These traditional Italian honey cookies are perfect for dunking in coffee, milk or tea. Super easy to make, they bring a classic Italian flavor to your breakfast.
Italian honey cookies, or as we call them in Italy "novellini cookies", are simple breakfast cookies loved by kids and grown ups.
Growing up in Italy, my mum used to bake these classic honey cookies for breakfast.
Now, I make them for my family using her same recipe— it's so simple, even my 6-year-old loves to help!
These easy-to-make cookies are perfect for dunking in milk for breakfast, but they’re also great with coffee after a meal or as an afternoon treat with tea.
You can even use them as a substitute for ladyfingers to make tiramisu!
Light and fragrant, these traditional honey cookies are the ultimate dunking biscuits, and adding a little honey makes them even more irresistible!
If you're on the hunt for an easy Italian cookie recipe for the weekend or the holidays, these cookies are guaranteed to be a hit with your family and friends!
And if you love Italian Christmas cookies, check out these chocolate almond cookies, these soft ricotta cookies, these traditional Italian butter cookies, and my favorite anginetti cookies, they're all SO perfect for gifting!
Ingredients
This honey cookie recipe is a great example that you don’t need a long list of ingredients to make a simple, delicious Italian treat.
Here are the 7 ingredients that you'll need:
- Flour: You can use Italian 00 flour or regular all-purpose flour.
- Milk: Use regular fresh milk for this recipe. For a dairy-free alternative I recommend rice milk.
- Honey: I recommend a light honey which has a mild and sweet flavor. You can also use dark honey if you like, the cookies will have a stronger honey note.
- Sugar: I use caster sugar (finely ground granulated sugar), but you can also use regular sugar or raw cane sugar.
- Butter: I like to use salted Irish butter. You can use unsalted butter or dairy-free butter, just add a pinch of salt to the dough.
- Egg: Go for a medium-sized egg at room temperature.
- Baking powder: A bit of baking powder gives these cookies their perfect texture.
How to make Italian honey cookies
These honey cookies are very easy to make at home without fancy kitchen equipment or ingredients.
Here's a quick recipe overview with step-by-step pictures.
For the full printable recipe, scroll down to the end of the post.
STEP 1. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then whisk in milk, egg, and honey.
STEP 2. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture, and mix until you have a smooth dough.
STEP 3. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, and use a gnocchi board and a knife to cut and form the lines on the cookies.
Baking tip: If you don’t have a gnocchi board, you can use the back of a bread knife. The key is not to cut the dough, but simply to make shallow lines.
STEP 4. Bake for 12-15 minutes. The cookies should still feel quite soft when removed from the oven. Let them cool, then serve.
Storage tips
Store your cookies with honey in an airtight container or sealed jar. Store them in a dry and cool place in your kitchen for up to a week.
They freeze great too! Just place them in an airtight container, and they'll stay fresh in the freezer for up to a month.
When you're ready to enjoy them, simply thaw in the fridge overnight and then serve.
More Italian cookie recipes you'll love
Looking for more traditional Italian cookies to try? I absolutely recommend these classic walnut cookies, these delicious Limoncello cookies, and my super popular orange cookies.
Did you try this recipe?
Please let me know how you liked it! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thepetitecook!
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Recipe
Italian Honey Cookies
Ingredients
- 100 g butter, softened
- 120 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 80 ml milk
- 100 g light honey
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
Instructions
- Place softened butter and sugar into large mixing bowl. Mix, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer on medium speed 1-2 minutes, or until the butter mixture is pale yellow, light and fluffy.
- Whisk in the egg, followed by the milk and honey and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Place a sieve over the bowl and add flour and baking powder. Combine the ingredients using a spatula, then transfer the mixture onto a working surface, and knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough.
- Roll the dough between two big sheets of parchment paper, about 3mm / ⅛ inch thick.
- Create the typical lines using a well-floured gnocchi board or the back of a bread knife, then cut the dough with a knife to form the rectangular shapes.
- Transfer the cookies on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F and arrange the baking tray onto the middle shelf of the oven.
- Transfer the cookies to the oven and bake them for 12-15 minutes. The cookies should have a slightly crispy and golden surface, and should still feel quite soft when removed from the oven.
- Transfer the Italian honey cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely, then serve.
Notes
- Please note that I use grams for all my baking recipes because they offer consistent results, however US cups measurement are provided
- If you don’t have a gnocchi board, you can use the back of a bread knife. The key is not to cut the dough, but simply to make shallow lines.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Elizabeth says
These honey cookies are the best! The recipe works perfect and makes a lot of cookies, great for breakfast 🙂
Wilma says
I’ve tried these cookies in Italy and I couldn’t wait to have them again, so I just baked them and they are the best honey cookies I ever had! Thank you!!!