
Melomakarona grecs
Biscuits à l'huile d'olive parfumés à l'orange et aux épices, trempés dans un sirop de miel et garnis de noix.
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Étapes

Mix the wet ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the sugar until blended. Dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice (it will fizz), then whisk this into the oil along with the orange zest and brandy.
- 250 ml olive oil
- 100 g sugar
- 100 ml orange juice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 orange zest
- 60 ml brandy
✅ C'est prêt quand : the mixture looks smooth and slightly foamy

Make the dough
In another bowl, stir together the flour, semolina, baking powder, cinnamon, clove and salt. Add this to the wet mixture and fold gently with a spatula or your hand just until it comes together into a soft, slightly oily dough. Do not knead it hard or beat it; working olive oil dough too much makes the cookies tough instead of tender.
- 500 g flour
- 100 g semolina
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground clove
- 1 pinch salt
✅ C'est prêt quand : the dough holds together and feels soft but not sticky; let it rest 15 minutes
Shape the cookies
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Bake until golden
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Make the honey syrup
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Soak and top
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Mix the wet ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the sugar until blended. Dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice (it will fizz), then whisk this into the oil along with the orange zest and brandy.
- 250 ml olive oil
- 100 g sugar
- 100 ml orange juice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 orange zest
- 60 ml brandy
✅ C'est prêt quand : the mixture looks smooth and slightly foamy

Make the dough
In another bowl, stir together the flour, semolina, baking powder, cinnamon, clove and salt. Add this to the wet mixture and fold gently with a spatula or your hand just until it comes together into a soft, slightly oily dough. Do not knead it hard or beat it; working olive oil dough too much makes the cookies tough instead of tender.
- 500 g flour
- 100 g semolina
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground clove
- 1 pinch salt
✅ C'est prêt quand : the dough holds together and feels soft but not sticky; let it rest 15 minutes
Shape the cookies
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Bake until golden
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Make the honey syrup
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Soak and top
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
The Story Behind the Dish
Honey-soaked cakes go back to ancient Greece, where honey and olive oil were everyday staples long before sugar arrived in Europe. Many food historians connect the name melomakarona to meli (honey) and makaria, the word for the ritual food once offered at memorials, which over time shifted into a treat for joyful winter feasting instead.
Today the cookies are made every December in homes across the country, alongside their white, powdery cousin kourabiedes, filling kitchens with the smell of orange, cinnamon and clove in the days before Christmas.
⭐ Why It's Famous
They stand apart from other Christmas cookies because they carry no butter, eggs or dairy, just olive oil and honey, soaked rather than frosted, which gives them their soft, moist bite and deep spiced sweetness.
💡 Fun Fact
Walnuts on top are more than decoration: in Greek tradition nuts and honey together symbolize abundance and good wishes for the year ahead.
All over Greece
37.98°N, 23.73°E
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