Melomakarona are beautiful honey, orange, clove and cinnamon syrup-drenched soft cookies that melt in your mouth. It’s THE most popular Greek Christmas & New Year dessert, and it’s present in almost every home in Greece during the holidays.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 cups olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Zest of an orange
• 7 and 1/2 flour, about 950 gr
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

For the filling

• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts and 1 more cup, coarsely chopped, to sprinkle the cookies
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp sugar

For the syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup honey
• 2 cups water
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• A cinnamon stick

Preparation

In a bowl combine olive oil, brandy and orange juice. Add sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients to mix, creating a soft, oily dough. Do not overknead.

Gently flatten one ball of dough into a disc with the palm of your hand. Put a teaspoon of the filling in the center of the dough. Fold the dough up and over to cover the filling, then seal the edges. Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven at 180℃ / 350℉ for about 25 minutes.

For the syrup

Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a medium saucepan, simmer water, sugar, honey, lemon juice with the cinnamon stick for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Let it cool. Remove the melomakarona from the oven and drop them, a few at a time, into the simmering syrup, flipping them over to soak evenly. Let them soak about 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on how soft or crunchy you like your melomakarona. Layer the melomakarona on a platter, spoon any remaining syrup over them and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

Merry Cristmas everybody!!!

Nanà…