Vintage: Chocolate Honeys Cookies

Guess who’s back with another new- well… technically old– vintage recipe? I had a great response to my first vintage post (Chocolate Bits Cookies) a few weeks ago, so I’ve been waiting for a break in the action to post a follow up. These chocolate honey cookies are similar to that recipe in that they are WWII era and use ingredients that would be more accessible during food rationing and shortages. Where they’re different is that there are lots of wonderful spices, and contain absolutely no white sugar or butter. These are soft cookies that store well and would make great treats to ship to someone far away who would enjoy them! If a chocolate chip cookie and a gingerbread cookie fell in love, this would be their delicious baby. You’re welcome for that particular mental picture!

Let’s start with a little background/history information, so if you’re coming directly from my first vintage post, please forgive me for a touch of repetition here. This recipe came in my great grandmother’s mailbox in 1944. It was the height of WWII food rationing, and things like refined sugar and butter were consumables preemptively limited, with the idea that doing so would reduce stress and anger at the grocery store when inevitable shortages occurred. Stamps were issued that could be redeemed (along with payment) for rationed goods to prevent consumers from hoarding. While most of the rationing restrictions were lifted at the end of the war, sugar actually remained rationed until 1947!

Now let’s get to the recipe itself. This is another Rockwood & Co. recipe, which means it calls for their ‘chocolate bits’. As mentioned in the first vintage post, my grandmother tells me that this was a far less sweet chocolate- which makes sense considering the sugar rationing in place. You can use anything from 60% cacao (commonly sold as semi-sweet) and up. I find my favorite to be 65%, but 70%-80% would also be delicious. While Rockwood & Co. is no longer an active company (it appears that their factory has been converted into loft apartments) and so I had to use my best guess as to what a ‘package’ of chocolate contained, and about 1 1/2 cups (rather than the 1 heaping cup in the recipe) worked well for me. You can always add more or less if that is your preference! I used chocolate already packaged in ‘small chunk’ shapes, but you could also use chocolate chips or crush chocolate bars to the size you want to use.

While combining the spices, it definitely reminded me of Christmas and gingerbread, which is never a bad thing in my book! I left all the spices at the measurements listed on the recipe card, omitted the raisins (because my kids would lose their minds) and increased the vanilla to 1 full teaspoon. In place of sugar, you’ll be using honey mixed with water to make a sort of simple syrup. Although the recipe doesn’t specify it, using hot water will speed the mixing process. Your batter will be much lighter and fluffier than a normal cookie batter, almost like a mousse. The card says to bake in a ‘moderate oven until delicately brown’, which honestly isn’t the most helpful kind of direction. I found that baking for 9 minutes at 375 was plenty, so you should start watching your cookies at about 8 minutes to ensure that they don’t burn.

Vintage Chocolate Honeys Cookies

Taste the past with these vintage chocolate honeys cookies, adapted from Rockwood & Co. by But First, Cookies!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 9 minutes mins

Total Time 24 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 2 dozen

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup flour all purpose
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup raisins (OPTIONAL)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 egg
• 6 Tbsp shortening (Crisco)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp water hot
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/12 cups chocolate pieces/crushed

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the shortening and egg until well combined. (The original recipe says fluffy but it's okay if you don't achieve that consistency.)
• Measure the honey into a glass (liquid) measuring cup and add the 2 Tbsp of hot water to it, and stir until combined into a syrup.
• Add half the flour mixture to the shortening bowl, mix on low speed to combine. Then add half the honey syrup, mixing again. Repeat.  Batter will be light and fluffy. 
• Mix in the vanilla and chocolate bits, stirring to combine. 
• Drop rounded spoonfuls of batter onto parchment paper 2 inches apart. Bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges are golden. Allow several minutes to cool on baking sheet before removing to a rack.

Keyword chocolate, cookies, honey, vintage

And there you have it! The best cross between gingerbread and chocolate chip that I’ve ever had the pleasure to try. If you enjoyed this recipe or have questions, please make sure to let me know in the comments below. Keep your eyes peeled for more recipes in this series by subscribing to the blog or by searching the keyword/tag ‘vintage’ at the top of the post. Until next time, happy baking!