Greek
Melomakarona (Greek Christmas Honey Cookies)
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
30 minutes
Yield
19 -20 cookies
Melomakarona are a traditional Greek holiday cookie made with honey and walnuts. These cookies are so delicious and perfect for holiday festivities!
Melomakarona is an egg-shaped Greek Christmas cookie made of flour, spices, and honey. These cookies remind me of the holiday season, growing up in a Greek family. They are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and are soaked in a honey syrup.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Melomakarona
- Texture: What I love about these cookies is the texture. The crunchy outside, soft inside, and the consistency they get when soaked in a honey syrup is just perfect.
- Traditional: Melomakarona are said to be from ancient and medieval makaria, which were eaten at funerals. This eventually evolved over time and are now primarily consumed during the holiday season.
- Easy: Prep these cookies in only 15-minutes and have them ready in 45 minutes total. They are easy, and they’ll impress whoever you’re having over this holiday season.
🍲 Ingredients
Ground Nutmeg – Nutmeg is such a beautiful spice and adds a pop to any recipe. Nutmeg is a seed from a plant that is then ground up for easy use. It is warming, flavorful, and often found in holiday recipes because it pairs so nicely with other warming spices like cinnamon.
Honey – These cookies are dipped in a honey syrup that really makes them the best thing ever! Honey is full of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities. I love substituting sugar, where I can, with honey because it tastes better and is better for you.
👩🍳 How to Make Melomakarona
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the orange zest, lemon zest and sugar and massage the zest into the sugar. Whisk the olive oil into the sugar mixture until combined.
- In a small bowl stir together the orange juice with the baking soda, it should froth up a bit and then stir that into the olive oil-sugar mixture until combined.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, a little at a time and as the mixture gets thicker, switch to a spatula and eventually use your hands if needed to gently fold the rest of the dry ingredients into the dough you want to mix this until just combined, do not overmix as the dough can start to separate / release the oil.
- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has rested, start to shape the cookies. Scoop out 2 heaping tablespoons per cookie, roll it into a ball in your hands and then form into an egg-like oval, flattening the top slightly. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. Once all the cookies are on the baking sheets, use a fork to gently poke a couple of holes in the tops of each cookie. Then bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are firm and lightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the syrup: Add the sugar, water, honey, cinnamon sticks and orange peel to a medium pot. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the syrup has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks and orange peel and set aside.
- Once the cookies have cooled and the syrup is still warm, drizzle the syrup over the cookies right on the sheet pan and then immediately sprinkle the crushed walnuts over the cookies.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- If you love Melomakarona, try our Baklava Recipe or our Loukoumades (Greek Donuts)
- Make this recipe gluten-free by substituting the flour for gluten-free flour. Note that not all flours have a 1:1 ratio when substituting to ensure you have the correct ratio for these to turn out.
- You can prep the dough in advance and let it rest for longer if you need to!
🗒 Substitutions
- Walnuts: You can totally sub the walnuts for almonds, pecans, or pistachios.
- Orange Juice: Sub orange juice for lemon juice if you prefer.
- Orange & Lemon Zest: If you prefer you can use more orange, or more lemon.
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Thanks to the honey, these cookies actually last a lot longer than the average cookie. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2-3 weeks at room temperature.
🤔 Common Questions
These two Greek cookies are very similar but the difference is that Finikia are dry cookies vs. Melomakarona which is dipped in a honey syrup making them more moist.
This is a traditional Greek recipe and I’d advise you follow the recipe below for the best results but you can totally make some minor adjustments with spices depending on your preferences. For example, if you prefer a bit less cinnamon, and a bit more nutmeg.
Melomakarona (Greek Christmas Honey Cookies)
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp sugar
- zest from half an orange
- zest from half a lemon
- 1 cup olive oil
- 8 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
For the syrup
- 1/2 cup liquid honey
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 inch orange rind
Topping
- 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the orange zest, lemon zest and sugar and massage the zest into the sugar. Whisk the olive oil into the sugar mixture until combined.
- In a small bowl stir together the orange juice with the baking soda, it should froth up a bit.
- Stir that into the olive oil-sugar mixture until combined.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, a little at a time and as the mixture gets thicker, switch to a spatula and eventually use your hands if needed to gently fold the rest of the dry ingredients into the dough you want to mix this until just combined, do not overmix as the dough can start to separate / release the oil.
- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has rested, start to shape the cookies. Scoop out 2 heaping tablespoons per cookie, roll it into a ball in your hands and then form into an egg-like oval, flattening the top slightly. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. Once all the cookies are on the baking sheets, use a fork to gently poke a couple of holes in the tops of each cookie. Then bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are firm and lightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the syrup: Add the sugar, water, honey, cinnamon sticks and orange peel to a medium pot. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the syrup has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks and orange peel and set aside.
- Once the cookies have cooled and the syrup is still warm, drizzle the syrup over the cookies right on the sheet pan and then immediately sprinkle the crushed walnuts over the cookies.
Notes
- If you love this Greek dessert recipe, try our Baklava Recipe or our Loukoumades (Greek Donuts)
