Traditionally, these honey-bathed cookies, with walnuts and cinnamon, are made during the holiday season of Christmas and New Year. However, we love them so much that we make them year round.
Melomakarona – Honey cookies
Makes: about 45 – 50
Ingredients:
- 6 – 8 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup mild extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoonful cinnamon and ground cloves
- ½ teaspoonful baking soda
- 1/3 cup brandy
- Orange zest
Syrup:
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of honey
- 3 cups of water
- Orange peel
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 – 4 cloves
For sprinkling on top
- 2cups of pounded walnuts
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 spoonful sesame seeds (optional)
Directions:
- Beat the olive oil with sugar very well, on full speed, about 10 minutes. Dissolve the soda in the orange juice together with the brandy and add to the mixture.
- Mix cinnamon and cloves with the sifted flour and add to fluid mixture a little at a time. If you have a grinder, grind the cloves and cinnamon yourselves and you will get extra aroma. Add the orange zest and knead until a soft, fluffy dough is made. The mixture must have an oily consistency but should not stick on the hands.
- Takea small pieces of the mixture, about the size of a big walnut, and give it an oval shape about 1 cm thick. To make a pattern on top we usually press them on a box grater to get the pattern.
- Place on a baking tin lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven to 180ο C /350 ο F, for about thirty minutes or until the bottom side is golden brown.
- In the meantime prepare the syrup by placing in a pan the sugar, water, honey, cinnammon, cloves and orange peel. Bring to boiling point skimming if needed. Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes. As soon as cookies are out of the oven, dip them in the syrup for a few minutes and then with a slotted ladle remove into a platter.
- Finally pound the walnuts and add cinnamon and sesame seeds and sprinkle on top of the cookies.
Tags: Christmas, cookies and biscuits, Greek, μελομακάρονα, melomacarona, Melomakarona, Traditional
Another Christmas classic for Greeks…found in every home and enjoyed by all.
Ivy, do you ever stuff your melomakarona?
Yes, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. There are two way you can stuff them. The first is just put half a walnut inside and cover and the other is to pound the walnut and add cinnamon, ground cloves and sugar, mix flatten the dough fill and shape.
[...] for many Greek traditional cookies. There are many kinds of these cookies starting with the famous melomakarona (honey cookies), moustokouloura (must cookies), Sousamokouloura (sesame cookies), krasokouloura (wine cookies) and [...]
[...] and in other spices prevail. This year I made melomakarona a bit different than comibining last year’s, with more spices and added semolina as well. Instead of the traditional walnut, I used pecans and [...]
[...] are our Christmas Cookies, which I have posted last year and the year before so this year there was no point of posting the same recipe again by just changing a few [...]
I would love to try out these cookies Ivy … could you tell what measure is youre glass for the glass of olive oil. Thank you … these look delicious!