Melomakarona: Greek Christmas honey cookies

It’s this time of the year that Greeks around the world start eating and/or baking melomakarona, aromatic cookies made of flour and olive oil, flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and orange, and dipped in honey syrup. Melomakarona are traditionally eaten around Christmas time; one may say they are the Greek equivalent to the British mince pies.

As I’m baking melomakarona this year, I’m reflecting on my baking journey. I first started baking 9 years ago, soon after I started my psychiatry training in Leeds. Inspired by the culinary murder mystery novels I was devouring at the time (i.e. ‘Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder’ by Joanne Fluke), I started baking batches of cookies that I would then share with my family, friends and colleagues. A very junior Psychiatrist, I found the whole process of baking rather therapeutic and relaxing. I continued with cupcakes, cakes, pies and tarts. In the meantime, as my baking skills were improving, the Great British Bake Off was gaining popularity, which further reinforced my new-found love for baking.

In the last few years, I have introduced healthier ingredients to my favourite recipes. For example, I have adapted these recipes and I often swap sugar with honey or butter with olive oil. This year, I have gone back to my Greek roots and I have been baking traditional Greek recipes (making them even healthier). So, when December came, I did my research on melomakarona, a Christmas bake traditionally made with the very ingredients I have been using in place of sugar and butter.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

For the honey syrup:

200 grams (ml) water
300 grams honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange

For the cookies:

Dry ingredients:
600 grams flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Zest of 1 orange

Wet ingredients:
300 grams olive oil
150 grams orange juice
50 grams cognac (or brandy/orange liqueur/orange juice)
20 grams honey

To serve:

Honey
Walnuts, chopped

Makes 45-50 melomakarona

Method:

Zest the orange. Then cut the orange in half.
Make the honey syrup, by adding the water, the honey, the cinnamon sticks and the 2 orange halves into a pan, then bringing to a boil. Once it starts boiling, continue cooking for another 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Make sure the honey syrup has cooled down before the cookies are baked.

Add the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Add the wet ingredients into a second bowl, and mix lightly.
Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix by hand, and for as little time as possible (no more than 10 seconds).
Mould the dough into oval shapes, 6 cm in length and 3 cm in width, 30 grams each.
Bake at 180-190 degrees (160-170 fan) for about 25-30 minutes.
As soon as you remove the hot cookies from the oven, soak them in the cold honey syrup for 10 seconds.
Place them on a wire rack.
Drizzle with honey and walnuts.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Further reading

For more mouth-watering Greek recipes, check out the following recently-published posts:

Sweet recipes:

‘Greek semolina halva with orange and honey‘

‘Alex’s portokalopita (orange pie)’

‘Fanouropita: a Rhodes-inspired recipe‘

Savoury recipes:

‘Tomato pie with phyllo pastry‘

‘Traditional Greek stuffed vegetables‘

‘Baked tomato fritters from Santorini‘

‘Baked zucchini (courgette) fritters‘

‘Spinach and feta cheese pie‘

‘Fava: a healthy Greek island recipe‘

‘Trahanas: heart-warming Greek winter recipes‘

‘6 delicious Greek summer recipes‘

‘Watermelon & feta: Mykonos-inspired recipes‘

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)