greek cookies

adapted from Anneka Manning's Mastering The Art Of Baking

Greek Almond Crescents are sweet little crescent shaped biscuits infused with orange zest and cinnamon that make a delightful tea time indulgence.

KOURABIEDES - GREEK ALMOND CRESCENT COOKIES

butter, softened

(1 cup) icing sugar, sifted

orange zest

brandy

(2 1/2 cups) plain flour

baking powder

cinnamon

(1 cup) toasted almonds, finely chopped (I used coarse almond meal)

Preheat oven to 160C (315F). Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and orange zest in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add egg, egg yolk, brandy and cinnamon. Beat until well combined.

Add sifted flour, almond meal and baking powder. Using a wooden spoon, mix well. Shape tablespoons of mixture into crescents and place on trays leaving 5cm gaps between them to allow for spreading.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden, swapping trays back to front after about 10 minutes to enable even cooking. Remove from oven at the end of the cooking time. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before gently transferring them to a wire rack. While still warm, dust heavily with icing sugar. When cooled completely, store in an air tight container. Will keep well for a week or longer in the fridge.

These traditional Easter cookies are light, crumbly and soft! Dunk them in your morning coffee or enjoy as a midday snack.

Greek Easter Orange Cookies - Koulourakia Portokaliou

All-Purpose Flour

½ tbsp Baking Powder

tsp Ground Cinnamon

tsp Ground Cloves

Salt

Sugar

Olive Oil (or sunflower/canola oil)

Orange Juice (freshly squeezed)

tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Orange Zest (from one orange)

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and salt. Whisk all together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175 C).

In a stand mixer add the granulated sugar and olive oil and mix over medium high speed for about 2 minutes.

Pour the orange juice, vanilla extract and orange zest and mix until incorporated.

Change the whisk attachment to the dough hook and add the flour mixture in thirds. Mix well after every addition on low speed until an elastic dough is formed. Do not overmix.

Remove dough from the mixer and place on a clean work surface. The dough should be oily but not sticky.

Take a small piece of the dough and shape it into a ball using your palms. On a work surface, roll the dough ball into a log. Shape it into a round or twist cookie as shown in the photos.

Place the shaped cookies in lined baking sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are golden on top and golden brown at the bottom.

Remove from oven and let them cool for 15 minutes.

Enjoy with a cup of Greek coffee!

Melomakarona are soft, oval-shaped Greek cookies scented with orange and cinnamon, drenched in honey syrup and covered with crushed walnuts. Yes, they are irressitable! This recipe makes 60 cookies; they keep well so that you can enjoy them for a while or gift them to family and friends.

Melomakarona Recipe

water

sugar

orange, (zested and cut in half)

honey ((I used Greek honey))

extra virgin olive oil

orange juice

orange

nutmeg

½ cups all purpose flour

baking soda

walnut halves, (finely chopped (chop the walnuts after measuring))

Make the syrup. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar, orange, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium-high for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and stir in the honey. Set the syrup aside to cool completely (do not remove the cinnamon or orange until you are ready to use the syrup).

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the EVOO, brandy, orange juice, orange zest, 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Slowly, add the dry flour mixture to the wet olive oil mixture (I added 1/3 of the flour at a time), while mixing with a wooden spoon. Once all the flour has been added, use your hands to knead the dough until smooth (do not overwork the dough).

Prepare a large sheetpan (or two) and line with parchment paper.

Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of the cookie dough and shape it between your palms into an oval shape (like a small egg). Lightly flatten (do not flatten too much) and set on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat, forming the cookies until you have used up all the dough. Line the cookies in the sheet pan, making sure to leave about ½ inch between them.

In the center of each cookie, lightly press the tines of a fork in a crosshatch pattern. The cookies should flatten a tiny bit in the center (but you should not push so hard the cookies become too flat).

Bake on the center rack of your heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes; the cookies should be golden in color but they should not brown too much.

Remove the orange and cinnamon stick from the syrup.

As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, put them in the cold syrup, flipping them around for about 20 to 30 seconds or so (you will need to do this in batches, making sure that all the cookies are able to absorb enough syrup).

With a slotted spoon, remove the cookies from the syrup and arrange them on a tray or directly on your serving dish. Sprinkle each cookie with a generous pinch of the chopped walnuts (pat the walnuts lightly so they will stick to the cookies).

I have used several recipes from this site with great success.  This is the first one that no one liked.  The main comment was that there was no flavor other than the honey.  Will try a different one next time.

For vegan, substitute Agave for Honey. *
We made 30 cookies. Should have made 60 since they are so incredibly delicious!

we added an egg and extra OJ as a substitute for the brandy, do you think it will turn out okay?

These Greek cookies stay fresh up to two weeks, and in fact, get BETTER in the days AFTER you bake them. Savor the warmth of the Mediterranean with every bite of melomakarona flavored with walnuts, spices, orange and honey.

Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona Cookies)

all-purpose flour (plus additional for dusting work surface)

sea salt

cloves

unsalted butter, softened (8 tablespoons)

eggs

olive oil

orange juice (from

orange peel (about 1-inch wide)

honey

walnuts (very finely chopped)

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and cloves.

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Reduce speed to medium-low. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just incorporated after each addition. Add oil, orange juice and orange zest; mix until combined.

Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead 1 minute. Transfer dough to large bowl; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. Dough may also be kept in the fridge up to 3 days.

Make Cookie Dough:

In high-sided pan or large pot, stir together orange peel, sugar, honey and water. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat and let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and let syrup cool completely at room temperature.

Make Honey Syrup:

In small bowl, stir together walnuts, cinnamon and cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For each cookie, take about 1-1/2 tablespoons dough and roll and press it into an oval shape with your hands.

Place cookies on rimmed baking pan, spaced 1-1/2 inches apart; repeat until baking pan is full. Prick tops of cookies with fork 4-5 times so that tine marks are lightly visible. Return remaining dough to refrigerator between batches.

Transfer cookies to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Line a second rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. In batches, transfer hot cookies fresh from the oven to cooled honey syrup. Let them soak 30 seconds, turning halfway through.

Using slotted spoon, transfer cookies to parchment-lined pan (you can put them very close together at this stage). Immediately sprinkle with walnut topping. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, honey syrup and walnut topping.

When completely cool, transfer cookies to airtight containers, with parchment or wax paper between layers (or put each cookie in a paper cupcake wrapper). Cookies will last up to 2 weeks.

Make the Walnut Topping:

First time making these and they turned out so good. You are right about the five day turnaround, they just keep getting better and better. 

I doubled the spices in everything and I baked the cookies a little bit longer so they were a little bit crispy, and that seemed to make all the difference with the syrup soaking in. They still had some substance to them instead of crumbling like a soft cookie.  

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KOURABIEDES - GREEK ALMOND CRESCENT...

Greek Easter Orange Cookies - Koulo...

Melomakarona Recipe

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