Recipe: Honey Bunches (cookies baked in mini muffin pans)

HONEY BUNCHES

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, plus 24 walnut halves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup honey

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a mini-muffin pan. (If you don't have a mini-muffin pan, you can use regular muffin tins, but the cookies will be flatter.)

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine oats, coconut, chopped walnuts and flour. Stir honey into the pan with the melted butter and increase heat to medium. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and pour butter-honey mixture over oat mixture. Stir until moistened throughout.

Press 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture into each muffin cup.

Bake until just beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a walnut half in the top of each. Let cool 10 minutes in pan.

Run a small knife around the inside of each tin, then remove cookies and cool completely on a rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 18 to 24 cookies
Source: Butter Sugar Flour Eggs by Gale Gand, Rick Tramono and Julia Moskin