In Praise of Snacking Spots

Recipes for Honeycomb Candy and Brown Butter Buckwheat Cookies with Smashed Dark Chocolate Honeycomb Bits

The one element of postpartum preparation I could fully get behind is finding places around the house to set up baskets of SNACKZ and stocking my freezer. I have made so many “snacking spots” and have forgotten where I left them (brain fog is very real). I am delightfully surprised when I find a fully stocked wicker basket full of treats around a corner! I recommend this lifestyle upgrade regardless of child status - do it for your inner child. Truly these are the daily surprises we all deserve.

A month ago I ordered a mix of chocolates from one of my favorite confection makers - Oregon Bark to stock my “snacking spots”. I love their throwback flavors with elevated modern technique. The Lou Whistle is my obsession. But the Bob Dandy Candy is also a mouth pleaser. Rosemary herb infused honeycomb candy encased in a dark milk chocolate - crunchy, sweet, grassy in cocoa heaven. For those wanting a more bitter bite there is the June Dandy, with very dark chocolate. It is so easy to down a bag in one sitting. So I started thinking how to make this indulgence last longer.

Whenever I want to stretch something sweet, I turn to cookies. Homemade cookies are an extremely fast to make, from prep to bake can be as little as 30 mins. There are tons of benefits to letting the dough sit and cure. Flavors blend and grains hydrate. But the urge of the now is just as easily met by a cookie and it will still be delicious! The appeal for me is always to make, scoop and freeze. I bag and label the dough balls and bake off micro batches as the cravings hit me. But now I’ve also upgraded to baking off batches, packing in airtight bags and stashing in my snacking spots. So should you. Bonus: When a craving hits no need to turn the oven on in this sweltering heat.

With cookies on the brain, I immediately thought of Buckwheat as my base. Buckwheat is not a traditional grain despite what it’s name might suggest. The buckwheat plant is related to rhubarb and the flour is actually made from the seed of its berry. Buckwheat is a remarkable plant, nutrient dense, gluten free and equally at home in savory and sweet preparations. Beloved as soba noodles in Japan, and crepes in northern France. It’s flavor is bright, earthy, tannic and tangy. I love it in cookies for the tender crumb it lends.

These cookies bring best friends buckwheat, chocolate, brown butter and vanilla together. The rosemary and honeycomb highlights buckwheats’ floral notes. The dough is a lovely shade of rock speckled grey, its color echoing all the earthy notes of the ingredients it hides inside. The heavy speckling comes from using great ingredients - including the bran of stoneground buckwheat, the toasted milk solids of brown butter and tiny beans of the vanilla paste. The result is a soft cookie with crispy edges that’s sandy and custard like in the mouth. Very earthy and subtly sweet with pops of crunchy from the candy. Great alone or soaked in milk. Truly addictive. You can skip the bought candy and make your own Honeycomb and sub cocoa nibs for the chocolate. This alternative gives your cookies added crunch.

Honeycomb Recipe

325g cane sugar

175g Dark Honey, like buckwheat, sage or rosemary

60g water

15g Baking Soda

To Make:You will need a large pot, a wooden spoon and a half sheet tray with silicone mat.

Heat honey, water and sugar in a large pot stir to combine. Place over medium high flame. Don’t stir it now but gently swirl the pot to make sure it melts evenly. Allow to cook till it almost smells burnt.

Drop in baking soda all at once and stir vigorously with your wooden spoon for 5-6 seconds. Mixture will rush up your pot. Gently tip out onto your half sheet tray. Allow to cool completely.

Smash with the backside of your wooden spoon to break up into small pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Enjoy on its own, on top of ice cream, baked in a cookie, folded into buttercream.

Recipe for Brown Butter Buckwheat Cookies for Paid Subscribers below.

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Upcoming Classes/Events: I am teaching a pie class this Sunday 11am-1pm as the first in a series called Summer Camp! We’ll make a classic double crust blueberry pie and a banana cream pie. Sign up here. Participants will receive recipes prior to class and a recording of class afterward.

Other classes in the series include a Cake Intensive, a Jam Class and a fried Pizza class! Can’t wait to see you (online) in the kitchen!

Recent Publications: Kitchen Tape Podcast went on tour to San Diego for the month of July! Two episodes are streaming now on Spotify and Apple. We interviewed Arely from Michi Michi Bakery Collective and Sami Udell from Wholesam.

The Summer issue of edibleLA dropped this week. I had the pleasure of writing an article about Courtney McBroom and how to throw a feast for the Strawberry Moon and other witchy celebrations. Find the issue it all over Los Angeles (and below), along with a recipe for yummy salad I made and Courtneys delicious cocktail and polenta.

Obsessed with: Large format desserts. I’m itching to make more casual showstoppers like Italian classics of large single layers of cake piled with cream, fruit and flowers overflowing or sculpted table length pavlovas burdened with curd and seasonal produce. If this sounds like your kind of party email me.

Inspired by: Looking back on pictures from the year I spent in Greece. I like to joke that the most bohemian life I led was working for the State Department in Athens, where I would get off work early and go to the top of my apartment building to paint. I so excited to be going back in October 2025 with Modern Adventurists to lead a Culinary tour of Athens, Crete and Santorini. If you want to join me you can book now, it’s going to be a most delicious time.

Reading: I started a free trial of the App Headway, which gives you 15-30 minute summary of books. When I was younger I use to read to many different books at once, and this app has been giving me the scratch I needed for learning about a wide range of ideas in a concise format. I stumbled upon it because the parenting books I want to read are teetering above all the books I collected last year I had hoped to have read already spanning farming, memoir, poetry and science.

Listening to: I may be late to the game but I have been hooked on Spotify’s Daylist. Even more than the mix it pulls together are the titles it gives anytime of day I tap into it. Honestly these feel just as powerfully predictive of self as a daily horoscope and provide an excellent laugh.

Just for Fun: I have been following Katerina Shukshina for years now. I love how she plays with everyday objects like produce and flowers. Expertly weaving them into whimsical clothing, accessories and other adornments.

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Brown Butter Buckwheat Cookies with Smashed Dark Chocolate Honeycomb