Melomakarona is a traditional Greek Christmas spiced, moist, syrupy, and extremely flavoursome cookie. They are prepared in Greek households over the Festive Season, and as they are Nistisima (lent-friendly), they are perfect for entertaining during the Nativity Fast.
Here is a family recipe, which not only tastes great but will leave your kitchen smelling amazing every time you bake them!
Ingredients →
– 2 x cups olive oil
– 1 x cup sugar
– 1 x cup fresh orange juice
– zest of 1 orange
– 1 x tablespoon vanilla sugar
– 2 x tablespoons Cognac
– 2 x tablespoons baking powder
– 1 x tablespoon ground cinnamon
– 1 x tablespoon ground cloves
– 900 x grams self-raising flour
– 1 x cup fine semolina
– chopped walnuts for garnishing
For syrup →
– 1 x cups sugar
– 2 x cups honey
– 2 x cups water
– 1 x cinnamon stick
Method →
– In a large bowl, add sugar and oil and whisk for about 7 minutes.
– Add orange juice, Cognac, and baking soda to a small bowl and mix well.
– Pour the juice into the sugar mixture and also add orange zest, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, and semolina and whisk till well combined
– Slowly add in flour and mix together.
– Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is soft and smooth.
– Begin making melomakarona into oblong shapes and place each piece on baking paper-lined trays.
– Place in a 180 degrees Celsius (preheated) oven and bake for 20 minutes until melomakarona is golden brown.
– In the meantime, add all ingredients into a saucepan and boil for 6 minutes to make the syrup.
– When melomakarona comes out of the oven, place them in cooled syrup, a few at a time, flipping them with a slotted spoon to absorb the syrup.
– Place cookies on a serving platter and sprinkle them with chopped walnuts.
*Images by Greek City Times (Copyright)
