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Melomakarona, Greek honey cookies.
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Melomakarona - Greek Honey Cookies

Melomakarona - Greek honey cookies are a delicious Christmas dessert. With orange zest, cinnamon, and olive oil, they are dipped in a honey syrup and sprinkled with crushed walnuts, they are an irresistible sweet treat.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Greek
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 40
Calories 272kcal

Equipment

  • Medium saucepan
  • Mixer (hand mixer or tabletop)
  • Rimmed baking sheet
  • a citrus squeezer

Ingredients

  • oz extra virgin olive oil
  • oz sunflower oil
  • tsp cinnamon
  • 2 lb all purpose flour
  • 7 oz sugar
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • oz fresh orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 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

Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg