Recipe: Yummy Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts – Melomakarona

Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts – Melomakarona. This is an oil-based cookie recipe that produces moist cake-like cookies flavored with orange and brandy, bathed in a sweet honey syrup, and topped with chopped walnuts. Traditional Greek Christmas Foods Great recipe for Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts - Melomakarona. These cookies are the main reason why I am so excited about Christmas. It' s really amazing how a simple cinnamon-walnut cookie turns into a delicious treat, after a hot "bath" in honey syrup. Melomakarona, the de-facto traditional Christmas Greek cookie, flavored with orange and brandy that is bathed in a sweet honey syrup and topped with chopped walnuts.

As with most holidays in Greece, Greek Christmas also revolves around food! This means that these are these festive days of the year to make all these traditional Greek recipes, like kourabiedes, vasilopita, diples, Christopsomo and of course these amazing sweet little honey cookies, the traditional Greek melomakarona! These are soft cookies dipped in a honey syrup and covered with chopped walnuts. You can cook Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts – Melomakarona using 15 ingredients and 17 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts – Melomakarona

1. Prepare 280 ml of extra virgin olive oil.
2. It's 140 ml of melted butter.
3. Prepare 140 ml of fresh orange juice.
4. It's 1 of large egg.
5. Prepare 2 tbsp of granulated sugar.
6. Prepare 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon.
7. You need 1 tsp of ground clove.
8. It's 700 g of all purpose flour.
9. Prepare 1 tsp of baking soda.
10. You need 200 g of finely chopped walnuts.
11. It's 420 g of pure honey.
12. Prepare 130 g of sugar.
13. It's 300 ml of water.
14. It's of peel of an orange.
15. Prepare 1 of cinnamon stick.

This is another of the few recipes my grandmother handed down to my mom and then my mom to me. I'm so grateful to have and remember them every time I bake these cookies. These melomakarona cookies have all of the delicious flavors of baklava. They're baked until golden and crisp then soaked in an aromatic honey syrup, and garnished with spiced ground walnuts.

Traditional Christmas Honey Cookies with Walnuts – Melomakarona instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, melted butter and orange juice with a whisk. Add the egg and mix well..
2. In a separate bowl, whisk about ⅓ of the flour, cinnamon, clove, baking soda & sugar. Add this flour mixture to the bowl with the liquids and whisk well..
3. Add ⅓ of the remaining flour and start mixing with your hand. It’s important to feel when to stop adding flour..
4. Continue adding flour gradually and knead gently. When the dough is soft but not sticky, it means it’s ready. Stop adding flour..
5. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 min..
6. Shape the dough into small balls, about 25g each (or the size of a walnut). Give each ball a cylindrical shape and make a pit in the center. Put ½ tsp of walnuts and pinch to seal it..
7. Arrange them on a paper lined baking tray, seam side down. Prick them with a fork. This will help them absorb the syrup easily..
8. Bake in a preheated oven, at 200⁰C / 400⁰F for 23 to 25 min. Let them cool completely before putting them in the syrup..
9. Put water, sugar & honey in a medium pot, over medium heat. Stir and add the orange peel and the cinnamon stick..
10. Let it come to a boil and remove the foam with a slotted spoon..
11. After 4 min remove the peel and the cinnamon stick. Lower the heat..
12. Put some cookies in the syrup, curved side down. Let them simmer for exactly 2 minutes!.
13. Flip and let them simmer for another 2 min..
14. Take them out of the syrup with the slotted spoon and transfer on a paper lined baking tray..
15. Sprinkle with walnuts while they’re still wet from the syrup..
16. Repeat the process for the rest of the cookies..
17. Let them cool completely before serving..

Perfect for a Christmas cookie exchange or a tea party! Malomakarona are made with olive oil instead of butter and eggs. My sister and I use to make these walnut and honey cookies every year with my mom (and yiayia when she was with us) to pass out to friends and neighbors and serve at our Christmas dinner. I remember sneaking bites of dough and getting scolded! The baked cookies are dipped in Sugar Honey Spiced Syrup and finally glazed with Honey and chopped Walnuts.