537. Mushroom Spiced Cookies

Cute as a button, or in this case, as a button mushroom.

When I first read this recipe, I thought it must be wrong to have only a quarter cup of sugar to three cups of flour. Then I saw the three-quarter cup of honey. So in addition to being cute, delicious, and perfectly spiced, these cookies are also healthy!

The cookies are also just the right soft-to-hardy texture: they are soft to bite into, yet hardy enough to pack in a box to gift and transport.

Needless to say, there are no real mushrooms in this cookie; it is merely shaped like a mushroom for fun.

Adapted from pineapple and coconut. Family recipes really are the best.

Ingredients: makes 35 mushrooms

¼ cup butter,softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
¼ cup plain yogurt
¾ cup honey
4 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp all spice
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ginger

Icing ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cocoa powder

Method:

Combine flour, soda and spices in a medium bowl. Set aside
Cream butter and sugar until well combined. Add in eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in yogurt and honey.
Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until well combined.
Chill for one hour or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 375F, prepare cookie sheets with parchment or silicone bake mats.
Once dough is chilled, scoop about a tablespoon sized ball for the mushroom caps.
Roll the dough balls round in your hands and then make an indent on the bottom with the end of a small round wooden spoon handle.
Gently press so you don’t squish the dough too much. Place bottom side down on baking sheet.
For the stems roll about a half of a tablespoon of dough about an inch and a half long with one end pointed and the other slightly flat. Place stems on a separate baking sheet from the caps.
Bake 10-12 minutes for caps. 8-10 minutes for stems.
If the holes in the caps close up, once cooled, scrape a little back out with a sharp knife, just enough to fit the pointed end of the stem in it. Match up stems and caps so they are ready to “glue” together.
For the icing: Combine sugar, water and lemon juice. Dip pointed end of stems in the icing, let excess drip off and insert into indent in caps. Place cap side down and let fully dry.
Add cocoa to the remaining icing and mix.
Carefully dip the caps in the icing and lie on a wire drying rack and let fully dry.
These keep well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week or frozen for several months.

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