Melomakarona are a traditional Greek citrus-spice cookie made moist and flavorful by lightly soaking in a honey syrup, then sprinkled in ground nuts. Known as Finikia in some regions of Greece, where they deep fry them.
Ingredients
- For the cookies:
1-1/4 cups butter
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons Metaxa (a Greek spirit), cognac, whiskey, or Ouzo (another Greek spirit), which will impart a slight anise flavor
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (if you have some semolina on hand, you can replace 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup semolina – this helps them absorb the syrup better)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- For the syrup:
1 cup water
2 cups honey
1/2 cup ground walnuts or almonds
Directions
- Make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt butter; let cool slightly. Place egg yolk, orange juice, cognac (or whatever liquor you’ve got on hand), sugar and baking soda in a blender; mix at medium speed until combined. With the motor still running, slowly drizzle in the melted butter through the hole in the top of the blender cover. Mix at high speed until mixture has thickened and resembles mayonnaise, about 2 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cloves, and cinnamon. Add orange zest. Mix in the egg yolk-butter mixture and knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. (Dough will be stiff.) Shape dough by the tablespoonful in the palm of your hand, squeezing slightly to form an oblong egg shape. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and press the tops lightly with a fork, making a crisscross pattern. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Make the syrup:
- While the cookies are baking, prepare syrup: Bring 1 cup of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in honey, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool till only slightly warm. Dip cookies in warm syrup for a few seconds. Place on cookie sheets until syrup soaks into cookies. Sprinkle with nuts and let cool. These cookies taste best the next day and keep well when stored in an airtight container.
Notes
- Alternate spellings: melomacarona, melomacarono (singular), melomakarono (singular), μελομακάρονο, Finikia, Phinikia.
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