How to make honey gingerbread: kefir recipe and other options

Posting in group: Baking

Sweet, fragrant, with the aroma of honey and spices, literally “melting” in your mouth - easy to prepare and very tasty, honey gingerbread is one of the most ancient confectionery inventions. “Honey cakes” or “honey bread” were baked in Rus' already in the 9th century from rye flour, berry juice and honey.

Over the past centuries, the recipe has changed, and the Russian oven was replaced by multicookers, ovens, and bread makers. But the fact that, in addition to the classic recipe, you can count more than a dozen “variations on the theme” suggests that honey gingerbread remains a favorite sweet treat for many even now.

Classic recipe

Honey gingerbread (the classic recipe, in addition to flour and honey, regulates the mandatory use of spices), according to the recipe of the early 19th century, was prepared by Russian housewives from the following ingredients:

• Rye wallpaper flour (or peeled) / whole grain wheat flour – 200 g each.
• Honey – 500 g.
• Large eggs – 4 pcs.
• Soda – 7 g.
• Fine salt – 1/3 tsp.
• Mixture of spices - to taste, from 1 tsp.

Spicy spices can be selected to taste or use the following set (grind in a coffee grinder):

• Cinnamon – 2 tbsp. l.
• Cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, star anise fruits - a teaspoon of everything.

Step-by-step cooking process

This gingerbread recipe is unusual due to its small amount of liquid ingredients (only eggs and honey).

In this regard, the preparation differs in some subtleties:

1. First, you should prepare the dry ingredients: sift flour (both types) into a container, then add spices, salt and soda. Stir the spice-flour mixture until smooth.

2. If the honey is thick, you need to keep it in a water bath until it dissolves. Then, in a spacious container (the dough will be kneaded in it), combine honey and eggs, stir thoroughly.
3. Next, add the mixture of flour and additives to the honey mixture. It is preferable to stir the future dough with a spoon; the consistency should be thick and viscous.
4. Grease the baking container with oil (it is better to use “odorless” vegetable oils, which are used for frying). Transfer the dough into the pan and spread it evenly, leveling the top of the pie.
5. The next stage is typical only for this honey pie recipe: the dough in the mold must be covered with cling film to prevent chapping and left to “dish” for about 2 hours.
6. The final stage is baking in an oven preheated to 170 degrees for half an hour. It may take longer if you use a small pan, where the layer of dough will be higher than in a larger one. You should also take into account the features of the oven. The test for readiness is the usual one: use a long thin wooden stick to pierce the gingerbread to the bottom. If the stick remains dry and clean, the cake is ready.
7. To easily remove the cake, you need to take it out of the oven and keep it in the pan for 10 minutes.
8. To soften the crust and give the gingerbread an appetizing shine, spread the top of the almost cooled pie with thin sour jam.

The pie turns out to be very tender, with a dense but not dry crumb that “melts in your mouth”, with a strong aroma of honey and spices. It can be stored for a long time without becoming stale.

What can I add?

To get different flavors, you can add nuts, raisins, dried apricots, prunes, dried cherries, carrots, and pumpkin to the dough. Instead of honey - molasses, brown sugar (it is better to only partially replace honey with it), corn syrup, maple syrup, grape syrup, Jerusalem artichoke, agave. The zest (one lemon or orange is enough) will add a pleasant citrus “note” to the aroma of the gingerbread. For a layer of gingerbread (previously cut lengthwise into 2 parts), jams and preserves, condensed milk (especially “boiled”) are excellent.

Rules for serving dessert, decoration

There are a lot of options for decorating a gingerbread:

• Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar (using a strainer), you can first spread out the almond kernels or other available materials (for example, “rounds” of carrots), and then remove them - you will get an interesting pattern. For the same purpose, you can cut out a stencil of a design from paper.
• Cover the gingerbread with glaze in a continuous layer or in the form of patterns.
• Decorate with candied fruits, decorative sprinkles, seeds, sesame seeds or multi-colored marmalade cut into small cubes (preferably on top of glaze or jam, for fixation).

The honey gingerbread is served neatly cut into portions.

Classic honey gingerbread recipe

Of course, in order to choose the most preferable recipe for yourself and add it to the family cookbook as your favorite, you need to start your search with the traditional cooking option.

For the gingerbread you need to prepare the following ingredients:

• sugar – 1 glass, • honey – 3 tbsp. l., • butter – 100 grams, • soda – 1 tsp, • egg – 2 pieces, • flour – 2 cups, • sour cream – 4 tbsp. l., • fruits, nuts - depending on taste.

Preparation is carried out in stages:

1. Liquid honey is used, so if there is only thick, candied bee product in the house, it must first be melted in warm water. 2. Soda is poured into the honey, the container is set aside for about 10 minutes so that the contents combine with each other. 3. Beat eggs into the mixture and add sugar. The dough is kneaded until smooth and set aside for 6 minutes. 4. After the specified time, melted butter, sour cream and dried fruits are poured into the dough. 5. Lastly, add the sifted flour.

The well-kneaded dough is laid out in a special form, greased with oil, and placed in the oven at 170-180 degrees.

Sour cream can be replaced with kefir. The baked gingerbread is not too sweet, its purpose is as a base for the cake. The baked goods are divided into several layers. It can be prepared both in the oven and in a slow cooker.

Lean gingerbread with apples

A gingerbread with honey is a universal treat. Even in the “lenten version” (without eggs and dairy products), the pie turns out very aromatic and tasty.

Preparation next.

Ingredients

For the pie, it is preferable to take 1st or 2nd grade flour; such flour contains useful parts of the wheat grain, in contrast to fully refined flour - the highest grade.

Other Ingredients:

• Liquid honey – 80 g.
• Purified water – 200 ml.
• Granulated sugar – 150 g.
• 1st grade wheat flour – 300 g.
• Apples (sour or sweet and sour) large – 2 pcs.
• Baking powder for dough – 2 tsp. (or soda, but 2 times less).
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp. l.
• Spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger - to taste) - 1 tsp.

Step-by-step cooking process

Thanks to the presence of apples, this unusual gingerbread has a delicate taste with a pleasant sourness and a fruity-honey aroma:

1. The sifted flour must be mixed with baking powder and spices.
2. Peel the apples from the core and skin, cut into small thin pieces, sprinkle with lemon juice (to prevent them from darkening). Turn on the oven to preheat.
3. In a separate container, mix warm water with sugar and honey until completely dissolved. If the honey is thick, then you need to heat the mixture in a water bath; this technique will help you obtain a sugar-honey solution.

4. If soda is used instead of baking powder, then before adding it to the sweet solution you need to “quench” it with lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) and stir quickly.
5. Next, combine the two mixtures and stir thoroughly. The consistency of the resulting dough should be thin, like charlotte.
6. The last thing you need to do is put the apple pieces into the dough and mix.
7. Then place the gingerbread in the oven (at a temperature of 180 degrees) for 40-45 minutes, checking the readiness with a splinter.
8. Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar or otherwise decorate before serving.

Kovrizhka monastery

The honey gingerbread, the recipe for which is described later in the article, unlike the classic one, contains only lean products.

Ingredients

The honey taste of the pie is complemented by aromatic zest and nuts:

• Purified water - a glass.
• Coffee – 1 tbsp. l. (soluble).
• Brown sugar - a little more than 1/2 tbsp.
• Honey – 100 g.
• Vegetable oil “odorless” - 80 ml.
• Wheat flour – 350 g.
• Baking powder powder – 1 tsp.
• Zest (or orange or lemon).
• Candied fruits (and/or nuts - to taste) - 1/2 cup.

Step-by-step cooking process

Before adding nuts to the dough, you should dry them in a frying pan - this technique will allow you to better “reveal” their taste and aroma:

1. Remove the zest from the orange using a fine grater.

2. Next, you need to pour heated (but not boiling) water into a large bowl and dissolve the coffee, then all the sweet ingredients. Add butter, zest and stir.
3. Sift the flour into a separate container and add baking powder while stirring.
4. Pour the dry mixture into a bowl of liquid, adding candied fruits (nuts). It is necessary to achieve a homogeneous, plastic dough.
5. Then transfer the dough into a well-greased mold (or a mold lined with oiled baking paper), level it with a spatula or spoon.
6. Baking temperature – 170 degrees, time – from 45 minutes. (check doneness with a skewer).
7. Spread the almost completely cooled gingerbread with thick jam or preserves. Decorate with almond petals, or seeds, sesame seeds (to your taste).

Honey gingerbread with apples

Honey gingerbread with apples has an unusual taste. It can be made with water or kefir.

Ingredients:

• sugar 1-1.2 cups;
• several apples;
• water or kefir – 250 g;
• two to three tablespoons of honey;
• half a kg of flour;
• soda about 5 g;
• a pinch of soda and baking powder;
• half a glass of vegetable oil.

You can add a little cinnamon and walnuts. This could be a honey cake in a slow cooker, the recipe for which is created using kefir, or a delicious dessert in the oven.

Cooking method:

1. Water mixed with oil is poured into the container. Then sugar is added. The mixture is placed on the stove.
2. After heating, honey is added to the composition. You need to heat until all the components are gone.
3. Pour cinnamon and soda into the warm solution. Walnuts crushed in a coffee grinder are also added there.
4. Baking powder is mixed with flour, which is poured into the main composition.
5. Apples are cut into slices.

The multicooker bowl or oven tray is greased with oil. Place apple slices on top and press them slightly into the dough. Baking time takes 40-60 minutes. The mode in the multicooker is “Baking” or “Heating”. Instead of water, you can use kefir, which is also heated.

Honey mat according to GOST

Honey gingerbread (the classic recipe will remind you of a soft honey pie from Soviet times) according to GOST can be prepared in less than an hour.

Honey mat. Recipe according to GOST.

Preparation next.

Ingredients

The recipe calls for wheat flour, but to enhance the taste and benefits, it is preferable to create a “composition” of different types of flour:

• 0.5 kg of flour (you can take 300 g of wheat, 125 g of peeled rye and 75 g of flax flour).
• 70 ml of warm purified water.
• 2/3 tbsp. granulated sugar.
• 2/3 tbsp. honey (about 250 g).
• 50 g sweet cream butter.
• 2 tsp. baking powder (or ammonium 4 g and 1/3 tsp soda).
• from 1/2 tsp. (to taste) a mixture of spices for gingerbread (or your own set of spices).

Step-by-step cooking process

If you use ammonium as a leavening agent, then you need to clearly measure the required amount and add it to the dough separately from the soda:

1. Measure sugar, 50 ml of water into a small saucepan and heat to a temperature of no more than 90 degrees (until the sugar dissolves). Add oil, dissolve, mix.

2. Stir 200 g of sifted flour into the warm mixture until smooth. Cool.
3. In a separate bowl, mix honey with the remaining water.
4. Mix the remaining 300 g of flour with spices and baking powder.
5. Combine all three compositions (from steps 2, 3 and 4), turn into a homogeneous dough, knead well on a floured surface.
6. Next, you need to roll out the dough into a rectangular layer 1-2 cm thick.
7. Before baking (at 180 degrees, approximately 35-40 minutes), brush the surface of the pie with milk and prick with a wooden skewer. Cool the finished gingerbread.
8. Decorate with sugar icing.

Recipe for delicious gingerbread from Yulia Vysotskaya

My grandmother baked this pie. Since childhood, I remember this most delicate taste of dessert, literally melting in the mouth. In fact, you didn’t even have to chew it. It is enough to bite off a piece, and it instantly dissolves in your mouth.

The recipe itself was half-forgotten, but when I started to get interested in baking, I found the basics from Yulia Vysotskaya, and then I started experimenting, fortunately, now the choice of products is simply huge. Therefore, now all my acquaintances and friends admire my gingerbread, ordering it for holidays and meetings instead of more refined, but not so tasty cakes.

I’ll say right away that over the years of experimenting, I realized that this baking really loves honey and butter, the more of it, the tastier it turns out. As they say, you can’t spoil porridge with butter, just like this pie with various additives. If desired, you can add nuts, dried fruits, cocoa, cinnamon to the dough, and spread it with jam. Well, now for the basic recipe!

Ingredients:

• Honey – 1 tbsp.
• Strong tea leaves – 250 g
• Vegetable oil – 2/3 tbsp.
• Flour – 400 g
• Soda – 1 tsp. with a slide
• Dried apricots, nuts, other additives as desired.

Preparation:

• Add hot tea leaves to the honey, stir until the sweetness is completely dissolved.
• Add butter, flour, soda dissolved in vinegar.
• Beat everything with a mixer until smooth and fluffy.
• Add the selected additions (nuts, dried fruits, don’t forget to chop them first).
• Line a baking dish with parchment and grease with oil.
• Pour the dough into it, sprinkle with nuts for beauty.
• Bake in an oven preheated to 180 for 40-45 minutes.
• Check the doneness with a dry wooden stick; if it comes out dry, everything is perfectly baked.
• Cool the baked goods slightly and serve with your favorite drinks.

Tea mat in the oven

Honey gingerbread (a classic recipe - the basis for other variations of the dessert) made with strong black tea with the addition of nuts and spices is a delicious treat that beginner cooks can easily prepare.

Ingredients

Any vegetable oil can be used, the main requirement is that the oil must be refined and suitable for frying:

• Strong tea infusion (1 dl of loose leaf tea per 300 ml of boiling water).
• Honey – 70 g.
• Chopped walnuts / Sugar (preferably brown) - 0.5 tbsp.
• 1st grade wheat flour – 180 g.
• Peeled rye flour – 70 g.
• Baking powder – 1 tsp.
• Grapeseed oil (or to taste) – 0.5 tbsp.
• Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp.
• Nutmeg, ginger (ground) - 1/4 tsp each.

Step-by-step cooking process

Hibiscus tea or green tea with jasmine will add a special taste and aroma to baked goods; they can replace regular black tea:

1. You should brew tea, pour off the strong infusion and dissolve honey in it.
2. In a separate container, mix the dry ingredients: sift the flour, add baking powder, spices, sugar.
3. Next, combine the liquid with the dry mixture, add oil, mix well until smooth. Then add nuts to the dough.

4. Place the dough in a baking container greased with odorless vegetable oil, sprinkled with semolina (either breadcrumbs or flour) and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Be sure to check the readiness of the pie with a splinter. It is important to remember to preheat the oven in advance.
5. Cool the mat. Optional: cover with glaze, or spread with jam (thick jam) and sprinkle with coconut flakes and seeds; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

In a slow cooker

A recipe for honey gingerbread in a slow cooker is popular. It can be made with any ingredients at home. For example, with kefir, without eggs, with the addition of nuts, candied fruits or raisins. This recipe allows you to get a delicious dish in a short time. To do this, prepare the mixture and send it to the slow cooker.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 spoons of honey;
• sugar 180-220 g;
• about 450 g flour;
• a spoonful of baking powder;
• 250 ml water;
• about 120 ml sunflower oil.

Cocoa powder is also added to add color, and nuts and raisins are added for better taste. In addition, there will be a vanilla mixture, a little clove or cinnamon. Instead of water, you can use kefir.

Cooking method:

1. Sugar dissolves in heated water.
2. Then honey and oil are mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking powder and spices.
4. Instead of baking powder, you can pour in baking soda, quenched with vinegar. If kefir is used, then vinegar is not needed.
5. The resulting mixture is mixed with the dry mass.
6. Add nuts or raisins.

To prevent the dessert from burning, the bottom of the multicooker dish is greased with oil. It is filled with dough, and the multicooker is turned on to the “Baking” mode. It will take 65-70 minutes for the dish to be ready.

The honey cake in a slow cooker is covered with chocolate glaze or condensed milk. You can also cut it and coat it with cream or jam.

Rug in a multicooker

Honey pie also works great in a slow cooker. However, there is one important point: the baking time depends on the power of the unit. Sometimes the gingerbread needs to be baked for an hour and a half or more until it is fully cooked.

Ingredients

With butter the gingerbread will be richer and softer, with margarine it will be more dietary:

• 100 g honey.
• 7 g baking soda.
• 2 large eggs.
• 140 g sugar.
• 80 g softened butter (or margarine).
• 5 tbsp. l. medium fat sour cream.
• 2 tbsp. wheat flour (preferably 1st grade).
• 100 g walnuts (or 1/2 cup pine nuts, to taste).
• Spices (to taste).

Step-by-step cooking process

The technology is simple: you need to add all the products in the same sequence as in the list:

1. In a large container, combine honey and soda, and after stirring, leave to brew for a few minutes.
2. Add one component at a time in the same way: mix and let stand.
3. Next, pour the dough (thin, like sour cream) into a multicooker bowl greased with vegetable oil for frying.

4. Then turn on the “Baking” mode (from 50 minutes) and monitor the readiness of the gingerbread using a wooden skewer. It is very important to bake the pie completely to get a soft and tender cake with a nutty and honey taste.
5. The last stage: the cooled pie can be cut lengthwise into 2 layers and the bottom one can be spread with jam or sour cream, to your taste. Then combine the cakes and sprinkle the top of the pie with powdered sugar.

Traditional honey gingerbread

When deciding how to prepare honey gingerbread, you should try experimenting with the classic recipe. The flour product eventually becomes larger than the original dough.

Ingredients:

• honey – 3 spoons;
• eggs – 2 pcs;
• a glass of granulated sugar;
• margarine or butter – 100 g;
• sour cream – 3-5 tbsp. l;
• a teaspoon of soda;
• 2 cups of flour;
• according to taste preferences, add about 100 g of nuts and dry fruits.

Cooking method:

1. Liquid or heated until melted honey is combined with soda and infused for 8-10 minutes.
2. Eggs and sugar are added and stirred until smooth. Leave the dough for another 6 minutes.
3. Butter is added to the mixture and brought to a melted state.
4. Then it’s time for sour cream and dried fruits.
5. At the end, flour is added, which is pre-sifted.

The dough is laid out in a greased form and in the oven for 40-50 minutes at a temperature of 170-180 degrees. If there is no sour cream, then you can add kefir. The gingerbread is not very sweet, and is used as a base for a cake. At the same time, they are divided into separate cakes. This dish is made not only in the oven, but also in a slow cooker.

Rug in a bread machine

Honey gingerbread (the classic recipe necessarily includes aromatic spices) can get a bright taste and aroma due to the content of a very unusual component for sweet baked goods - black pepper.

Ingredients

In addition to kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt, and natural yogurt can be used as a fermented milk component:

• Eggs (not small) – 2 pcs.
• Honey – 3 tbsp. l. (with a slide).
• Flour – 2.5 tbsp.
• Brown sugar - 3 (heaped) tbsp. l.
• Kefir – 3/4 tbsp.
• Sweet cream butter – 100 g.
• Cocoa – 1 tbsp. l.
• Baking powder – 2 tsp.
• Ground cinnamon – 1/2 tsp.
• Cloves – 3 pcs. (grind).
• Black pepper – 1/4 tsp. (or taste).
• Salt – 6 g.

Step-by-step cooking process

Since the dough preparation procedure is multi-stage and done manually, the bread machine is used here only at the baking stage:

1. Sift the wheat flour into a separate container and add baking powder.
2. Place honey in a bowl (if thick, melt in a water bath), kefir and melted butter, stir thoroughly.
3. Then, in a separate bowl, beat the eggs, brown sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves.

4. Next, you need to combine both liquid mixtures, add flour and baking powder and, after mixing everything well, place the dough in the bread machine container.
5. At the last stage, turn on the “Baking” program for 1.5 hours. Check the gingerbread for readiness and add cooking time if necessary.

Cool on a wire rack. Decorate and/or layer to taste.

Original recipe with oatmeal

Another recipe that doesn’t require any special culinary talent. The confectionery product has a pleasant honey taste and dense consistency.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 l of kefir;
• 3 eggs;
• 75 g honey;
• 200 oatmeal;
• 200 g flour;
• 100 g sugar;
• 1 tsp. soda

Kefir is mixed with soda and not quenched with vinegar. Add eggs and beat with a whisk. Then add oatmeal and leave for 30 minutes to soften. After this, add sugar and honey melted in a water bath.

Then add flour to the mixture and knead the dough to a consistency like thick sour cream. Pour it into the mold and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes. The finished cake can be served immediately with tea or cut lengthwise and coated inside with jam or cream.

Rug with jam in the oven

A very tasty gingerbread is made with the addition of plum jam. This is not a Lenten, rather a holiday recipe:

Ingredients

You can use both cherry and apricot jam, but with plum you get the most pleasant taste:

• Plum jam – 300 g.
• Sour cream 15% fat – 300 g.
• Large eggs – 2 pcs.
• Sugar (preferably brown) - a glass.
• Fine salt – 1/2 tsp.
• Soda – 7 g (or baking powder 2 tsp).
• 1st grade wheat flour – 2.5 tbsp.

Step-by-step cooking process

Since the recipe requires quick execution, you need to prepare all the ingredients, measure and sift the flour, and turn on the oven:

1. In a large container, mix sour cream and jam.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and sugar well; whisking is not necessary. Add salt while stirring and soda.

3. Add the egg mixture to the sour cream and jam and stir vigorously. From this point on, you will need to do everything quickly, as the soda begins to interact with the sour cream.
4. Next, mix the sifted flour into the resulting mass until a thick, homogeneous dough is formed.
5. Place the dough in a pan greased with oil (vegetable oil for frying) and sprinkled with semolina.
6. Baking temperature – 170 degrees, time – from 35 minutes (check readiness with a wooden skewer).

Useful tips and tricks

The honey gingerbread will definitely turn out tasty and soft if you take note of the following tips:

• It is useful to combine several types of flour: rye with wheat, add flaxseed flour, which will make the gingerbread soft and keep it fresh. In addition, rye and flaxseed flour contain many valuable substances: B vitamins, vitamin E, folic acid, healthy fatty acids (omega-3 and -6 in flaxseed flour), microelements (potassium, magnesium, phosphorus).
• If you are allergic to honey, you can put any jam in the pie - the gingerbread will turn out no less tasty. Banana will add flavor and sweetness.
• If the recipe includes carrots or pumpkin, then these ingredients are added to the dough in grated form. And to obtain greater juiciness, chopped vegetables should be mixed with honey (sugar) and allowed to brew for 10 minutes.
• Before adding to the dough, dried fruits must be washed well, then soaked in boiling water and cut into small pieces.
• Walnuts must be chopped before adding to the dough. To do this, pour the required amount into a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin.

• To give a brown “gingerbread” color, cocoa, coffee, and instant chicory are added to the dough.
• The use of different types of honey (tart and very fragrant - buckwheat, light floral, unique chestnut) will help diversify the taste of the gingerbread.
• The dough for gingerbread is usually dense and sweet. To “raise” use baking powder, soda and vinegar. It is important to accurately measure their quantities and correctly introduce them into the dough so that these components do not lose their “leaking” ability.
• Professional confectioners believe that the best leavening agent for honey dough is Ammonium (food additive E-503). It increases the germination of dough, improves the porosity and softness of baked goods. An important point is not to exceed the amount of baking powder specified in the recipe.
• The gingerbread has one interesting property - on the second or third day its taste becomes richer than immediately after baking. You can verify this by setting aside part of the pie (wrapped in a clean towel) for a couple of days.

The table of measures and weights of basic products used in baking will be useful to every amateur cook:

Festive or Lenten, according to a classic recipe or an experimental one, honey gingerbread is a wonderful treat. Easy to prepare, made from available products that can be replaced and combined to taste. Served with tea or coffee, goes well with milk, kefir and fermented baked milk.