Here is my recipe for homemade Danish honey hearts with a dark chocolate coating. Honey hearts, or “honninghjerter” as we call them in Denmark, are a classic Christmas treat, and the secret is a honey dough made with honey and flour.
The honey dough is best made 4 weeks in advance, because that gives the hearts the deepest honey flavour. If you are short on time, you can also make it a few days before. So start your Christmas preparations in good time!
Good to know
- The hearts turn hard when they cool. That is completely normal.
- Cover them with a damp tea towel and keep them in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Then they soften.
- Only coat the hearts you will serve that day with chocolate.
Danish honey hearts with chocolate
Ingredients
Instructions
Honey dough
Make the honey dough up to 1 month before you need it. You can also make it a few days in advance.
Gingerbread dough
Grate the honey dough on a grater or in a food processor. Put it in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Stir the baker’s ammonia into the egg yolks until there are no lumps. Stir the potash into the water. It may get warm.
Pour both mixtures into the bowl with the honey dough. Add the spices and knead the dough in the mixer for about 8 minutes.
If the dough is too dry, add a few spoonfuls of water. If it is too soft or wet, add flour until the dough holds together.
Preheat the oven to 175°C (fan).
Dust the counter with flour and roll out the dough to about 5 mm thick. Cut out hearts with a heart-shaped cutter (mine is 10 cm across). Place the hearts on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. They rise while baking, so leave plenty of space between them. Cut out about 14 hearts.
Bake the hearts for about 7 to 8 minutes. They should be dark, but not too dark, and soft when you take them out of the oven.
Let the honey hearts cool on a wire rack. Once cold they turn hard, so you cannot eat them straight away. Put them in a roasting tin or similar with a damp (not wet) tea towel over them, and keep them in the fridge for 2 to 3 days so they soften and absorb the flavour of the spices.
Chocolate coating
Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie.
Only coat the hearts you will serve that day. You can dip them in chocolate or brush them with chocolate. Let the chocolate set and serve the honey hearts. Keep the remaining hearts without chocolate in the fridge under the tea towel, where they keep for up to 1 month. Enjoy!
Delicious recipes from the same category
Why do my honey hearts turn hard?
It is completely normal and does not mean anything went wrong. Honey hearts are soft when they come out of the oven, but they turn hard as they cool.
That is why they go in a roasting tin with a damp (not wet) tea towel over them, and stay in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Then they soften again and absorb the flavour of the spices. So do not eat them on the day you bake them.
How long does it take to make honey hearts?
The dough and baking only take about 30 minutes. But you need to plan a little time before and after. The honey dough is best made up to 1 month in advance, and once baked, the hearts need 2 to 3 days in the fridge under a damp tea towel. So start in good time if you need them ready for a specific day.
Can you make honey hearts without honey dough?
The honey dough is what gives the honey hearts their deep honey flavour, so I would not skip it. If you do not have a month, you can easily make the honey dough just a few days before. See my recipe for honey dough for Danish gingerbread.
How long do honey hearts keep?
Without chocolate, the honey hearts keep for up to 1 month in the fridge under the damp tea towel. Only coat the hearts you will serve that day, as they quickly dry out once they have their chocolate on.
Please write a comment