Food

Get stuck in: Four healing honey recipes

Maximise honey’s medicinal properties with these easy ideas, from breakfast to bedtime

Drizzle honey over oats or into salad dressings. Photograph: Jack Andersen/Getty

Felicity Cloake
Fri Sep 7 2018 - 06:00

Medical trials tend to look at honey taken by the spoonful, which is frankly about as much fun as the cough itself, but unfortunately many of the qualities that make honey so valuable are heat sensitive, which rules out taking it in the form of sticky sausages, root veg or a fluffy Jewish honey cake. Here are some recipes to try instead.

OVERNIGHT OATS

Whisk a tablespoon of raw runny honey into 100ml milk until dissolved, then stir into 50g oats and leave to sit for a few hours, or overnight. Grate in a small apple and top with chopped nuts or seeds to serve.

HONEY PEANUT BUTTER

You can, of course, just stir together honey and peanut butter, but for extra smug points make your own by whizzing 500g roasted peanuts to crumbs in a food processor, then adding a tablespoon of oil (coconut and groundnut are both nice), a decent pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of honey. Process until creamy, then adjust seasoning if necessary – and ration. A dangerously addictive dip for apple or carrot.

SALAD DRESSING

Honey makes an excellent addition to salad dressings, particularly for crunchy autumnal ingredients such as chicory and walnuts. Shake two parts lemon juice or cider vinegar to one part honey in a jam jar until well combined, then shake in three parts oil and season to taste.

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WARM – NOT HOT! – TODDY

Heat 60ml water with a strip of lemon peel, a knob of ginger, a cinnamon stick and a few cloves, until steaming. Allow to cool to drinking temperature, then stir in a tablespoon of honey and the juice of half a lemon, plus a tot of whiskey if you feel particularly grim. It helps, I promise. – Guardian