Melomakarona (Traditional Christmas Greek cookies)

Unfortunately i have not been able to find my mother's recipe for this wonderful Greek traditional cookie that we make for the Christmas period. So, i made one and it is close to hers...

It makes about 40 pieces so, 20 per cookie sheet.
Melomakarona as the name suggests have a lot of honey (Meli) and I urge you to use good honey for them... it is not something that you make all the time so try them at their best! Also nice and fresh walnuts cause it is the time of year that you have them!

A few tips for making them...

Do not overmix. Since the only thing in them fat wise is olive oil and it is liquid and does not get absorbed so readily from the flour. So it is important that you do not mix too much otherwise the flour will not "hold" it in.

Also if your olive oil is very fresh and thus strong use more of the other type of oil that does not have a strong taste.

Last but not least, if you want to make more do not make it at once... do not make a double dosage as it will be easier to overmix and as i pointed out it is not good for the cookie..

So, try and bring some Greece in your life this Christmas!!

Πολλά φιλιά και καλά Χριστούγεννα!

Diffuculty: 1 of 3

Duration:60 minutes and 20 minutes baking

Serves:40 pieces of 30 grams each

Ingredients

for the syrup

250 g of water

450 g of plain sugar

100 g GOOD honey

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cloves

1 orange cut in half

For the first mixture

200 g fresh orange juice

100 g of canola oil

190 g of olive oil

40 g of icing sugar

1/2 tsp cracked cloves

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda

zest from one orange

For the 2nd mixture

500 g of cake flour

100 g almond flour

walnuts and honey to serve

Method

For the syrup

We add all the ingredients in a medium sized pot and bring it to a boil.

As soon as sugar dissolves turn the heat off and remove the pot from the stove.

Leave the syrup to cool down completely before you use it.

For the cookies

In a bowl we mix all ingredients from the second mixture

In a another bigger bowl we mix the ingredients from the first mixture

Transfer the ingredients from the small bowl to the bigger one and mix with a wooden spoon for a few seconds. We do not overmix!

Shape the dough into 30 g oblong cookies that we set in a baking tray and with the help of a fork we make the indentations. They are there to help the syrup penetrate the cookie.

Bake in a fan forced preheated oven at 170 celcius for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and dunk 3 or 4 cookies at a time in the cold syrup. We leave them in there for a few seconds.

Place the cookie on a plate and drizzle with honey and chopped walnuts.