Traditional Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona)
User Reviews
4.4
Traditional Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona)
Description
Melomakarona dough combines olive oil, honey, fresh orange juice, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, and orange zest with semolina and all-purpose flour to create a soft, oily dough. Baking at 180°C (356°F) yields cookies that remain tender and absorb syrup well.
The syrup, boiled briefly with sugar, honey, water, cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel, is poured over the baked hot cookies. This imparts sweetness and moisture, giving the cookies a distinctive very soft texture that is fragile. Ground walnuts add a nutty garnish.
Melomakarona are often served during Greek holidays and celebrations, appreciated for their fragrant spices and honeyed finish. The syrup absorption is critical to the characteristic soft bite.
To check syrup absorption, gently press a cookie after soaking; it should feel very soft and almost ready to break apart, then once cool it firms up.
Ingredients
For The Cookie Dough:
- 125 ml orange juice fresh
- 250 grams / 8.8 oz olive oil (or half olive oil half sunflower oil for lighter flavor)
- 50 grams / 1.7 oz honey
- 80 ml water
- 100 grams (½ cup) sugar
- 1 + ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground clove
- ⅓ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon vanillin powder or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 orange zested
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 125 grams (⅔ cup + 1 tbsp) fine semolina flour
- 550 grams (4 + ⅔ cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For The Syrup:
- 400 grams (2 cups) sugar
- 100 grams / 3.5 oz honey
- 325 ml (1⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon) water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4-5 cloves dried
- 1 orange peel
For Garnish:
- honey
- walnut ground
Instructions
Make The Dough:
- Add all of the cookie dough ingredients except the semolina, flour, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir the mixture very well using a whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the semolina and stir to incorporate it into the mixture as well.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to the bowl with the remaining ingredients.
- Mix the dough with your hands for a couple of minutes. In the beginning, it's going to look like the dough needs more flour. But as you mix, it will come together. You'll end up with a very soft and oily dough.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside while you prepare the syrup.
Make The Syrup:
- Add all of the ingredients for the syrup in a small cooking pot or saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Boil for 4 minutes from the time it starts to bubble hard. Do not stir the syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside uncovered.
Make The Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 356°F.
- Cover your oven's tray pan or a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Shape. Take a piece of the dough in your hands (about 40-45 grams). Squeeze it a bit to remove any air and shape it into a round ball. Give the ball an oval shape and flatten it slightly. Add to the pan.
- Repeat until you fill the pan. Make sure you leave at least 3 cm (1½-inch) space between each cookie.
- Decorate. Make criss-cross lines on each cookie using a knife. You can also press a hand grater on the cookie to leave its marks as decor.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies get a light brown color. If needed cook for 5 minutes more until they get the desired color. But be careful not to overbake them.
Soak In The Syrup:
- Dip the cookies into the syrup using a draining spoon in small batches at a time.
- Let the cookies soak for a few seconds on each side (flipping them) and then transfer them to a cooling rack. To cool and drain from excess syrup (See Notes below).
- Serve the Melomakarona cookies topped with plenty of honey and chopped walnuts on top.
- Store them in an airtight food container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks or place them in a cake stand with a lid.
Notes
- Press cookies gently after soaking to test syrup absorption; they should feel very soft and nearly fragile, which is desirable for Melomakarona texture.
- Allow cookies extra time in the syrup if not soft enough initially before cooling.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 30cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 262 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1cookie | |
| Calories | 262kcal | 13% |
| Carbohydrates | 45g | 15% |
| Protein | 2g | 4% |
| Fat | 9g | 14% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Sodium | 2mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 49mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 27g | 54% |
| Calcium | 14mg | 1% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.4
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