These Mediterranean Bee Cookies are soft, lightly crisp, buttery, and naturally fragrant. We prepare these cookies with almond flour, all-purpose flour, honey, olive oil, egg, lemon zest, cinnamon, and orange blossom water. Dark chocolate stripes and sliced almonds give these cookies a cute bee-inspired appearance, while honey, citrus, and almonds create a delicious Mediterranean flavor. Each cookie has approximately 145 calories, and we make these cookies in about 35 minutes. These Mediterranean Bee Cookies are ideal for tea parties, holidays, family gatherings, brunches, dessert tables, homemade gifts, or sweet cravings. You can prepare these cookies ahead because they can be refrigerated for 7 days and frozen for almost 2 months. You can serve these cookies with Greek Coffee, Mint Tea, Fresh Figs, Fresh Berries, Orange Slices, or Greek Yogurt.
STATS:
- Prep Duration: 20 minutes
- Course: Dessert, Snack
- No. of Calories: 145 kcal
- Diet: Vegetarian
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Portion size: 1 cookie
- Cooking mode: Baking
- Total servings: 16
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Total time: 35 minutes
TOOLS:
- Bowls
- Whisk
- Tray
- Baking paper
- Cookie scoop
- Cooling rack
- Piping bag
INGREDIENTS:
COOKIE DOUGH:
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup flour
- â…“ cup honey
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- One tsp. orange blossom water
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
DECORATION:
- 2 tbsp sliced almonds
- 30 g dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
INGREDIENT NOTES AND THEIR SUBSTITUTIONS:
ALMOND FLOUR:
- We use almond flour to provide a soft texture and rich nutty flavor to these cookies. As a replacement, you can use finely ground hazelnut flour.
FLOUR:
- During baking, flour helps the cookies maintain their shape by giving them structure. You can use 1:1 gluten-free baking flour as an alternative.
HONEY:
- We use honey to naturally sweeten the cookies and provide a delicate floral flavor. Alternatives include agave syrup and maple syrup.
OLIVE OIL:
- Olive oil provides moisture and a Mediterranean flavor to the cookies. You can replace it with melted butter.
ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER:
- Orange blossom water provides a delicate floral Mediterranean aroma. Alternatively, you might use a tiny bit of orange extract.
LEMON ZEST:
- Lemon zest counteracts the honey’s sweetness and provides freshness. An alternative is orange zest.
CINNAMON:
- Cinnamon provides warm and aromatic flavor to these cookies. You can use a small pinch of cardamom instead.
SLICED ALMONDS:
- We use sliced almonds to create the bee-wing decoration and add a light crunch. You can use pumpkin seeds or leave them out.
DARK CHOCOLATE:
- Dark chocolate creates the bee-like stripes on the cookies. Sugar-free dark chocolate can be used as an alternative.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Stir the salt, almond flour, cinnamon, all-purpose flour, and baking powder in a dish.
- Mix the lemon zest, honey, orange blossom water, olive oil, vanilla, and egg in a different dish.
- Whisk the dry and wet elements till a soft cookie dough is prepared.
- Refrigerate the dough for just fifteen minutes.
- Distribute the dough into sixteen equal portions and make all the portions into a small oval.
- Put the cookies on a tray.
- We press the two sliced almonds onto all the cookies to make the bee wings.
- Bake at 175°Celcius till become golden, for nearly twelve minutes.
- Cool the cookies for just five minutes and then put them on a wire rack.
- We pipe the melted dark chocolate on the cookies to create bee-like stripes.
- Leave the chocolate to set fully and then serve these cookies.
TIPS:
- Refrigerate the dough if it is sticky and difficult to make shapes.
- We use finely ground almond flour to create a smooth texture.
- Utilize mild olive oil to get a balanced flavor.
- Avoid baking the cookies, as they will get dry.
- Cool the cookies fully and then include the chocolate decoration.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
FRESH & FRUITY:
- Fresh Figs
- Fresh Berries
- Orange Slices
- Fresh Raspberries
- Fresh Strawberries
MEDITERRANEAN PAIRINGS:
- Greek Coffee
- Mint Tea
- Greek Yogurt
- Pistachio Biscotti
- Honey-Roasted Pears
STORAGE INFORMATION:
FRIDGE:
- Store these cookies in a closed box and refrigerate for 7 days.
FREEZER:
- Store the undecorated cookies for almost 2 months.
FAQs:
Could we utilize butter as a different choice for olive oil?
- Yes, you may use melted butter as another alternative to olive oil.
May we skip the bee decoration?
- Yes, you can eat the cookies without the almond wings and chocolate stripes.
Will we utlize orange zest as a further choice for lemon zest?
- Sure, you might use orange zest to get a lightly sweeter citrus flavor.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATIONS:
Proteins: 3 g
Caloric Content: 145 kcal
Net carbs: 13 g
Sodium: 55 mg
Fiber: 1.5 g
Sugar: 7 g
Fats: 8 g
Portion Size: 1 cookie
Total carbs: 14.5 g