Melomakarona - 300th POST!

This is my Christmas present to all of you this year. For my 300^th post (!), I bestow the recipe for the best cookies in the entire world. And I’m posting it in plenty of time so that you can go out and get the ingredients and set aside the time to make them. You honestly won’t regret it.

These are Greek Christmas cookies that you are only allowed to make at Christmas (according to my Greek friend!). They are delicately spiced, sweetened with syrup and they are my EVERYTHING. The amount of ingredients sounds ridiculous – and it is! This is a serious Christmas cookie recipe, you get about 60 of them. Enough to get you through the whole holiday season of gorging.

THIS ISN'T EVEN ALL OF THEM

Now, the recipe looks a little funny. I’ve never baked cookies with orange juice before. I've never dunked hot cookies in syrup before. I was worried that the dough wouldn’t come together and would be too sticky. I was worried the cookies would fall apart in the syrup. But it went great, it all worked out, trust me and just go with it. I bravely went first so that I could light the path for you guys.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ingredients for syrup

• 375ml water
• 600g granulated sugar
• 100g honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 vanilla pod
• ½ an orange, halved again

For the cookies

• 400 ml orange juice
• 400 ml sunflower oil
• 180 ml olive oil
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 kilo all-purpose flour
• 50 g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200 g fine semolina

To Finish

• A few tbsp. honey
• A handful of chopped walnuts

Method

Start with the syrup, you can make this a few hours beforehand (it has to be cool before you dip the cookies in it) or even the night before.

Add all of the ingredients except for the honey to a saucepan and gently heat until the sugar has melted and liquid is clear. Stir every now and again.

Remove from the heat and add the honey. Then set aside until cooled and ready to use.

When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 190C.

Add the orange juice, oils and orange zest into one bowl and whisk with a fork.

To another, bigger, bowl, add the flour, icing sugar, spices, bicarb and semolina.

Make a well and add the wet into the dry ingredients.

Mix very briefly, up to half a minute maximum.

Shape the dough with your hands into slightly flattened oval shape, about 4cm long.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Place the hot cookies in the syrup a few at a time. Dunk them real good so they're covered and coated in syrup.

A spatula will help

Coat in syrup and remove to a wire rack to dry off (I put a load of tinfoil underneath to catch the syrupy drips and make cleanup easier).

Drizzle over some honey and sprinkle over the walnuts and allow to dry and crisp up.

ENJOY