Melomekarona Recipe

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ....

Well at least at our house it is! And as the resident Greeks on our street, our neighbors rely on me to supply them with some annual Greek treats. So while the rest of you are whipping up Peanut Butter Blossoms and Gingerbread, we're making Melomekarona!

Here's what you need to get started:

Ingredients

Zest of 1 orange

1 c sugar

7 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 c orange juice

1 c olive oil

1 c vegetable or canola oil

1 c sugar

1 c honey

1 c water

2 Dashes of cinnamon

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Place the sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Massage them together like you are playing in the sand to release the zest oils into the sugar.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a Kitchen Aid, mix together the orange juice, olive oil, and vegetable oil. Add the zest and sugar mixture.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the Kitchen Aid while it mixes on low. Once the flour is full incorporated into the dough, stop mixing. Take a pinch of dough and roll into an oval. Once you lay them on a parchment sheeted cookie sheet, take your fork and make a cross hatch pattern in the top of the cookies.

Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. They will be very dry! So here is how we make the syrup while they are in the oven: Bring the water, sugar, honey and lemon zest to a boil in a sauce pan. Lower to a simmer. Once you remove the cookies from the oven, remove from the cookie sheet with a spatula and float them in the simmering syrup, about 6-10 at a time.

Best Sous Chef ever!

Once you remove them from the syrup, let the extra syrup drain off on a cooling rack placed over another pan to catch the drips. Top with finely crumbled walnuts or almonds.

Enjoy!!