an added bonus: I’ve recently changed apartments! And my new place has some lovely natural light in the kitchen, so I thought I’d try my hand at making some videos to go along with these new recipes. They’ll be up on the Sugared Nerd YouTube page, so if you’re into the video recipe scene, go on over there and subscribe so you don’t miss an update.
For today’s recipe, I was inspired by The Starless Sea, a recent pick for the Book Club I belong to, which has had to become a Virtual Book Club, which is, honestly, no less fun. And I gotta say, if you’re nerdy cook/baker, this book is an idea smorgasbord. Author Erin Morgenstern creates lush, fantastical worlds in her books, and that extends to the food. We’ve got literary cocktails, magical candies, and a seemingly sentient kitchen that can provide a hungry guest with “all the dumplings”.
I decided to try my hand at these cookies because a) I love all things lemon 2) This felt like a great opportunity to attempt to make my own cookie stamp and share with you all how to do it, and c) in the book, these cookies are baked by the character Kat, an Emerging Media major who spends her spare time baking cookies and knitting scarves for her friends, and who I related to for some reason, I don’t know, who can say why.
I was very happy with how these turned out. Simple but tasty and excellent with some afternoon tea. If you’d like to make these cookies, you can, of course, buy a honeybee cookie stamp, but as I didn’t have one on hand and always have some kitchen crafting supplies around, I decided to make my own. So, here are the steps to making your own Cookie Stamp.
How To: Cookie Stamp
Supplies
paper
pencil
scissors
polymer clay
sculpting tools (knives and toothpicks will work)
cookie cutter
Instructions
Design - This is much easier with some kind of cookie cutter to base your design off of. I used an angel cookie cutter that I already had and could be easily altered to match the bee shape. Trace your outline onto a piece of paper. Then draw what you’d like your cookie to look like. Keep the lines simple and clean. Remember that you’ll likely lose some definition in your finished cookie, so try not to get too complex.
Sculpt - Cut out your paper design. On a silicone mat, or aluminum foil lined cookie sheet, roll out your polymer clay as if it were dough, to about 1/4-1/2” thickness. Cut out the shape with your cookie cutter and trace your design onto the clay, using some sculpting tools or, alternatively, a toothpick. Once your design has been transferred, go back in and add more depth to the lines of your design. You want to treat this clay as though it’s your proto-cookie. Whatever you want your final cookie to look like, sculpt it now. When you’re done, just follow the instructions on your clay packaging to set.
Mold - That’s right folks, we’re once again using the Easy Mold Castin’ Craft Silicone Putty, my favorite product for making custom treats. Mix equal parts of your purple & white putty together, and, using your cookie cutter on top of your clay cookie as a container, press the silicone onto the surface of your clay cookie, being sure to press well in order to avoid air bubbles. When your silicone has set (in about half an hour), you can un-mold and you now have a custom-made cookie stamp.
Lemon Honeybee Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 lemons, zested
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon water
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Mix together your dry ingredients. In a small bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix to incorporate, and set aside.
Mix together your wet ingredients. In a large bowl, cream together your butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup honey, and lemon zest with a hand mixer or stand mixer until thoroughly combined. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix by hand until a dough forms.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out your dough on a well-floured surface to 1/4” thickness. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutter, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Flour your cookie stamp and stamp the surface of each cookie. Combine your remaining honey and water to make a honey-glaze. Brush onto each cookie, then sprinkle with some turbinado sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookie just begin to brown. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Serve with some tea and a good book.