Cooking With Honey

Health benefits of honey

A sticky sweet food made by bees, honey is made from the nectar of flowers which honey bees cleverly deposit in their beehive. A very complicated process, we don’t realise how much work has gone into making this lovely spread as you plaster it all over our toast in the morning!

Aside from its deliciously sweet flavor, honey is in fact very beneficial for your health. It has been known to:

Cure Illnesses: Honey has been used for thousands of years to cure sore throats, tiredness, various aches and pains, burns, cuts and much more. This is due to its anti inflammatory content which helps reduce swelling and also prevents infection.

Build Up Immune Systems: With properties of anti bacteria and antioxidant content, honey is great for supporting your immune system. It helps you fight illness, is great for digestive health and keeps you healthy.

Boost Energy: The natural sugars within honey are the main reason that it’s so great for boosting energy. It is the glucose that can help give you that little extra lift, and is a much healthier alternative to having processed white sugar. Popular with athletes, honey improves endurance and is a great source of carbs.

Honey tastes great, there’s no doubt about it, and thanks to its great taste, not to mention its many health benefits it can be used in a variety of recipes from desserts to entrees, to salad dressings, to appetisers to snacks!

Marvelous recipes with honey

Honey of course adds sweetness to any beverage. From cocktails such as the Bee Sting cocktail (1 bottle pear cider, 1 bottle amber ale and 1 tbsp honey) to lattes and teas, honey adds flavor to many beverages. Substituting honey for sugar in smoothies will add the added health benefits of homey to the smoothies.

Find recipes for honey beverages on Recipebridge.

You can also find honey being extensively used in many breakfast foods such as granolas, drizzling over pancakes and waffles and yogurts,  and adding in trail mixes and popcorn etc.

At the same time honey is also a delightful adddition to many entrees, seasonings, sauces and glazings. Here’s our pick for honey inspired entrees:

• Honey Grilled Prawns
• Honey Barbecued Ribs
• Honey Glazed Ham
• Honey Dip Recipes
• Teriyaki Honey Chicken Recipes

Lastly, honey of course finds it’s way in numerous dessert recipes. Here’s our pick of some classic honey desserts:

• Honey Brittle Recipes
• Beehive cookies
• Honey Cake Recipes
• Honey Sorbet Recipes

Bee Berry Sorbet – this is delicious! You’ll need:

• 16 oz frozen raspberries
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• ½ tsp lime peel – grated
• 1 cup water

1. Blend raspberries in a food processor.
2. Strain into a medium sized bowl through a fine sieve using the back of a spoon
3. Add the honey, lime juice and peel and water then mix well.
4. Pour into your ice cream maker then freeze.

If you don’t have an Ice Cream Maker:

1. Pour the mixture into 9-inch bowl that’s suitable for freezing.
2. Place in freezer for between 3 and 6 hours or until it has hardened.
3. Scoop mixture into a mixing bowl then beat with an electric mixer until light and slushy.
4. Place mixture back in the pan and freeze for another 2 to 4 hours then serve when hardened!

As you can see, there are a great deal of amazing recipes for you to try, and as September is National Honey Month, why not give a few recipes a go?

Find more honey recipes on Recipebridge.