Melomakarona (μελομακάρονα)
Dec 12th, 2010 | By Peter Minakis | Category: Baking, Christmas, Dough, Featured, Flour, Greek, Greek Traditions, Honey, How To, Nuts, Olive Oil, Sweets, Syrup)
Greeks like to have an array of sweets, cookies, appetizers out for offering to the revolving door guests during the Christmas holidays.
I’ve already shown you Kourabiedes and now you get to see the other standard offering, Melomakarona. I’m sure you can read the ingredients list but here are the flavour tags for this simple cookie…orange, walnut, honey, clove, cinnamon….a party in the mouth!
Melomakarona (μελομακάρονα)
recipe update from December 2007
(makes about 40)
For the syrup
7 cups sugar
8 cups water
2 cups honey
2 cinnamon sticks
2 wide strips of orange peel
For the dough
6 -6 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 1/2 cups fine semolina flour
1 cup olive oil
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brandy (Metaxa)
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups orange juice
zest of 1 orange (1 Tbsp)
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground clove
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
Ground walnut topping
1 1/2 cups walnuts (roughly pounded)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 ground clove
Pre-heated 350F oven
- You should make your syrup first. To a pot add your sugar, water, honey, orange peel and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from the heat and allow to cool (success of recipe hinges on cool syrup and hot cookies).
- Into a large bowl, add the sugar, oil, room temp. and butter, blend with your hand mixer for 5 minutes and then add your cinnamon and clove and mix in as well. Dissolve your baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest and orange juice and honey into your brandy and pour into the bowl.
- Now add the baking powder and semolina flour into the bowl and mix with your hands. Add the pastry flour in, one cup at a time and knead in with your hands until you’ve achieved a soft, pliable dough that’s not sticky. Allow the dough to rest covered for 30 minutes.
- Using your hands, roll the dough into small balls (about the size of walnuts), then form them into oval/quenelle shaped shaped cookies.
- Take your box grater (the side used to zest) and place a cookie on top of it. Press the cookie down a bit to form a grid pattern on the top of the cookie. Repeat this process for all the cookies.
- Place your cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated oven (middle rack) for 30 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon or Spider, drop the hot cookies in batches into the cool syrup for 10 minutes to absorb the syrup then flip for 3 minutes on the other side. Reserve on a cooling rack and repeat until all the cookies are dunked in syrup.
- For the topping, add the above ingredients in a bowl mix well with a spoon. Brush each cookie with the remaining syrup and then sprinkle each cookie top with the walnut topping. Allow to cool.
- Store in a cool, dry container for up to a month.
Got leftover Melomakarona? Try this Cheesecake with Melomakarona crust!
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
© 2010 – 2012, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
Nice presentation Peter. Ours have long disappeared, next year again. Happy New Year.
The ingredients in your cookies are wonderful. I love how you put them across the grater :)
You made 100!? Wow, and you didn’t save me one. Thanks ;)
I agree with the whole party in the mouth thing!have a fantastic New Year in TO!!
These look good. I really like using honey and nuts in sweets/cookies/deserts.
Your melomakarona look great, Peter! I never thought to use a grater to create the grid pattern.
Yum Peter! I love the way you used your grater to make the markings! Cool!
I want to wish you a very “Happy New Year”! Looking forward to all of our visits in 2008!
Absolutely beautiful Melomacarana Peter! They are one of my favorite cookies ever. I always poke mine with a fork — next year I’ll try your grater trick!
So yummy ! happy new year again !
We have a similar dessert here in Turkey. It’s called “Kalburabasti” (without the walnut topping) but a great idea to mix walnuts with cloves!
By the way “kalbur” is the name of the stuff on which they press the dough to give the pattern, or using the grater as u use :)
[...] (these honey & walnut cookies be found in every Greek home around Christmas time. Here’s another [...]
[...] those living outside of Greece, one can always make a batch of Melomekarona and if you’re concerned about their availablity, most Greek bakeries sell them all year [...]
Wow those sounds delightful Peter..yum! I imagine your kitchen smells fantastic with all these treats.
Hi Peter, these look fab! but just one question… where in the recipe do you use the 3 cups of oil listed in the ingredients?? Thanks :)
Tanya, in the start – with the sugar.
WOW! I wondered how my mother had those dots in them…Its the Grater (secret)…who knew to ask?? I just eat them! One day I will make them, so have that recipe on hand….Looks Delicious! They are my favorite Greek dessert!
[...] will find many recipes for Melomakarona and this recipe (although not a new offering on my blog), is a good one – a delicious [...]
I just had these homemade from a Greek family 3 days ago. One word, heavenly! Peter a very Merry Christmas to you and your family! BTW, your mom is awesome, such talent in your kitchen!
Love your site, Re: the Melomakarona you dont mention what degree to heat the oven up to . tx
I love, love love melomakarna! I tried making it once and they turned out bad – I think it was the semolina flour being too course. I never knew about that grater trick, so, thanks! Can you send me some of yours? PS. Plus 5 for using a cup of olive oil!
Oooo, this looks perfect. I like how you roll the cookies on the rasp part of the cheese grater, I’ve always pressed a fork onto mine. And the cold syrup/hot cookie idea – I think my problems have always stemmed from using hot syrup and cold cookies…I think I might just have to try this recipe tomorrow! Thanks!
Peter kai ta dika sou einai theika!!! Stin teleutaia fotografia mou etrexan ta salia!!! Na maste kala kai tou xronou!!!
as i’ve been a greek for over 50 years i never get tired of the cooking
thanks
ray
Love those melis… mom makes them a little differently and she pressed them in a mold instead of rolling on the grater.. very yummy cookies.
These are gorgeous. :)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kalofagas Greek Food, Pamela. Pamela said: Greek holiday sweets are such a treat RT @kalofagas: Melomakarona (μελομακάρονα) – Greek Food & Beyond by Kalofagas http://t.co/ZN1MHlw [...]
Mmmhhhh, whar^t delicious little cookies! A wonderful combination of ingredients.
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmm lovely cookies, i bet they taste sooo good!!
I have never seen a recipe with semolina flour in the melomakarona! I also love the grater trick. I use the fork for the decorations.
Another winner Peter!
Peter μοσχοβόλησαν Χριστούγεννα!!!
Και του χρόνου, καλές γιορτές να χουμε!!
Excellent recipe, I also use semolina and original Kalamata olive oil in this recipe! Merry Christmas!!!
Always good to see the classics Pete!
I always wait til last minute to make my melomakarona … I don’t know what’s wrong with me!
No sabes como me hubiera gustado encontrar esta receta hace unas semanas, si quieres visitar mi blog en mi última entrada tengo la receta de melomakarona, christopsomo y kourabiedes, a pesar de no haberlas probado nunca espero no haberme apartado mucho de las recetas originales…ahora veo que las melomakarona son mas alargadas que las que hice yo :D….un beso!!!
I love that all these treats are not so overly sweet
Yesterday I made melomakarona with the assistance of three little fellows -5, 4, 2.5 and a 1.5 years old boys and girls- and their mothers and it was great!! Laughs and honey and cinammon smells all over the place. As for the melomakarona, they are great too!
Yours look yummy as well!!
Many happy returns! :)
Cette recette est déjà dans mon carnet gourmand je la réalise dès que possible
En attendant de te lire je te souhaite une belle semaine
Bise, Valérie.
Hello
My Yaya had made these for me for a long time. I have never learned to make them my self.
I would like to watch a video on this do you have one or do you know where i can find one.
thank you
Joe
Ohhhhhhh! The thought of these sends shivers up and down my spine! The first time I had these was actually in Toronto. I forget the name of the place now, though fortunately I could probably find my way back. Oh my god, these are mind-blowing. Greek desserts in general are to-die-for, but these melomakarona… I was like weak in the knees when I first bit into one :) I’m tempted to try my hand at making them. Even if they come out bad, they can’t come out THAT bad since they’re just so good :)
[...] Melomakarona [...]
[...] Nog Ice Cream With Salted Caramel Rum SauceSublime, Sexy Walbut-Stuffed FigsBaklava French ToastMelomakaronaKourabiediesBaklavasMargarites (Baklava Daisies)Baklava CigarsSaragliMedley of Thessalonikeon [...]
I love melomakarona but unfortunately your recipe did not turn out for me. I bake a lot and your instructions were not clear. I will go back to my tried and true recipe for melomakarona. So disappointed.
Hi Lisa, sorry to hear this recipe disappointed you. I re-read the ingredients, steps and I don’t see where i was vague or unclear. I made Melomakarona today as well and I used this recipe with success.
I just finished the first batch and taste tested…YUM. My mother-in-law will be proud I’m sure. I tried your recipe after the success I had making kourabiedes with your recipe. Thank you! Merry Christmas.