Cashew Butter Cookies

Cashew Butter Cookies - made August 24, 2013 from Land O Lakes Cookies

I have certain prejudices when it comes to cookies.  The biggest one I've mentioned before is I don't like nuts in my cookies, especially in the thick, fat, chubby, chewy cookies I typically prefer.  Nuts are meant to be crisp and I don't like them in cookies because they steam and soften during baking.  Notable exceptions are macadamias as in white chocolate macadamia cookies or coconut macadamia cookies or other types of nuts (except walnuts) where they're part of a crisp cookie like almonds in the Lemon Chip Cookies or the Pecan Butter Shortbread or something like Mexican Wedding Cakes where the pecans are the star of the cookie.  I also don't mind nuts on top of cookies or brownies as long as they stay crisp and provide a texture contrast.

But every once in awhile, I try out a recipe that will challenge my prejudice, just in case it turns out so fantastically well that I'll be glad I kept an open mind. Hmm, this recipe didn't quite do that but for an unexpected reason.  It turns out I didn't mind the cashews in the cookies as I have a soft spot for cashews in my cookie-eating heart.  But I didn't like the honey.  I don't care for honey in sweets because I don't like the flavor of honey that much and most of the time, it's a little too sweet for me. I do like it in savory dishes, like when it's paired and offset with something salty like soy sauce.  But I've never been into baked goods like baklava because the honey makes it too sweet. These cookies weren't necessarily overly sweet but the honey flavor was definitely present so I didn't like these cookies as much as I had hoped.

However, I always maintain everyone's tastes are different so while I may not like something, it doesn't mean others won't like it.  I brought a plate of these to work and left them in our communal kitchen one morning.  A few hours later, I walked by and found this:

So someone must've liked them :).

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup honey

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped salted cashews

1.     Heat oven to 375˚F.  In large mixer bowl combine butter, sugar, honey and egg.  Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).  Reduce speed to low.  Add all remaining ingredients except chopped cashews and cashew halves.  Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).

2.     By hand, stir in chopped cashews.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets; top each cookie with cashew half.  Bake for 6 to 9 minutes or until golden brown.