10 Unexpected Ways To Use Honey In The Kitchen

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For many people, honey is a household staple. It may not be used every day, but it's always around if needed. People rely on honey when they're feeling a cold coming on and will liberally apply it to herbal teas and infusions. Or perhaps it's the family sweetener of choice, meaning it gets drizzled on pancakes, morning toast, or yogurt bowls. Its thick viscosity is a big draw, as are its medicinal properties; it's been used as nature's remedy for ailments since ancient times. 

Since honey is such a common pantry staple, one can overlook it or forget that it can be used in many exciting ways. After all, it can be so much more than just what you add to your tea when the weather starts getting cold. In many cuisines around the world, honey is used in various recipes and serves as the primary flavor in all kinds of baked goods, drinks, and more. It's such a versatile ingredient, and its sweet, lightly acidic, and floral profile can serve as a wonderful flavor for all kinds of foods. Here are some unexpected ways to use honey in the kitchen.

If you're used to only buying liquid honey and pouring it over your oatmeal, you're in for a treat when you find out about creamed honey. While creamed honey is not a new invention by any means, it's not something that everybody knows about. It has a thicker, creamier consistency than liquid honey, and its color is usually a pale, opaque yellow. Unlike the name might suggest, creamed honey doesn't contain any dairy; it's made purely from honey. It's still great for those following a non-dairy diet, especially since it boasts a butter-like consistency. It makes for a velvety spread that is delectable on toast, pancakes, or waffles. 

The easiest thing would be to buy already-creamed honey, but you can also cream honey at home yourself. There are different ways to cream honey, and you can even make it with hardened, crystallized honey. You'll also need liquid honey — in addition to the crystallized honey — and then you mix and whip or blend them together in a blender or stand mixer. It can take some time to really get everything creamy, so be patient and let it mix for about 20 minutes or so.

You can also do something called "seeding honey," which has a similar concept to sourdough. Mix creamed honey into liquid honey, then let it sit for 10 days. The creamed honey "starter" will eventually transform the rest of the honey into creamed honey.

For the most part, people use honey as a sweetener, even in baking. However, honey can do more than sweeten your foods; it's a flavor delight in its own right. That's why making honey cake can best showcase the flavor of honey. Honey cake is often the treat eaten on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and is even Russia's most famous dessert for a reason. It takes on a subtle caramel-like flavor and hue, while providing a fruity sweetness that isn't overly sweet.

Honey cake can take many forms, from the intricate layered medovik, a popular Russian dessert, to a basic one-layer bake. You can make this simple honey cake recipe to get you started. With 1 cup of honey and a handful of other ingredients, you'll end up with a delicious cake, perfect for afternoon tea or a dinner party dessert. The best part is that honey does all the sweetening, no extra sugar needed. If you like your cake with frosting, you double up on the honey love and use honey in your buttercream instead of sugar, for a more complex flavor.

Honey isn't only an ingredient for sweet foods. It can be delicious in many savory applications, too. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to do so is in a salad dressing. Ditch the store-bought dressing, and mix up your own vinaigrette. It's a lot easier than it sounds, and the result is always miles better than what you can get out of a bottle. Honey may be a thick and sweet substance, but it's also acidic, a quality that makes it extra useful and easy to pair with other strong flavors. Mix some honey with olive oil, vinegar, and mustard to make a tangy, sweet, and sour salad dressing.

You can also take things up a notch by swapping the mustard for roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is both creamy and sweet, and honey brings out its caramelized flavor even more. Then throw in some shallots and some oregano for even more flavor. A honey vinaigrette can be shaken up in a closed jar for a quick emulsification process. Everything combines into one uniform liquid and is ready to use after a few vigorous shakes. Pour this over lettuce to make the tastiest, simple green salad, or use it all over a chopped mixed salad packed full of ingredients. It doesn't matter what you put it on, really; it will be gobbled up in seconds.

The pandemic may have turned a couple of folks into beer brewers, but one very underrated beverage you can brew at home is the ancient drink, mead. If the word "mead" brings up images of the medieval ages, you'd not be far off, since it's one of the oldest drinks in history, and we often hear about it in storybooks. However, it's making a kind of comeback at the moment, as craft drinks and fermentation in general become more popular. Mead is made by fermenting honey with water and yeast, resulting in an enjoyable alcoholic beverage.

So, if you have some honey and want to use it in an interesting way, why not brew up some mead yourself? Now, if you've done a little bit of fermentation before, you'd know that it's not as difficult or elaborate as it sounds, and that the bacteria are what's doing all the work for you. It does take time, though, so you need to practice some patience as your honey drink ferments, even if you're dying to try it. But if you don't want to wait several months, look up some ways to make a quicker mead, as there are methods that can be enjoyed sooner.

Honey is not only a great ingredient to add to other things, but it's also possible to add things to it. You can add seeds to honey to make a more textured ingredient, or even some ginger or chili peppers to make hot honey. Various botanicals also work well. If you want to experiment with different ways to infuse herbs or flavors into your honey, then lavender is a great choice. Lavender-infused honey is a delicious ingredient that's floral and sophisticated.

Lavender has such a delicate aroma and flavor, but infusing it into honey is one way to enhance it and get the best out of it. Then imagine it drizzled onto pancakes with some whipped cream and dried lavender petals as beautiful pops of purple. It doesn't get any more elegant. A jar of lavender-infused honey also makes for a good homemade gift for friends and loved ones, so with the holidays around the corner, it could be time to get infusing.

Few things in life get a group of people more excited than a cheese plate, especially if you've got a lovely assortment of accompaniments. There's no rule about what those items can be, but olives, grapes, cured meats, and crackers are generally crowd pleasers. Another very simple, yet elegant addition is some honey. Placing a jar of honey with a honey dipper on the plate or board is the perfect way to present it, so that those who like the play between salty and sweet can pour some over the cheese they want to pair it with.

There are plenty of cheeses that would be heavenly with some honey. Stronger cheeses like blue cheese or goat cheese are a natural pairing, but more neutral options like Brie would also be enhanced with a drizzle of liquid gold. If you're going for a warmer, baked cheese like Camembert, a drizzle of honey, some walnuts, and some fresh figs is a snack worthy of the gods. If you're just making yourself a cheese snack at home, you should consider making some ricotta toast with honey. Ricotta is creamy and mild, and it's just begging to be eaten with something sweet and floral like honey.

As the weather turns colder and the seasons start to change, the cravings for all the fall flavors increase. A very delicious way to use your honey for a fall favorite is to whip up some honey apple butter. Apple butter, in general, is a swoon-worthy condiment that is amazing when slathered on almost anything. If you've never had it before, you're seriously missing out. Although it may start out like applesauce, apple butter is cooked down with sugar and spices, and reduced until it transforms into a thick, luscious, caramel-like ingredient. Instead of sugar, use honey to sweeten the apple butter, resulting in a more aromatic flavor.

It's an easy swap to make, and you get a more complex taste. It can go in your oatmeal, on some toast, or even be used as a season-appropriate cheesecake topping. If this sounds dreamy to you, try this honey apple butter recipe to help you make this dream come true.

A popular way to get a nice browning or caramelization on your food while it cooks is by adding a touch of sugar. You'll often see it with ribs when barbecuing, or even on a Thanksgiving turkey to get a good color and texture. Honey is way easier to use in this technique because it's already liquid, making it easier to spread onto something, like a baked ham or salmon steaks. Honey can simply be brushed onto your fish or meat near the end of baking, and it will caramelize and create a delicious, crisp, and slightly sweet exterior. Make sure to apply it only near the end of cooking, though — otherwise, it will burn.

You can also add various spices, herbs, and seasonings to your honey before you brush it onto your dish so that your glaze is packed with flavor. Plus, it works like a sort of adhesive because it's so sticky, making it functional if you want something like seasonings or sesame seeds to stick to whatever you're cooking. You can also just add a squeeze of honey to your marinade, and it will naturally create a glaze as it cooks.

A honey product that's become super trendy lately is hot honey, and it's clear why people can't get enough. Honey infused with chili is the perfect blend of sweet and spicy, and each bite keeps you craving more. The best part is how customizable and versatile it is. You can infuse honey with fresh chiles, dried chiles, chili powder, or chili flakes — all of them work great. Plus, you can use something like Sichuan pepper to give it a different kind of zingy spiciness. If you just want to buy some from a retailer, try this Texas-based option called Kelley's Infused Hot Honey.

Then, there are endless ways to use it. Dip your egg rolls in it, drizzle it on fried chicken and waffles, or pour it onto your ricotta or avocado toast. You can also mix some into salad dressing or use it to glaze your salmon. If you like a kick of heat and some subtle sweetness in your food, you can basically put it on anything.

For fans of Mediterranean cuisines, feta can be the perfect cheese. It's salty, creamy, and when crumbled on eggs or salad, just makes everything better. But baked feta is a whole new level of yumminess. Baking a block of feta makes it melty, soft, and super satisfying. But adding some honey to it makes it a sweet and savory snack, taking it to new heights. The sweetness adds balance to the flavor and provides a welcome relief from the saltiness, while also aiding in caramelization as it bakes, creating a scrumptious crust.

It's the ultimate easy snack to make, and it's a way to turn a single block of cheese into an elegant appetizer by simply brushing some honey onto it. For added flair, you can add some dried thyme or oregano, or even some chili flakes if you like spicy food. You can even use hot honey for this! You can also add more honey after baking the feta if you want to up the sweetness more. Get some pita chips or crackers ready and dunk them into this hot, salty, and sweet delight. If you're a fan, give it a Greek twist by wrapping your feta in phyllo pastry and baking it until brown and crispy. Then drizzle with honey and sesame seeds to finish.