Ingredients for Christmas Cookies
- 650 gr. soft flour
- 380 gr. fine semolina
- 125 gr. powdered sugar
- 50 gr. honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground clove
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 250 ml vegetable oil
- 175 ml fresh orange juice
- 100 ml water
- Zest of 2 oranges
Ingredients for the Syrup
- 500 ml water
- 1 kg sugar
- 300 g honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
For the Coating
- 375 g classic dark chocolate ION
- Walnuts
Method for the Syrup
Place all the ingredients in a pot and bring them to a boil.
Once it starts boiling, remove from heat and let the syrup cool.
Method for the honey cookies
In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for the melomakarona along with the zest
of the two oranges, and mix well with a whisk.
Then, in a small pot, heat the water and remove it from the heat just before it starts to
boil.
Next, in a large bowl, add all the liquid ingredients along with the honey and mix well
with a whisk.
Once the liquid ingredients are well combined, gradually add the dry ingredients in 4-
5 portions, mixing thoroughly by hand in a cross pattern (up, down, left, right) until a
very soft dough forms.
Then, transfer the dough onto a surface and, with quick movements, shape the
dough into melomakarona of your desired size, ensuring they are approximately the
same size so they bake evenly.
Optionally, you can press one side of each melomakarona with a sieve to create a
simple pattern.
Place the melomakarona on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a
preheated oven on the middle rack with top and bottom heat at 180-190°C (350-
375°F) for 22 to 30 minutes, depending on the size and how crispy you want them.
To assemble
Right after removing the cookies from the oven, take the saucepan with the cold syrup and remove the cinnamon sticks. Next, place into as many cookies as the saucepan can contain so that the syrup covers them.
Leave the cookies in the syrup, depending on how syrupy you prefer them to be: 1 minute for lightly syrupy, 1.5-2 minutes for moderately syrupy, and over 2 minutes for very syrupy.
Remove the cookies from the syrup and allow them to drain on a wire rack with a sheet of parchment paper or a baking pan underneath so that they drain well.
Method for the Coating
Melt 250 gr. of the classic dark chocolate in a double boiler. Finely chop the
remaining 125 gr. of chocolate.
Once the chocolate has melted, remove it from the double boiler and add the finely
chopped chocolate, mixing until smooth.
After that, take each cooled melomakarona and dip half of it into the melted
chocolate.
Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and sprinkle with crushed
walnuts.
