Melomakarona (Greek Olive Oil-Honey Cookies)
Published Nov. 24, 2021
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- 2(2-inch-long) cinnamon sticks
- 1whole clove
- 1orange
- ½cup/118 milliliters honey
- 1⅓cups/315 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the pans, if needed
- 1 to 2large oranges
- ¼cup/25 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 2tablespoons brandy
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon ground clove
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3cups plus 2 tablespoons/500 grams all-purpose flour
- 1cup/110 grams fine semolina
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- ½cup toasted nuts, such as walnuts, pistachios or almonds, finely chopped
For the Syrup
For the Cookies
Nutritional analysis per serving (48 servings)
187 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 13 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 38 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the syrup: In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, cinnamon sticks and clove with 1⅓ cups water. Cut orange in half and place in saucepan, flesh down. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar completely dissolves, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in honey. Set aside to cool completely, leaving the cinnamon, clove and orange in the syrup until ready to use.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners, or lightly grease the pans with olive oil.
- Step 3
Finely grate the zest of 1 orange into a large mixing bowl. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup. If it doesn’t measure 1 cup (240 milliliters), squeeze in enough juice from the other orange. Add juice to the bowl with the zest, then mix in olive oil, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and salt.
- Step 4
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, semolina and baking soda. Gradually, fold in the flour mixture into the olive oil mixture. With a wooden spoon, mix until flour is just evenly incorporated.
- Step 5
Using your hands, roll dough into 1½-inch ovals or egg-shapes, and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Using the palm of your hand, lightly flatten dough. Bake until cookies are golden, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through for even baking.
- Step 6
Right before the cookies are done, remove the orange, cinnamon sticks and clove from the syrup. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, and working in batches, dunk the hot cookies in the cool syrup, gently flipping them for about 10 seconds so they can absorb the syrup. Remove cookies from the syrup using a slotted spoon and arrange them on a tray or plate. Sprinkle the center of each cookie with a generous pinch of nuts, patting them lightly so they stick to cookies.
- Step 7
Once cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To prevent the cookies from sticking together, place sheets of wax or parchment paper between cookie layers.
Private Notes
Comments
Another Greek reviewing here...these are the best ever. Using the ration of flour and semolina and olive oil works here. I used extra light olive oil and real Greek semolina. For those that say the walnut mixture doesn't stick you have to have it ready to go and sprinkle very quickly after pulling the cookies from the syrup. Also you MUST put hot cookies in cold syrup. Make the syrup the night before. I did add 6-8 cloves to my syrup. Greeks would never use one!!!
Greek person with Celiac here - I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 GF flour and almond flour in place of the flour and semolina. The taste was exactly as I remembered, but the texture was definitely different - not bad, just softer and more tender than what I was used to eating growing up. Definitely possible to make these gluten free and still come out with a delicious result.
Absolutely have to use semolina-no substitution. It will not taste the same or have the right texture.
OMG these are the best cookies ever. I experimented with the cold and hot cookies and syrup methods, and found that dipping hot cookies in cold syrup makes them more tender and syrupy and brings the honey flavor out. Also, dipping them for about a minute, flipping halfway is best. The cool cookies and hot syrup were also good, but they were more crumbly and less soft and sweet than the other way. I let them rest overnight after dipping, which helped the flavors bloom, but they were REALLY delicious soon after dipping so I don’t know how necessary it is. Last thing, I would recommend making at least a cup of chopped toasted nuts, and being extremely parsimonious with them. Also, it’s nice to mix some ground cinnamon into the nuts before patting them on.
Also, the ratio of wet to dry ingredients in this recipe was too high. The dough was too soft. Next time for a 500g AP flour recipe I will use 250 mL olive oil and half cup of orange juice. It's worth trying to reduce the semolina flour - semolina disrupts the regular flour structure and creates pores that facilitate the absorption of the syrup (I don't like them this soft). Also, the entire orange in the syrup prep doesn't add much. Just add the peel from an orange and a lemon.
Compared to more traditional recipes this one differs in that has minimal sugar in the cookie mix and contains semolina. I prefer this less sweet version. Semolina makes it to absorb more sirup. If, like me, you prefer more firm cookie, try to soak room temp cookies in room temp sirup. If you soak the cookie directly out of the oven into the sirup, you don't allow for the water inside the cookie to evaporate. So, you end up with a very moist interior with diluted sirup.