The cookie exchange, episode II

I was supposed to get to these cookies shortly after publishing episode I on last year's cookie exchange with Mom and her female work buddies but c'est la vie. Among the favorites Mom always brings home from the cookie exchange are the ROLO® Pretzel Delights I wrote about in December and these faux "Honey Bunches," which are apparently copycats of the ones that C'ville Coffee has been selling for years. I can neither confirm nor deny how close these are to the originals since I've never had them (or anything else, sorry) from C'ville Coffee, but Mom says those are dang good. Others apparently think so, too, because there are at least two copycat recipes floating around the internet. I went with the first one, which matched the ingredients in the instructions provided by Mom's friend who makes these every year for the cookie exchange. I made only one change in decreasing the brown sugar by 25%, since I've always found these a touch too sweet for me (though they're still plenty sweet). Whether or not they approximate what’s available from C’ville Coffee, they are tasty little treats.

 

 

Honey Bunches

Adapted from Mundane Morsel (May 24, 2014)

Time: 30 minutes

Dry ingredients
142 grams (1½ cups) quick-cooking oats, such as Bob’s Red Mill or Quaker (this is the same kind you use in Katherine Redford's Chocolate Chip Cookies)
60 grams (½ cup) all-purpose flour
42 grams (1 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut, such as Bob’s Red Mill or Wegmans Organic
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients
113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter
113 grams (⅓ cup) honey
75 grams (⅜ cup) light brown sugar

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 350 degrees. Grease well two 12-well or one 24-well, nonstick mini-muffin pan(s) with nonstick baking spray.
    2. In a medium bowl, use a silicone spatula to stir together the dry ingredients.
    3. Place the wet ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the butter is melted.
    4. Pour and scrape the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Stir until everything is evenly coated.
    5. Place ~1½ tablespoonfuls of the sticky dough into each well of the pan(s)—a loosely filled #40 cookie scoop (the same one you use for Katherine Redford’s) works well for this job. Depending on how much dough you’re using each time, you’ll fill between 21 and all 24 of the wells.
    6. Bake until the tops are just lightly browned and the sides are browned a little more deeply, about 10 minutes.
    7. Transfer the pan(s) to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes in the pan(s) before removing; make sure they're fully set before trying to remove them. You will probably need to use a thin wood or plastic knife (or other nonscratching implement) to help remove the cookies from the pan(s). When completely cool, store in a ziplock bag to keep them chewy. Makes ~2 dozen small cookies.