Melomakarona Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and honey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Cool completely. , Meanwhile, for cookies, in a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar and oil until blended. Beat in Cognac, orange juice and honey. In another bowl, whisk flour, orange zest, baking powder and cinnamon; gradually beat into sugar mixture., Shape tablespoons of dough into 1-in.-thick ovals. Place 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 20-25 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks., Float and turn warm cookies in syrup about 10 seconds; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; sprinkle with walnuts. Let stand until set. Store between pieces of waxed paper in airtight containers.

Steps:

• For the syrup: Stir to combine the sugar, honey, whole cloves, cinnamon stick and orange zest with 1 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Set aside at room temperature until cooled completely, about 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; set aside.
• For the dough: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, semolina, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside.
• Whisk the olive oil, vegetable oil, sugar, orange juice, honey and 1/4 cup water in another large bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dry ingredients and mix with your hands, without overworking the dough, until slightly sticky but soft and smooth.
• Grab about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the dough (about 1 ounce) and form it into an oval-shape cookie about 1/2 inch thick. Press the top of the cookie gently on a wire rack to create a diamond pattern then place it, pattern-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Bake until the cookies are lightly brown, about 25 minutes. Immediately transfer one cookie at a time to the cooled syrup, flipping a couple of times with a slotted spoon, just until absorbed and fully coated, 5 to 10 seconds. Use the slotted spoon to transfer the cookies to a serving platter.
• For the topping: Immediately sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the soaked cookies.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, baking soda, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Beat butter in a separate bowl until light and fluffy; add sugar and mix well. Beat egg yolks and orange juice together in another bowl. Stir egg mixture into the butter mixture; add flour mixture slowly, mixing after each addition. Add honey. Mix until a soft dough forms.
• Chill dough until firm enough to work with, about 30 minutes. Shape into small ovals and place a few inches apart on baking sheet sheets. Flatten slightly; cookies will spread.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat honey, water, and sugar together in a saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Let syrup cool. Mix walnuts, cinnamon, and cloves together in a bowl to make the topping.
• Dip cookies into the cooled syrup for 10 to 15 seconds per side. Sprinkle walnut topping over syrup and let dry completely. Store in muffin cups or between layers of parchment paper.

Steps:

• Cream butter and oil until completely mixed, add confectioner's sugar, add orange juice slowly, add vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, add 2 cups flour and beat, add two more cups flour, and then add the rest. You may not need all of the flour, just don't let it get too thick, knead the dough lightly in the bowl.
• Using teaspoon, scoop out some of the dough and roll in your palms and flatten slightly in your hands. Bake at 350 for 25 minute and cool.
• Boil syrup ingredients for 5 minute in LARGE saucepan, as it will foam up, then dip each cake (I do several at one time) in the saucepan, turning a couple of times with a wooden spoon, place the cookies on waxed paper and sprinkle with walnut and cinnamon mixture. Cool completely before storing. Best stored in tins. These cookies will keep in tins for a couple of months, but I can't stay out of them long enough to last that long!

Steps:

• Make the syrup: In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, cinnamon sticks and clove with 1 1/3 cups water. Cut orange in half and place in saucepan, flesh down. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar completely dissolves, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in honey. Set aside to cool completely, leaving the cinnamon, clove and orange in the syrup until ready to use.
• Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners, or lightly grease the pans with olive oil.
• Finely grate the zest of 1 orange into a large mixing bowl. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into a measuring cup. If it doesn't measure 1 cup (240 milliliters), squeeze in enough juice from the other orange. Add juice to the bowl with the zest, then mix in olive oil, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and salt.
• In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, semolina and baking soda. Gradually, fold in the flour mixture into the olive oil mixture. With a wooden spoon, mix until flour is just evenly incorporated.
• Using your hands, roll dough into 1 1/2-inch ovals or egg-shapes, and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Using the palm of your hand, lightly flatten dough. Bake until cookies are golden, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through for even baking.
• Right before the cookies are done, remove the orange, cinnamon sticks and clove from the syrup. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, and working in batches, dunk the hot cookies in the cool syrup, gently flipping them for about 10 seconds so they can absorb the syrup. Remove cookies from the syrup using a slotted spoon and arrange them on a tray or plate. Sprinkle the center of each cookie with a generous pinch of nuts, patting them lightly so they stick to cookies.
• Once cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. To prevent the cookies from sticking together, place sheets of wax or parchment paper between cookie layers.

Steps:

• Put the corn oil, butter, beer (or orange juice), cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until they are thoroughly blended.
• Sift about one cup of flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend into the oil mixture.
• Add the semolina, a cup at a time, into this mixture.
• Add enough of the remaining flour, a cup at a time, until you get a rather firm dough (you may need a bit more or less than the amount of flour mentioned in the ingredients list).
• Use your hands to do the mixing, as an electric mixer will be useless after the first two or three cups of flour have been added.
• Roll the dough into cylinders, about two inches long and one inch in diameter, flatten them with your hands, and place them on cookie sheets that have been greased with a little olive oil.
• Bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit for half an hour.
• Remove the cookies from the oven and pour hot syrup over them.
• Lay the cookies out in a rimmed baking pan large enough to contain them and pour the hot syrup over the cookies, sprinkle them with the chopped walnuts and let them soak overnight.
• (Alternatively, if you do not have enough rimmed baking sheets to accommodate all the cookies, you can dip them in batches directly into the hot syrup - keeping the syrup at the lowest possible simmer - and allow to soak in the syrup for 8-10 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon).
• For the syrup: mix the sugar, honey and water, and bring to a boil.
• Cook on low heat for four minutes and skim off the foam that forms on top.
• The next day put them on your prettiest platter, sprinkle each layer evenly with the finely chopped walnuts and wrap with plastic wrap (or put in an airtight container) and serve.
• These are great keepers and will last for months (my Mom's 'big' batches sometimes made it nearly up until Easter!).