Melomakarona, the most popular Greek Christmas Cookie! Juicy aromatic cookies with a hint of cinnamon and orange drenched in a honey syrup and topped crushed walnuts. Get the authentic step by step recipe for this juicy, decadent and delicious Greek Christmas honey cookie.

Melomakarona are by far the most popular holiday cookie in Greece. And they are my favorite, especially my mother’s recipe. While the white pretty kourabiedes (another Greek Christmas cookie) are more of a fancy type of cookie, melomakarona (pronounced melomakárona) are the dark, decadent, succulent cookies, juicy and dripping honey all over the place. I love eating melomakarona. I actually feel good about it because they really represent what the Greek Mediterranean diet is all about: delicious food made with good-for-you ingredients.

What is a Melomakarono

Melomakarona are Greek cookies that are made from flour, olive oil, sugar and orange juice, drenched in honey and topped with walnuts. They are traditionally made during the Christmas holidays. The word melomakarona is pronounced meh-loh-mah-KAH-roh-nah and comes from the word meli, which mean honey in Greek and makaria which means to bless as this type of cookie was used in various religious ceremonies in antiquity.
Melomakarona and Finikia
Some people use the 2 terms interchangeably depending where they are from, although there are differences. Finikia usually contain semolina, or may be fried or stuffed as opposed to melomakarona.

Nutritional Value of Melomakarona: The Dietitian’s Take

Melomakarona are vegan(depending on if you consider honey vegan) and made with olive oil, honey, orange juice, and walnuts but also flour and sugar. So on the one hand, yes, these sweets have plenty of sugar, on the other hand the olive oil, the honey, the orange zest and the walnuts are all sources of antioxidants. Most importantly the fat from the melomakarono comes exclusively from olive oil. A multitude of studies have shown that olive oil protects from many chronic diseases due to the type of fat (monounsaturated) but also due to its antioxidant content. 

Calories in Melomakarona

Having said all this, I have to note that yes, melomakarona do have calories, more than the kourabie, but at least you can enjoy them knowing that you are doing a bit of good to your body. Be warned these cookies are rich, and they should be sweet, as with the kourabie, one is enough.

This is the authentic recipe my mother has been making for decades, made with olive oil and honey and we can’t resist them-they are so good!

Note: there are no vegetable oils in this recipe. Unfortunately, if you look at other so-called “traditional” recipes you will see corn oil or other vegetable oils present instead of olive oil, avoid them- as that is not traditional or authentic or healthy.

Melomakarona Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients: We just use regular flour, sugar and baking powder and baking soda.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: It is very important that you use fresh olive oil. Any off taste or old olive oil will come out and ruin the flavor of these cookies. As noted avoid using vegetable or seed oils, as they are pro-inflammatory and of course not part of the authentic Melomakarona recipe.
• Orange juice: I use fresh orange juice with no pulp
• Cognac or brandy: This gives the melomakarona that special aroma, however if you wish to omit alcohol then just substitute with additional orange juice.
• Honey: Ideally you want to use thyme honey. Most greek honey is thyme honey.

How to Make Melomakarona-Step by Step

Prepare the Melomakarona Dough

In a large bowl mix the olive oil, cognac or brandy, orange juice, sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and orange peel. Set aside.

In another bowl sift flour and mix with the baking powder and baking soda. Add the flour gradually to the olive oil mixture, while stirring with a wooden spoon. Do not add all of it at once, stir with the spoon and add flour until you have soft and shiny dough, it should not be dry. Knead the dough just a bit until it comes together. Do not over knead.

Roll into a large bowl cover with plastic and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough in little balls about the size of a walnut. Using your fingers press one side of the ball on a grater flattening like a small pancake and then fold over so that the cookie is in a oval shape, with the top having the design of the grater or you may pierce with a fork. This is done so that the honey will be better absorbed as opposed to just shaping the cookie in a solid oval shape.

Place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake for about 25 minutes. Until golden. Do not overbake otherwise they won’t absorb the syrup.

Once all the cookies are baked, transfer to a large casserole dish and flip them so that the bottom part is facing up, let them cool down. You want to make sure they are cool before you pour the hot syrup on them. Start making the syrup once the cookies have cooled. * (Some people prefer to do the opposite: Make the syrup and let it cool off, than pour the syrup over hot cookies, instead of letting them cool down. However, this is usually done when the recipe also contains semolina-this one does not).

Prepare the Melomakarona Syrup

For the syrup bring to a boil the honey, syrup and water and let it boil for 3 minutes. Remove the foam.

Once the syrup is boiled, while it is hot, pour it over the cookies, making sure all cookies are covered with syrup. Let the cookies sit for at least 2-3 hours with the top side facing down so that they absorb the syrup.

In the meantime mix the walnuts with cinnamon.

Turn over on the melomakarona right side again, sprinkle the walnut mixture over the melomakarona.

Place the melomakarona on a large platter.

Recipe Substitutions

Alcohol: For alcohol free melomakrona, you can use additional orange juice in the place of the cognac or brandy.

Oil: I don’t recommend substituting with other oils, but if you absolutely must, you can use a high-oleic sunflower oil, but not more than half.

Nuts: You can use pistachio to sprinkle on top of the Melomakarona instead of walnuts, for some color.

Storing Melomakarona

• Melomakarona last a long time, at least 3 weeks. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. The more they sit the better they taste.
• You may freeze them, but do that before adding the syrup. Just let the cookies cool completely and then store in airtight container for 6 months.

Make Ahead

You can make the cookies a day ahead. And the next day make the syrup and pour hot over the cold cookies.