Melomakarona (Greek Christmas honeyed cookies) with mandarin flavour

Last year I posted the classic recipe of Melomakarona. This is another version of these delicious, traditional Christmas honey-dipped cookies. The mandarin orange flavour makes the difference. Why don't you try something different this Festive Season?

Recipe of Fotis Chrysanthidis

"BHMAgourmet" magazine of "TO BHMA" newspaper

Ingredients (for 2Kg of melomakarona)

For the syrup:
400ml of water
600gr. granulated sugar
2 mandarin(e)s, skin on and cut in half
2 cinnamon sticks
100ml of honey

For the cookies:
300ml mandarin(e) juice
400ml corn oil
30gr. of butter, melted
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tsp of ground cloves
30gr. of icing sugar
½ tsp of baking soda
2 mandarin(e)s, the zest
850gr. of all-purpose flour

roughly chopped walnuts and honey to garnish

Method:
In a saucepan warm the water, the sugar, the mandarin(e)s and the cinnamon sticks. From the moment the syrup comes to the boil count 1 minute and take off the heat. Add the honey, stir well and leave aside to cool.

In a large bowl mix together the juice with the oil and the melted butter. Add the spices, the icing sugar, the baking soda, the zest and stir well. Then add all the flour in and continue stirring gently with your hand so the mixture won't turn too hard.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease 2-3 baking dishes with some butter.

Get amounts of the dough and shape into small oval or round cookies and place on the baking dishes leaving a bit of space between them.

Put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they get lightly coloured.

In the meantime, drizzle with some honey and sprinkle with some walnuts 1-2 serving platters and leave aside.

When the melomakarona are ready, take out of the oven and while they are still very hot dip, 2-3 at a time, into the cold syrup (discard the cinnamon sticks and the manderin(e)s halves first). Carefully turn them around in the syrup for about 1 minute and take them out using a slotted spatula.

Place them on the serving platters in one layer and drizzle on top with some more honey and sprinkle with some more walnuts.

They taste better when they are served the next day and they can keep fresh for about a week if you cover with cling film.