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Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona)

Greek honey cookies, or melomakarona, are a soft, delightfully sweet, egg-shaped cookie. Make this recipe for tasty Greek Christmas cookies!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: desserts
Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean
Servings: 48
Author: Kevin

Ingredients

Syrup

  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 2 3/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 orange cut in half
  • 1/2 cup honey

Dough

Garnish

Instructions

  • In a saucepan add all the ingredients for the syrup (excluding the honey) and bring to a boil. Cook until sugar has dissolved, 3-4 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in honey, then set aside to cool completely.
  • In a bowl whisk together semolina, flour and baking powder. Set aside
  • In a larger bowl, add the orange juice, sugar, spices, and vanilla, then stir to combine. Whisk in baking soda until it dissolves and starts to foam, then whisk in water, oil, orange zest and honey to combine.
  • Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet. Knead the dough using your hands until combined and the dough is smooth and slightly sticky. Do not overwork the dough.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 4 large baking trays with parchment paper. Prepare a wire rack over a rimmed baking pan. Set aside.
  • Take a walnut sized piece of dough (approx. 2 tbsp or 1 ounce) and with your hands, form it into a smooth, oval egg shape.
    Place cookie dough on the baking tray and press slightly on top to flatten. Using the tines of a fork, pierce 2 times on top of cookie, stopping about half way through the dough. Repeat this step with the remaining dough.
  • Bake honey cookies in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the melomakarona are lightly browned.
    Remove from oven and use a spatula to transfer cookies to prepared wire rack. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks from syrup, then immediately pour the syrup over the cookies to absorb the syrup. Alternatively, dip tops of each cookie by hand in the syrup for 10 seconds, then return them to wire rack. Sprinkle warm cookies with optional chopped walnuts, if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 161kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 49mg | Potassium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 24IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg