In Greece almost everyone has his own recipe for melomakarona, passed from a grandmother, a mother, an aunt or a friend. This is how it goes also in my family and we are obsessed with this recipe. I always tend to make a double batch at the beginning of the Christmas season, in order to have melomakarona through all holiday season. Honey syrup works as a preservative to keep these cookies fresh for a long period of time.

The recipe is very easy, it is just a 2 bowl cookie recipe and the ingredients are everyday ingredients that we have in our kitchen, except maybe from the olive oil, for some of you. However, olive oil is an everyday ingredient in the greek cuisine and this is the reason that it is used as fat in this traditional greek recipe. Make sure that you use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. The other ingredients are just plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and clove powder, orange, cognac or brandy, honey and walnuts.

First step is the honey syrup. The honey syrup should be at room temperature when we dive the hot cookies into it, in order for the cookies to absorb the most of it. Therefore, make sure to make the honey syrup a couple of hours ahead, or even overnight, in order to let it come at room temperature. To make the honey syrup just add all the ingredients in a small pot and place it over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 7'-8'. Remove from heat and let it cool completely at room temperature. You could transfer it into another pot or a heatproof bowl in order to let it cool down faster.

Next step is the cookies. It is an easy 2 bowl recipe, one bowl for the dry ingredients and one for the wet. In one bowl for the dry ingredients, sift the flour and add the baking powder, the baking soda, the ground cinnamon and the clove powder. Give them a good stir and set aside.

In an other large mixing bowl add the olive oil along with the sugar and whisk it well.

Add the orange juice, the cognac (or the brandy) and the orange zest and whisk well until the sugar almost fully dissolves.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ones and with your hands mix them just to combine. Do not over mix them, else your cookies will end up dry.

The traditional shape of melomakarona is oval and they are a little bigger than the ones I like to make. However, since it is a Christmas cookie, I like to give it a shape of a star and make it a little bit smaller than usual, in order to be almost one-bite cookie. I like to use a star cookie cutter 4cm (1.6inch) wide. Feel free to use another cookie cutter, or shape the cookies with your hands at oval shape (around 3 x 4cm - 1.2 x 1.6 inch). If you decide to use a cookie cutter just get a quarter of the batter and place it on a parchment paper (or a silicon baking mat) placed on a flat working surface. Flatten the batter gently with your hands to get about 1cm (0.4inch) thick, then cut your cookies with the cookie cutter.

Place the cookies on a pre-lined baking sheet. Place 20 cookies per sheet and let some space in-between them (they do not change their shape a lot while baking, they get a little bit bigger). The final number of cookies per sheet, depends on their final size.

Press gently each cookie with a grater to form small dents on each cookie's surface. These small dents on top are the signature of melomakarona, but they also help the baked cookies to absorb more syrup when they are dipped into it.

Transfer to a preheated oven at 170°C (340°F) fan forced and place the baking sheet in the middle position. Bake for 20'-25' or until just golden brown edges, but they should look a little bit uncooked and pale in the center.

Have the honey syrup at room temperature ready and immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, gently place them, as they are still hot, in the syrup. Let the cookies soak in the syrup for 10''. If the syrup does not cover the whole cookie, flip the cookies and let them soak on the second side for 5'' more. Depending on how much syrup you like your cookies to have, you can let the cookies soak longer.

Repeat with the second baking batch. With this recipe you will have to bake 4-5 batches.

Your melomakarona are almost done! A final touch is missing. Take a teaspoon full of honey or a pastry brush dipped in honey and gently place a small amount of honey on each cookie. Finely chop some walnuts and mix them with a pinch of cinnamon. Sprinkle the walnuts on the melomakarona (the honey just added on their top, will help to get the walnuts stick on them). Now your melomakarona are done! Enjoy!

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks. The syrup helps the melomakarona remain fresh for a long period of time, actually for the whole Christmas period (if they not get eaten in the first 2 days!). Enjoy!