This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for details.
Hi Bold Bakers!
Sticky Greek Honey Cookies, also known as Melomakarona, are a staple in Greek homes around Christmas time, and it’s not hard to understand why they’re a crowd favorite. Greek melomakarona cookies are sweet, super soft and cakey, crunchy with nuts, and wonderfully sticky. How is it possible that there are so many flavor and texture notes in one cookie?!
The cookie is made with olive oil, orange juice, crushed walnuts (or your favorite nuts), honey, and just a touch of warm spices like cinnamon and clove. Then, the cake is dipped in a completely wonderful sticky honey syrup.
My Greek honey cookies are so perfect for sharing with family and friends for the holidays. I’m so excited for you to try them!
By the way, have you tried some of my other global cookie recipes? Try my new Linzer Cookies, Speculaas, or Spritz Cookies!
What Are Greek Melomakarona Cookies?
Melomakarona cookies are a tradition at Christmas time in Greek households. They’re a cakey cookie flavored with orange and walnuts and dipped in a sticky honey syrup.
This is a recipe for baked melomakarona cookies, although they can also be found fried.
What You Need To Make Greek Melomakarona Cookies
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing bowls
- 2 baking sheets
- Wide, shallow saucepan
- Parchment paper
How To Make Greek Melomakarona Cookies
Once you try these cookies, they’re bound to be your go-to Christmas cookie recipe! Here is how you make melomakarona cookies (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, on the page down below):
- To make the cookie dough, combine the olive oil, orange juice, sugar, crushed walnuts, honey, cognac (if using), and orange juice in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, and cinnamon.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Knead the dough with your hands for a few minutes to incorporate the oil into the flour.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and, working one tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough into oval shapes. Flatten them slightly and place them onto the baking sheets about 2-inches apart.
- Make indentations on top of the cookies by pressing the tops with a fork.
- Bake in a preheated 375°F (190°C) oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown. All the cookies to cool before moving on to the honey syrup.
- Once the cookies have cooled, make the syrup by combining the honey and water in a wide, shallow saucepan and heat until simmering.
- While the syrup heats, combine the crushed walnuts and sesame seeds in a small bowl and set near the syrup.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with half of the walnut/sesame mixture. Also place it near the syrup.
- Working with a few cookies at a time, dip them into the warm syrup, coating both sides.
- Lift the cookie gently out of the syrup and place it on the parchment-lined, walnut sprinkled cookie sheet. Sprinkle the top with some of the remaining walnut/sesame seed mixture. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Greek Melomakarona Cookies
- The cookies are super sticky after they have been dipped. Store them in individual muffin cups or on parchment paper in a single layer. Otherwise, they will stick together.
- Be sure that your cookies are completely cooled before you dip them into the honey mixture, or they may break apart while dipping.
- If the honey mixture seems too sweet, drizzle the honey syrup onto the top of the cookies instead.
- Instead of olive oil, you can use fresh, neutral-flavored vegetable oil.
- Walnuts are traditional in this recipe, but feel free to use different nuts like pistachios and cashews.
- After dipping them in honey, try them with a drizzle of chocolate!
How Do I Store Greek Melomakarona Cookies?
Once the cookies after cooled after their dip in the honey syrup, store them in a single layer in a parchment-lined, airtight container or in individual paper muffin liners. They’ll stick together if not! They can be kept at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Make More Cookies At Home!
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Sticky Greek Honey Cookies (Melomakarona) Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ¾ cup (6floz/170ml) olive oil
- 6 tablespoons (3floz/85ml) orange juice
- ¼ cup (2oz/57g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (1 ¼oz/35g) crushed walnuts
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 ½ tablespoons cognac (optional)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2 cups (10oz/284g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Honey Syrup:
- 1 ½ cups (15oz/425g) honey
- ¼ cup (2floz/57ml) water
- 1 cup (5oz/142g) crushed walnuts
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
To Make The Cookie Dough:
- In a large bowl, combine olive oil, orange juice, sugar, crushed walnuts, honey, cognac (if using), and orange zest.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, and cinnamon.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and knead with your hands for a few minutes to incorporate the oil into the flour.
- Working with one tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into oval shapes, flatten slightly and place onto the prepared baking sheets 2 inches (5cm) apart.
- Press the tops to the cookies with a fork to make a few indentations.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown. Let cool completely before proceeding.
To Make The Honey Syrup:
- Once the cookies are cooled, make the syrup: combine the honey and water in a wide, shallow saucepan and heat until simmering.
- While the syrup is heating, combine the crushed walnuts and sesame seeds in a small bowl and set near the syrup.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, sprinkle with half of the walnut-sesame mixture, and place near the syrup.
- Working with a few cookies at a time, dip the cookies in the warm syrup, coating both sides.
- Lift gently out of the syrup and back onto the parchment-lined, walnut sprinkled cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tops with some of the remaining crushed walnuts and sesame seeds. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Once cooled, store these cookies in a single layer in a parchment-lined, airtight container or in individual paper muffin liners. These cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Hi Gemma can I use spiced rum instead of cognac ?thanks
Hi these look fantastic! I want to try them this holiday season. Already have these ingredients on hand except for ground cloves and sesame seeds. Are they a signature flavor of these cookies or can I skip them? We have whole cloves, not sure if I can find ground cloves where I live. Excited to taste these, thanks.
I thought these were absolutely perfect. The flavour is spot on (and I used canola oil — I don’t like the mouth feel of olive oil in baked goods, if that makes any sense). My Greek husband had only one suggestion, they needed to be soaked in the honey syrup. I think it’s a personal preference (he’s a honey monster) but that’s the only thing I’ll be tweaking. (Just fyi, his mom sent her usual batch directly from Greece and they’re still sitting on the counter whereas I have 1 cookie left of your recipe after 2 days so I… Read more »
Can you freeze the dough and make them 3 days later
Can I put regular oil instead.
These look so yummy will be making some tomorrow. Just wondering about nutritional info ? Thanks
Oh my goodness, my Greek genes are happily dancing now. I just finished with the final step and have eaten two so far. So yummy and so easy. I wish I had tried these sooner. My 1/2 Greek mother will love these!
Hi Gemma. Can you freeze these cookies.
I made these for my mom who is a big fan of Greece and she loved them! I tried it too and they are just so delicious ! I used a mix of nuts instead of just walnuts and cardamom powder instead of ground cloves because I didn’t have those, and use freshly made orange juice ! Really the best thing !
If you want to make them a bit crunchier, you can substitute around half of the olive oil with flavourless oil; so, by using 2 types of oil, the result will be crispier on the outside and soft on the inside! My favorite recipe hands up!