Honey butter cornbread cookies

I am a sucker for cornbread, and I knew I needed to turn this sweet and slightly salty treat into cookie form. These cookies have a slightly crunchy and crusty exterior, with a soft and chewy center. And of course they're filled with a sweet, buttery flavor and covered in a sugar and cornmeal coating. Think of the perfect sugar cookie with just a slight savory twist.

We'll use some extra ingredients, but this cookie comes together just like a classic sugar cookie. I used a stand mixer but a hand mixer would work great here as well. We use room temperature butter in this recipe, and in order to whip enough air into the cookie dough, the power of the mixer is really helpful. If you don't have the option of a mixer, I'd recommend melting your butter and just allow the dough more time to chill in the fridge prior to baking.

This cookie has a few key ingredients that make it truly taste like buttery cornbread mixed with a delicious sugar cookie.

• Yellow cornmeal: to me, this is the star of the show in this cookie. Not only does it bring the cornbread look, but it adds to the dense texture. I used this yellow cornmeal from Quaker.

• Honey: there is almost nothing better than the combination of honey and butter. In these cookies, the honey brings a deep sweetness to complement the buttery flavor, and also adds to the soft and chewy texture.

• Egg yolk: rather than a full egg, we'll just use one large egg yolk in this recipe. This helps to get an extra chewy texture in the end.

• Unsalted butter: butter is always an important ingredient in cookies, but especially in this butter forward cookie I recommend splurging for a European style butter.

• Butter extract: I don't use this ingredient often, and though these cookies will still taste delicious without it, this is the secret ingredient to get our extra buttery flavor. Butter extract is strong so we won't need much, but it really does complete the honey butter cornbread flavor of these cookies. I was able to order this easily online!

I tested baking these cookies both with and without rolling the dough in a mixture of granulated sugar and cornmeal. While both ways made a delicious cookie, the winner in the end was the sugar and cornmeal rolled dough. The combination of granulated sugar and cornmeal gave the outside a slight crunch and I also loved that the extra dusting of cornmeal gave a visual look of cornbread.

When it comes to measuring out your dough, I love these scoops from Cook'n Feel (I use the medium scoop usually for cookies) or this large scoop from Oxo. You can also use a large spoon, but this cookie dough is a bit wet so a scoop is really helpful for getting more even scoops.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 180g

• 1/2 cup cornmeal 72g

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 142g

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar 127g

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar 48g

• 1/4 cup honey 84g

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1/4 teaspoon butter extract

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (for rolling) 24g

• 1 tablespoon cornmeal (for rolling) 9g

Total time: Under 2 hours

Prep time: About 30 minutes

Chill time: 30 minutes

Bake time: 10-12 minutes

Servings: 13 cookies

Equipment

• Stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer)

• Spatula

• Small and medium bowls

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Large cookie scoop (about 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons)

Cooking instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix together your dry ingredients - flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place your room temperature butter and both sugars into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured and mix on a medium to high for 1-2 minutes. Note: if your butter is not at room temperature already, you can place it first into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, and then mix in your stand mixer at a low speed for 30-60 seconds until your butter is softened.

Scrape down the sides of your bowl and paddle attachment using your spatula. Then, add in your honey. Mix again at a medium to high speed for about a minute until fully incorporated.

Next, add in your egg yolk and butter extract. Mix on high for about a minute, pause to scrape down the sides of your bowl and paddle, and mix again to ensure everything is completely mixed together - another minute or two.

Add in your dry ingredients and mix at a low speed for about 30 seconds. Pause, scrape down your bowl and paddle attachment (be sure to reach down to the bottom of the bowl) and then mix again at a low speed until your dough forms.

Onto a lined cookie sheet (I used parchment paper) use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out your dough. It should make about 13 cookies, 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons per cookie. Place your cookie scoops into the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes to an hour. Note: if you want to chill your dough for any longer, I recommend chilling it covered and unscooped so that it doesn't dry out. I don't recommend doing this longer than a few hours for this recipe.

When you're almost ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Remove your dough from the fridge and in a small bowl combine your 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornmeal (you'll only use about half of the mixture, but it'll make it easier to roll). Roll each dough scoop in the palms of your hands to smooth the outer edges and then roll in the sugar and cornmeal mixture. I like to give each scoop two good rolls to ensure they're well coated on all sides.

Space out your cookie dough on lined cookies sheets so they have room to spread. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes - allow to cool and enjoy!

Your baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for 4-5 days at room temperature or in the fridge. Though they'll have the best slightly crisp edges on day 1, the texture of these cookies will remain perfectly soft and chewy for a few days so they are a great bake ahead option. You can also freeze some or all of your dough to bake later. To do this, place your scooped and sugar rolled cookie dough onto a baking sheet and into the freezer for 12-24 hours. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. To bake from frozen, set your oven to 325 and bake for about 13-15 minutes.

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 13 cookies

Carbs per serving (1 of 13): 36

Carbs for full recipe: 466

Carbs from sugar and cornmeal coating: 16 (this is based on using half of the mixture)

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.