Why Honey is the Comfort Food Hero You Need this Fall

Fall—it’s the time of year when we begin to trickle back indoors from wherever summer whisked us off to. In the face of dwindling daylight, time spent back in the kitchen is its own kind of therapy. Roasting, baking and braising are all welcome again as light summer food makes way for these heartier dishes. In a nutshell: Comfort food has well and truly arrived.

To ring in the season, we’ve created a set of fall recipes with what just might be our new favorite ingredient for this time of year—honey.

Why honey, you ask? I could attempt to be highly attuned to the seasons and tell you that honey is actually harvested in late-summer to mid-fall, making fall and winter the perfect time to put it to use—and that would be true. But really, it’s because honey deserves far more attention and varied applications in the kitchen than that of a simple drizzle, and the comforting foods we’re craving at this time of year just so happen to fit the bill.

Better yet, there are different kinds of honey, in all the colors of the fall spectrum, to play with. Depending on the type you use, you can lend varied notes of fragrance to your dish: Some treacle-colored forest honeys have a woody taste to them, while paler kinds have floral notes that linger from their source—like lavender honey.

Here are our top comfort foods to kick off the fall season

1. No-bake, no fuss tarts

No-bake tarts are an excellent prep-ahead dessert, especially for when you’re expecting guests. Simply make it the evening before, leave it in the fridge overnight to do its thing, and take it out to slice only after you’ve enjoyed your main course.

12:40 h

vegetarian

6.5k

No-bake honey and lemon tart

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Honey, as we know, pairs perfectly with lemon, but we’ve elevated the cure-all combination to a creamy tart—here the honey helps to achieve a rounded sweetness that is never cloying. It really is a no fuss recipe: At once so satisfyingly creamy and tart (the other kind!), it needs no accoutrements for serving and is the star of its own show. The most you’ll have to do is pass along the recipe.

2. Rich honey cakes

Honey cakes are probably their namesake’s most famous application for cooking and baking, helping to add richness and moisture to a heavy batter. These are exactly the kind of dense, aromatic cakes that we look forward to in the fall—complemented by additions like spices, dried, candied or stewed fruits, and nuts.

1:20 h

vegetarian

3.7k

Spiced honey cake with pear and ginger

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This recipe for a spiced honey cake with pear and ginger is a honeyed pièce de résistance—honey adds oomph to the cake batter, a touch of sweetness to the pears poached with Cointreau, and balances the tang of the cream cheese topping. It’s also filled with the flavors of fall and winter: warming ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a touch of clove.

3. Sticky savory dishes

Who doesn’t love a one-pot dish? Here’s another to add to the list: Sticky honey chicken with pearl onions and thyme. Takeout regulars will know that chicken and honey just works, so consider this pan-fried then roasted method the adult sibling of your favorite battered chicken in glossy honey coating. Garlic is, as always, a non-negotiable, and the addition of vinegar adds a touch of tanginess.

40 min

4.5k

Sticky honey chicken with pearl onions and thyme

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If you don’t have pearl onions on hand, use shallots or quarter small onions. To soak up the honeyed sauce, serve with crisp, roast potatoes.

4. Honeyed up caramel

Caramel traditionally relies on a duo of sugar and butter: You wait for the sugar to caramelize to a deep brown and carefully watch for the right moment to add your butter. But did you know that you can also make a caramel out of honey? Simply melt the honey and butter together in a pot and keep whisking until it thickens.

36 min

vegetarian

2.8k

Honey caramel and salted peanut cookies

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These cookies are inspired as much by my toast topping of choice as a child—honey and peanut butter—as they are by one of my favorite cookies: melt-in-your-mouth Chinese peanut cookies. These tend to make an appearance at Chinese New Year, but I am greedy enough to want them all year round. Don’t forget the sprinkling of fleur de sel at the end, which brings out the caramel’s sweetness and adds a nuanced salty-sweet touch.

5. It’s all in the syrup

A single diamond of baklava served with black coffee at the end of a meal is worth its weight in gold—at least in my mind. Satisfyingly crunchy, buttery, fragrant, and yes—here’s where it gets contentious—sweet.

See, baklava divides people. Naysayers, I can already hear you with your “Thanks but no thanks, baklava’s too sweet for me.” But you'll find here a fragrant syrup made entirely of honey, fresh orange juice, and a bit of zest—a sweetness that is far more balanced than a baklava drenched in a one-note, sugar-laden syrup.

And it’s with good reason: Baklava was originally made with honey or date syrup. If you’re worried about technique, don’t. It’s deceivingly easy: All you need is patience as you repeatedly buttering each later of phyllo dough and scatter the nuts on top—plus, the foresight to place your dough under a damp kitchen towel to keep it moist and workable. Make it and impress yourself as much as your guests!

50 min

vegetarian

3.3k

Honeyed almond baklava

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Let us know your ultimate comfort foods or any honey recipes you have up your sleeve in the comments!