How to Make Hot Honey

Start with about a cup of honey and pour it into a small saucepan. This is the base for both versions, so whichever heat level you land on, the honey does the heavy lifting. A small pan keeps the honey pooled together, which helps it warm evenly in the next step. Grab any honey you like here. A good all-purpose one works fine.

For the first method, add your chili flakes right on top of the honey. Mike uses three tablespoons of a mix, Korean gochugaru plus some dried pods from his garden, because he likes it extra hot. Start with about a tablespoon if you want it milder and build up from there. This is where you control the burn, so taste as you go on future batches and adjust to your own heat.

Turn the heat to low and stir gently. You want to warm the honey through, not boil it. A minute or two is plenty. You will see the honey loosen up and go glossy as it heats, and that thinner texture is what pulls the chili flavor into it. Keep it well under a simmer. Boiling honey hurts its texture and flavor.

Here is the second method. Instead of dried flakes, slice up fresh chilies. Mike uses habanero for real heat and Fresno for a milder, fruitier note, but any fresh hot pepper works. Cut them into thin rings so more surface area hits the honey. Mix hot and mild peppers to fine-tune how spicy the finished honey turns out.

Add the sliced chilies to a cup of honey in the pan and warm it the same gentle way. Stir so the rings sink in and start giving off their heat and flavor. Again, no boiling. Just a minute or two of low heat to get the infusion going. Once it smells fragrant and the honey has loosened, swirl in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar if you want that little tang, then take it off the heat.

With fresh chilies you do want to strain, because the raw pods are perishable and can spoil if they sit in the honey. Set a fine mesh strainer over a clean jar and pour the honey through. The strainer catches the chili rings and lets the smooth, infused honey run into the jar below. Use a funnel under the strainer to keep it neat.

Do not toss those strained peppers. They came out of the honey candied, a lot like cowboy candy or candied jalapenos. Set them on a plate and use them up. They are great on top of desserts, cupcakes, or as a garnish for cocktails. Honestly, they are pretty good for snacking straight off the plate too.

Here is the payoff, hot honey two ways. The flaky chili-flake batch on the left, the smooth strained batch on the right. Both are glossy, amber, and ready to use. Drizzle it over pizza, fried chicken, biscuits, or cornbread. Try it as a glaze on chicken wings or a holiday ham. It even works in cocktails in place of simple syrup. Store it in a sealed jar and it keeps for weeks.