Greek Christmas Honey Cookies (Melomakarona)

A traditional Greek Christmas recipe, Melomakarona are delicious honey cookies that will fill your house with the festive scent of baking, orange, cinnamon and spices!

50 pieces
40 mins
160 kcal
DF VE

This traditional Greek Christmas recipe is a must-bake in our household come Christmas time, infusing the house with that festive scent of baking, orange, cinnamon, and spices. It’s also our go-to gift when visiting friends and family over the festive period. Instead of a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers, we tend to create a plateful of Melomakarona and Kourampiedes to take around for the host (sometimes there’s a bottle of wine too, of course!)

These Greek Christmas cookies take their name from a mixture of ‘meli’ - honey, and the ancient Greek word ‘makaria’ - blessed. With that kind of meaning, you can see the reason that they’re a central part of foodie Greek Christmas traditions (as well as for their taste, of course). Once soaked in honey, these biscuits are moist, flavorsome, and gently spiced - in short, the perfect Christmas mouthful. In some regions, Melomakarona are known as Finikia, but occasionally recipes for Finikia ask you to deep fry them instead of oven-baking them.

Don’t worry about making too many - they always get eaten one way or the other. These are a great Christmas dessert, or an addition to your midmorning cup of coffee - it’s Advent, after all, so it’s time to indulge! I love to sit down in a cozy chair for ten minutes and eat a honey cookie, taking in a moment’s quiet during the festive rush. I highly recommend it!

An interesting fact is that we frequently have too many Melomakarona at home and, since they are a staple for our family gatherings during the holiday season, some usually go to waste. Fortunately, this gives us an excellent opportunity to switch up our desserts and opt for something just as luxurious but without the festive vibe: Wallnut-filled chocolates, also known as Kariokes. We use Melomakarona crumbs to make these and they are divine! So be sure to keep this extra piece of advice in your back pocket!

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Tips

One can either dip warm cookies into cool syrup or alternatively opt for hot syrup accompanied by cooled cookies - both options yielding the same delightful flavor!

You can also bake the cookies ahead of time. All you need to do is soak them in hot syrup and they’ll be just as fresh and delicious!

Directions

You will need about 40 minutes to make 50 pieces of this recipe, which has approximately 160 calories each. Make sure you have all the ingredients and follow these 9 simple steps. If you have any questions, send me an email and I’d be more than happy to help!

Syrup: In a small pot, combine the water, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, and half an orange. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes while stirring intermittently to ensure that the sugar is fully dissolved into the mixture.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in your honey. Keep stirring until all of it is fully incorporated into the syrup, then put it aside so that it may cool down.

Cookies: In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, baking soda, sugar, seed oil, and olive oil. Then add in the orange zest with brandy and spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg until everything is blended equally.

In a separate, sizable bowl combine the flour, semolina, and baking powder together until everything is well-mixed.

Carefully pour the liquid mixture into a bowl and mix lightly for roughly one minute using your hand or a spatula. However, it is imperative that you do not over-mix!

Scoop a spoonful of the batter and form it into an oval shape. Using a fork, create small holes in each piece to allow them to more efficiently soak up the syrup.

Place them on a baking tray covered with a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated oven at 180ºC (350 F°) for about 25 minutes.

As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, submerge them in syrup for 10 seconds to allow them to soak up all its sweetness.

Arrange the melomakarona artfully on a plate, and top each layer off with chopped walnuts for maximum flavor. Finish it off with one final large scoop of walnut garnish!

Watch it step-by-step!