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Traditional Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona) Recipe

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4.4 from 208 reviews

Traditional Greek Honey Cookies, known as Melomakarona, are soft, aromatic cookies soaked in a spiced honey syrup and topped with chopped walnuts. These festive treats combine the warm flavors of cinnamon, clove, and orange zest with a moist semolina and olive oil-based dough, making them perfect for holiday celebrations or any time you crave a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth cookie.

Ingredients

Scale

Cookie Dough

  • 125 ml fresh orange juice
  • 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 teaspoons 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
  • 550 grams (4 ⅔ cups) all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Syrup

  • 400 grams (2 cups) sugar
  • 100 grams (3.5 oz) honey
  • 325 ml (1 ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4–5 dried cloves
  • 1 orange peel

For Topping and Serving

  • Honey (for drizzling)
  • Ground walnuts (for topping)

Instructions

  1. Make The Dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the orange juice, olive oil, honey, water, sugar, ground cinnamon, ground clove, ground nutmeg, vanillin powder (or vanilla extract), orange zest, and baking soda. Whisk thoroughly until the sugar dissolves completely.
  2. Add Semolina: Stir in the fine semolina into the wet mixture, ensuring it is fully incorporated.
  3. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix the all purpose flour with baking powder.
  4. Mix Dough: Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Knead the dough by hand for a couple of minutes. Initially, it may seem too wet, but as you work it, the dough will come together into a very soft, oily consistency.
  5. Rest Dough: Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside while preparing the syrup.
  6. Make The Syrup: In a small saucepan, combine sugar, honey, water, cinnamon stick, dried cloves, and orange peel. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once boiling vigorously, let it boil undisturbed for 4 minutes. Then remove from heat and leave uncovered to cool.
  7. Preheat Oven: Set the oven to 180°C (356°F) and prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  8. Shape Cookies: Take dough portions of about 40-45 grams each. Squeeze the dough lightly to remove air bubbles, shape into oval forms, and slightly flatten. Arrange on the prepared tray, leaving about 3 cm (1 ½ inch) space between each cookie.
  9. Decorate: Create criss-cross lines on the surface of each cookie using a knife or press a hand grater against them for a decorative pattern.
  10. Bake: Bake the cookies for 20 minutes or until they develop a light brown color. If needed, bake an additional 5 minutes but avoid overbaking to keep them soft.
  11. Dip In Syrup: Using a draining spoon, dip batches of warm cookies into the cooled syrup briefly on each side, ensuring they are soaked but not soggy.
  12. Drain and Cool: Transfer dipped cookies to a cooling rack to drain excess syrup.
  13. Serve: Place cookies on a serving plate, drizzle generously with honey, and sprinkle with ground walnuts for finishing touch.
  14. Store: Store cooled Melomakarona in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks or cover in a cake stand with a lid.

Notes

  • Do not stir the syrup while boiling to prevent crystallization.
  • Ensure cookies have enough space on the baking tray to bake evenly and avoid sticking.
  • Soaking cookies too long in syrup can make them soggy, so dip briefly and drain well.
  • Using half sunflower oil makes cookies lighter in flavor but olive oil adds authentic richness.
  • These cookies improve in flavor after resting for a day, allowing the syrup to fully absorb.
  • Ground walnuts can be substituted with other nuts like almonds or pistachios as preferred.

Keywords: Melomakarona, Greek honey cookies, holiday cookies, traditional Greek dessert, spiced cookies, honey syrup cookies

Find it online: https://dailysimplerecipe.com/traditional-greek-honey-cookies-melomakarona-recipe/