Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona Cookies)
These Greek cookies stay fresh up to two weeks, and in fact, get BETTER in the days AFTER you bake them. Savor the warmth of the Mediterranean with every bite of melomakarona flavored with walnuts, spices, orange and honey.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough:
- 6 ¾ cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting work surface
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 8 tablespoons
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups olive oil
- 1 cup fresh orange juice from about 4 juice oranges
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
For the Honey Syrup:
- 3 strips orange peel about 1-inch wide
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups honey
- 1 ½ cups water
For the Walnut Topping:
- 8 ounces walnuts very finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
Instructions
Make Cookie Dough:
- In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and cloves.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Reduce speed to medium-low. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just incorporated after each addition. Add oil, orange juice and orange zest; mix until combined.
- Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
- Turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead 1 minute. Transfer dough to large bowl; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. Dough may also be kept in the fridge up to 3 days.
Make Honey Syrup:
- In high-sided pan or large pot, stir together orange peel, sugar, honey and water. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat and let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and let syrup cool completely at room temperature.
Make the Walnut Topping:
- In small bowl, stir together walnuts, cinnamon and cloves.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For each cookie, take about 1-1/2 tablespoons dough and roll and press it into an oval shape with your hands.
- Place cookies on rimmed baking pan, spaced 1-1/2 inches apart; repeat until baking pan is full. Prick tops of cookies with fork 4-5 times so that tine marks are lightly visible. Return remaining dough to refrigerator between batches.
- Transfer cookies to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Line a second rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. In batches, transfer hot cookies fresh from the oven to cooled honey syrup. Let them soak 30 seconds, turning halfway through.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer cookies to parchment-lined pan (you can put them very close together at this stage). Immediately sprinkle with walnut topping. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, honey syrup and walnut topping.
- When completely cool, transfer cookies to airtight containers, with parchment or wax paper between layers (or put each cookie in a paper cupcake wrapper). Cookies will last up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- I generally use an all-purpose clover honey for these Greek Christmas cookies. Taste of Home has a nice article on 9 Types of Honey (and Where to Get Them) to help you choose which honey would be best for your tastes.
- You might be tempted to taste one of these Greek Christmas cookies as soon as it comes out of the honey syrup, but try to wait if you can. I don’t want you to be disappointed! The REAL magic is what happens when the cookies sit overnight (or even better, several days), and the syrup really soaks into the cookies.
- In my opinion, this melomakarona recipe is MEANT to be made in a big batch and shared with family, friends and neighbors throughout the holiday season. But, if 6 to 7 dozen Greek Christmas cookies is way more than you need, this Greek cookie recipe can be made as a half batch, with no changes to cooking times.
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 166kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 52mg, Potassium: 40mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 54IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 13mg, Iron: 1mg
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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