greek christmas cookies

In every part of the world there are traditional recipes that are reserved exclusively for Christmas . This is how this time of year is identified with flavors and aromas that always remind us of the best moments we have experienced as a family, surrounding a table full of love, good wishes and, of course, typical delicacies .

Among many of  Greek Christmas recipes, the   Melomakerona –also known as Phenikia– stand out. These are sweet cookies sprinkled with honey syrup , very popular with adults and children.




serves ; 30
preparation time ;1 hour


 500  g plain Flour  
  275 ml of    Olive oil ( traditionally use olive oil ,If you do not have use melted butter)
 5  Organic oranges 
1 tbsp       powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
 1   Cinnamon stick
  3    crushed  Cloves  
1/2 teaspoon 
Sodium bicarbonate
 25 g  Melted butter
250 ml  Water

Sugar
350 g
Honey
3 tbsp
Crushed walnut kernels
100 g

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. 
Zest an orange and squeeze it and another to collect the juice.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, orange juice, sugar, zest and cinnamon stick. Let it boil for a few minutes then remove from the heat.
When the syrup has become lukewarm, add the honey, mix well. Let cool completely.

Squeeze the last 3 oranges

In a large bowl, pour the olive oil, melted butter and orange juice.
Add the icing sugar, ground cinnamon, crushed cloves and sodium bicarbonate.
Mix well by hand then add the flour, mix well but not too long.

Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet, place the dough on it. Roll out the dough so that it has a height of 1 cm. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter or the like, or just an inverted glass to form the melomakarona. Prick them lightly with a fork.

Bake for 30 minutes
.
Pour the cold syrup into a deep plate to immerse the melomakarona in it.
Take them out of the oven and immediately immerse them in the syrup. Turn them on both sides so that they are evenly coated with the syrup. Be careful, they are   hot ! Use tongs if you prefer to remove the melomakarona from the syrup.

Decorate by sprinkling with pieces of walnuts (or pistachios) then let cool.

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