We are only a few days away from Christmas. There isn’t even one Greek house that has’n bake melomakarona, the delicious Greek Christmas honey cookies. If you haven’t made melomakarona yet, or if you’re ready for a second round, try these: melomakarona filled with dates. They are, I think, the best melomakarona I’ve ever made, and I don’t just mean in taste.
The perfect recipe
These melomakarona filled with dates are just the way I like them; crunchy, with ideal sweetness and ideal syrupiness. Of course, the syrupiness depends on how long you leave them in the syrup, so this is purely a matter of taste and everyone does it as they like.
Last year I made them with kumquat, also delicious. It’s just that this year’s have the ideal texture for my tastes.
A few words about the recipe
For the dough, I tried for the first time the recipe of Petros Syrigos, which I wanted to try for years. So he should get some of the credit 😉 The only change I made is to use only olive oil and not half olive – half seed oil like he does. As for the syrup, I did the same as last year’s melomakarona, since it’s tried and tested.
The filling was my mother’s idea and, really, the result was amazing. We always make stuffed melomakarona, it’s a tradition at our house. Our classic filling is ground walnut, a bit of honey, raisins, and cinnamon. Last year we made our revolution using kumquats 🙂 and this year we continued it with dates. We simply replaced the raisins with chopped dates. We kept the rest of the ingredients as they were.
A batch makes about 60 stuffed melomakarona, measured dough of 35 grams. If you decide to make them plain, without filling, you can calculate 30 gram dough pieces, it will be enough.
I am sure that plain, without filling, they will be delicious as well. I will definitely be making them again just to try them out.
Μelomakarona filled with Dates
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Loading...These melomakarona (Greek Christmas honey cookies) filled with dates are crunchy, with the perfect sweetness and perfect syrupiness. The filling, in addition to dates, includes walnuts, honey and cinnamon.
Ingredients
- dough:
- • 1100gr. all-purpose flour, sifted
- • 2 teaspoons baking powder
- • 600g mild olive oil
- • 50g brandy
- • 200g sugar
- • the zest of 2 oranges
- • 160g orange juice
- • 1 teaspoon baking soda
- • 1 teaspoon groundcloves
- • 150g approx. walnuts, crushed in a mortar, for sprinkling
- filling:
- • 140g walnuts finely crushed in the mortar
- • 200g Medjool dates, finely chopped
- • 2-2 ½ tablespoons honey
- • ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- syrup:
- • 400g water
- • 400g sugar
- • 400g honey
- • 3 cinnamon sticks
- • 4-5 whole cloves
- • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Put the olive oil, brandy, sugar, zest, cloves and cinnamon in the mixer and beat them with the paddle until they are homogenized.
Dissolve the soda in the orange juice, being careful because it will foam, and pour it into the mixture. Mix well with a whisk.
Pour the baking powder into the mixture and then the flour gradually (you may not need all of it) and mix gently until it is homogenized. Knead gently by hand, until you have a soft dough that it can be shaped and does not stick.
In a small bowl, put all the ingredients for the filling and mix well until they resemble a paste.
Weigh 35 gram dough pieces pew melomakarono and shape them flat in the palm of your hands. Fill them with a bit of the filling (about ½ teaspoon), seal them and shape them into an oblong cookie, the traditional shape of melomakarona. Pierce the surface with a fork, or with the grater and place the melomakarona on baking pans lined with non-stick paper.
Bake in a preheated oven, at 180°C, for about 30 minutes, until they turned lightly golden. Let them cool completely.
After they have cooled, prepare the syrup by putting the sugar, water, lemon and spices in a saucepan. Let them boil for 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Then, lower the heat to 1 and add the honey. Stir until melted.
Dip the melomakarona , a few at a time, in the syrup and leave them for about 1 minute or so, depending on how syrupy you want them. As I don't want them too syrupy, I leave them for about 45-60''. Take them out with a slotted spoon and put them on a plate.
Sprinkle with ground walnuts.
Notes
Dough recipe is adapted from the one of Petros Syrigos.
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