Kourabiedes and melomakarona – a match made in heaven
In Greece there are two very famous sweets that are eaten during the festive season. Kourabiedes are a type of almond shortbread coated in icing sugar. Melomakarona are the most irresistible semolina honey cookies. Their name comes from the word ‘meli’ which means honey in Greek. They are also known as ‘finikia’, in some areas of Greece. Growing up, melomakarona were always a favourite in our house. In true Greek style, my mother would make a very large batch, although I’m afraid to say that they didn’t last very long! They are a wonderful treat to offer guests coming to visit during the festive season, as well as an unusual idea for Christmas gifting. Melomakarona are also in fact vegan, with the exception of the honey, which can easily be substituted with sugar.
Full of spice and other things nice
These festive cookies are surprisingly easy to make and are more like little cakes than biscuits. They have a lovely crumbly texture, which becomes deliciously soft when you dip them. Typically, they contain oil, semolina, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, orange juice and zest, brandy and spices such as cinnamon and cloves. Once baked, you dip the cookies in honey syrup. Finally, you top with a generous sprinkle of chopped walnuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Tips for the best melomakarona
Although melomakarona are pretty simple to make, there are a couple of watch points to follow. Firstly, make sure you use the best possible ingredients. It is particularly important to use fresh spices and walnuts and good quality brandy and honey. This will give you a more flavoursome result.
When you are making the dough, don’t overwork it, as it can split. This will cause the oil to leak out and can give your cookies a flat look. If the dough is very sticky and you are finding it hard to shape the biscuits, you can sprinkle it with a little more flour. Don’t add too much though, or the cookies will be tough. The biscuits should be baked until they are just turning golden. If you press them they should be firm but not hard and the dough should not give in (similar to when a cake is ready).
Have some festive fun
Lastly, be creative! I have posted our traditional family recipe for melomakarona, but there are lots of different ways that you can adjust the recipe. You can add different spices according to your preference – such as ginger and nutmeg. You can also swop the nuts for almonds or pistachios, and add different flavours to the syrup. Another popular modern trend in Greece, is to dip the melomakarona in chocolate.
Melomakarona
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Ingredients
- BISCUITS:
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup semolina
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- Pinch of salt
- 2/3 cup oil
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/8 cup orange juice
- 1/8 cup brandy
- Zest of 1 orange
- SYRUP:
- 1 cup sugar (you can also use 1 1/2 cups sugar with 1/2 cup honey OR just 2 cups sugar)
- 1 cup honey
- 2 cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- TOPPING:
- 50g walnuts, lightly roasted
- Cinnamon to sprinkle
Instructions
BISCUITS:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Line a large flat baking tray with baking paper.
- Sift together the flour, semolina, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- Place the oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand up mixer and whisk on a high speed until the sugar starts to dissolve. Not all the granules will dissolve. If you don’t have an electric mixer, you can do this in a large bowl with a whisk.
- Add the orange juice, brandy and orange zest and whisk for a few second to combine.
- Pour the oil and sugar mixture over the dry ingredients, scraping the bowl out with a spatula to make sure you get all the mix out.
- Using your hands, bring the ingredients together to form a dense and wet dough. If it is loose and and very sticky, sprinkle over a little bit more flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter, as it can split.
- Take palm-sized portions of the dough (about 1 tbsp.) and shape into smooth oblong egg shapes. Place the cookies onto the baking tray, leaving a gap in between, as they will expand when they bake.
- Gently press a fork on op of each cookie to make a criss cross indentation. This will help hold the walnuts when they are baked. Don’t press too hard though, as you don’t want to flatten them.
- Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. They should be pale golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool down.
SYRUP:
- Whilst the cookies are baking you can begin preparing your syrup. Place the sugar, honey, water, cinnamon and cloves in a small-medium pot. Don’t use a very large pot, as you want the syrup to be a few centimetres deep to dip the cookies.
- Turn the syrup onto a low heat, and gently stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, bring the syrup up to the boil. At this point you can no longer stir the syrup, as it can crystallise. Reduce to a simmer and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Add the lemon juice and swirl to combine. Reduce to a very low heat to keep warm.
DIPPING:
- Once the cookies are cool, you can start dipping them. Make sure you have a platter ready for the dipped cookies. Roughly chop the walnuts, ready to sprinkle on top.
- Place about 4 cookies in the syrup, or however many will fit. They should be floating in the syrup and not stacked on top of one another. Leave them for 30 seconds, then flip them over with a slotted spoon and let them soak on the other side for a further 20 seconds.
- Remove the cookies with a slotted spoon, letting the excess syrup drip off, and arrange them on the platter close together. Once you have made one layer, sprinkle the cookies with chopped walnuts and a generous dusting of cinnamon.
- Continue dipping the cookies, stacking them neatly into layers on the platter. Once they are all dipped, sprinkle any remaining walnuts over the platter with a light dusting of cinnamon.
