Melomakarona are the ultimate Greek Christmas honey cookies: warmly spiced with cinnamon and clove, scented with orange zest, and made with olive oil for that unmistakable Greek character. Once baked, they’re quickly dipped in cold syrup, then finished with a glossy drizzle of honey and a snowfall of walnuts, making every bite crisp-edged, tender-centered, and gloriously sticky.
If you love Melomakarona-Greek Honey Cookies, you will also love these Christmas Phyllo Triangles with an almond filling, the heavenly Tsoureki Brioche Bread and Kourabiedes Christmas Butter Cookies.
What are melomakarona
Melomakarona are traditional Greek Christmas cookies soaked in syrup and topped with honey and walnuts. They’re not meant to be “dry cookies” like shortbread. They’re meant to drink up flavor and stay beautifully moist for days.
Why you will love melomakarona
Ingredients for melomakarona
- All-purpose flour
- Ground cloves, ground cinnamon and sticks
- Orange zest + juice: zest = aroma; juice = brightness.
- Walnuts: chop finely so they cling to the honey top like a proper Greek winter coat.
- Honey, sugar and baking powder
- Baking soda: add it with the orange juice as you already do, it helps lift the dough.
- Olive oil + sunflower oil: olive oil gives flavor; sunflower keeps the dough light.
Success checklist (read this once, then bake):
- Don’t overwork the dough (keeps cookies tender). The Greek Foodie
- Shape gently; texture the top with a grater or fork. The Greek Foodie
- Hot cookies, cold syrup, brief dip, then drain on a rack.
How to make melomakarona
- Make the syrup first. Put the water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the honey, stir, and simmer for 10 min. Leave the pot aside to cool.
- Pour the oils into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix oils slowly.
- Add the flour gradually. Then add the cinnamon, baking powder, orange zest, sugar, orange juice, and baking soda. Mix all ingredients well.
- Using your hands, shape each melomakarono into an oval shape, about 2 inches long each. Using a knife make soft criss cross markings on the cookies. You can also do little holes with a fork (1).
- Place cookies on the baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes in a 210°C / 410°F oven until they are crunchy and golden brown.
- Once the cookies are out of the oven, soak them in batches in the cold syrup for 10-15 seconds. Place them on a wire rack to drain (2,3).
- Drizzle melomakarona with honey and chopped walnuts (4, 5, 6).
Chocolate Melomakarona (Greek Honey Cookies with Chocolate)
If you love chocolate, this variation is for you. These chocolate-covered melomakarona keep all the classic flavors of Greek honey cookies, with an extra layer of rich, glossy chocolate that makes them irresistible.
Once the cookies have soaked in syrup and are resting on a wire rack, drizzle or pour melted chocolate over the tops and finish with finely chopped walnuts.
For the chocolate coating, you’ll need: 3.5 oz (100 g) baking chocolate and 1 tablespoon neutral seed oil.
- Chop the chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl with the oil. Microwave for 1 minute at 70% power.
- Remove and stir well until the chocolate begins to melt.
- Return to the microwave for 10–15 seconds at a time, stirring between intervals, until smooth and fully melted.
Work carefully when melting chocolate. Timing depends on the type of chocolate, cocoa butter content, and microwave strength. Melt slowly and stir often. If your microwave doesn’t rotate evenly, use a bain-marie method instead.
Tips and tricks
- Melomakarona will be even better the next day. The syrupy cookies easily absorb moisture from a humid environment and soften or, the opposite, dry in a dry air environment. Keep them in an airtight container or protect your platter with cling film.
- You can also roll the cookie mixture using a rolling pin about half an inch thick and cut the cookies with a cookie cutter.
- Melomakarona will be kept at room temperature for up to a month.
- You can also freeze Greek honey cookies. Store them in a freezer appropriate container in layers. Protect each layer with parchment paper so cookies won’t stick together. They keep for up to a year in the freezer.
FAQs
Storage and freezing
- Room temp: Store airtight up to 1 month.
- Humidity note: They soften in humid air and can dry in very dry air, so keep them sealed.
- Freeze: Layer in a freezer-safe container with parchment between layers. Up to 1 year.
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Melomakarona – Greek Honey Cookies
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Mixer (hand mixer or tabletop)
- Rimmed baking sheet
- a citrus squeezer
Ingredients
- 8½ oz extra virgin olive oil
- 8½ oz sunflower oil
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- 2 lb all purpose flour
- 7 oz sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 5½ oz fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- ⅓ teaspoon ground cloves
- walnuts finelly chopped
For the syrup
- 14 oz water
- 14 oz sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 10½ oz honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 210°C / 410°F
- Line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Make the syrup
- Put the water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the honey, stir and simmer for 10 min. Leave pot aside to cool.
Make the cookies
- Pour the oils into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment , mix oils slowly. Add the flour gradually, then add the cinnamon, baking powder, orange zest, sugar, orange juice, and baking soda. Mix all ingredients well.
- Using your hands, shape the melomakarona into small oval shapes, about 2 inches long each.To achieve a textured look on the top, press each cookie on the side of a grater. You can also create a texture using a fork. Place cookies on the baking sheets and bake for about 15 minutes, until they are crunchy and dark golden brown.Once cookies are out of the oven, soak them into the cold syrup for 10 seconds.Place them on a wire rack to drain.
- Drizzle melomakarona with honey and chopped walnuts. Enjoy!
Notes
- Do not overwork the cookie mix for long, keep it short and sweet :-). Overworking will affect the texture of the mix, it will become harder to shape and the taste will be too “floury”. It will affect how they will soak in the syrup.
- When you shape the cookies, again don’t overwork. You want them to be soft and oily, easy to mold like pay dough.
- The melomakarono should always be hot and the syrup cold when you immerse them in. Keep them in the syrup for 10-15 seconds then drain on a wire rack.
Nutrition
Thank you for making me travel for a while. With orange, lemon, and cinnamon these cookies must be very tasty
Thank you so much!
The flavors in these cookies sound divine! I need to try this recipe. 🙂
Flavorful and mouth melting. Looks delicious and rich too.
Thank you, Veena!
I had to cut my girls off of these, they loved them SO MUCH. Thank you for another amazing recipe. We love these cookies so much!
Hi Tracy!
So happy you all liked them.
Thank you, x Jenny
These sound like the perfect new cookie for my holiday tray! I love that they have honey, the sound so moist and tempting. And would love to try them with semolina also. Do you know what amount of flour can I substitute? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Paula!
So happy you liked them!
To make them with semolina flour, you can mix 6 cups flour (750 g – 1.65 lb) with 2 cups semolina (250 g – 8.8 oz). I will add a note to the recipe.
Thanks so much!
x Jenny
WOW, as soon as I saw this I knew I had to try it! I’m drooling from the picture and I pinned this recipe because it looks amazing! I cant wait to make these cookies, thank you for sharing this recipe.
This is absolutely a new recipe for me, totally new concept. I must try this as they sounds super delicious.
They are really good! Thanks so much, Gunjan!
One more cookie recipe to add to the Christmas baking! These Greek honey cookies have everything we love in a cookie, we might even try adding the chocolate on top!
They are great with chocolate! Thanks so much, Loreto and Nicoletta!
Wow! Never heard of them but reading your recipe made my mouth watery so I think that we need to try this recipe for this Christmas time! Thank you!!
Thanks so much, Laura! They are really great cookies, you won’t be disappointed. x Jenny
Love the flavors here! I’m always down for a new cookie and this one is it. Perfect for cookie exchanges too!
You won’t be disappointed, Connie! They are really delicious cookies. Thank you! x Jenny
Excellent flavor and texture. Will be making again for the holidays, for sure. Delicious.
Thank you, Debra! So glad you liked them. x Jenny
I followed all the recipe steps. They turned out amazing!! Great recipe.
Thank you so much, Kate! So happy you liked the cookies! x Jenny
I lived in Greece for a little while and LOVED these cookies during Christmas time!!!! I’m excited to try the recipe, but I don’t have sunflower oil. Is there a different oil I could substitute?
Hi Allison!
You can just use olive oil or any other seed oil you have handy. Canola, corn oil should work fine.
Let me know how the cookies came out!
Thanks so much! x Jenny
Are they crispy or soft inside and hard from outside?
Hi Hazel! They are very soft with a slight crisp on the outside, mainly from the nuts. They really are delicious. Thank you for checking them out! x Jenny
2lb of flour. Would that be 8.5 cups.
Hi Barbara,
Correct, it is 8.5 cups of flour!
Thanks so much,
x Jenny
I grew up eating these cookies! My paternal grandmother from Samos made the best .
Can these be frozen?
Hi Elizabeth!
You can certainly freeze them. Actually my husband is known to steal a couple every day from the freezer, he loves them so cold!
I recommend storing the cookies in layers on parchment so they don’t glue together.
Thank you so much!
x Jenny