Melomakarona (also known as Finikia in some Greek regions) are a traditional and delicious holiday staple. These soft cookies are flavored with orange zest, orange juice, brandy, and warm spices, then soaked in a honey syrup before topping with crushed walnuts.
Updated on December 20th, 2020: New recipe instructions and photos (written content has mostly stayed the same for now aside from some minor typo changes). Yay! See more details below the recipe, including some of the original photos!
Originally published on .
Oh, hi! It's been a little while. I took a mini break from blogging. Because holidays. This time of year always gets a little hectic with Christmas shopping, holiday parties, etc. You know what I'm saying.
But I'm back today and sharing one of my favorite Greek cookies: Melomakarona (meh-loh-mah-KAH-roh-nah)! Also known as finikia (fih-KNEE-kya). They're oval-shaped biscuit cookies spiced with orange, cinnamon, and cloves, soaked in a honey syrup. Oh, they also have brandy in them. When it comes to Greeks and Christmas, you can absolutely bet these cookies will make an appearance. Like kourabiedes, these scream Christmas cookies.
Melomakarona or Finikia?
One cookie with two very different names? What gives? Good question. I was recently shopping at my favorite local store, Sophia's Greek Pantry, where Sophia was giving out samples of her melomakarona (which were AMAZING, like everything she makes) and a customer asked Sophia why some people call them finikia. She jokingly answered, "I don't know. I think Greek-Americans just got lazy." 😂
Several years ago, when I first started experimenting with this recipe, I had asked my parents that same question and they didn't exactly know either. My mom guessed it depended on where in Greece you "came from." I grew up knowing them as finikia and didn't even realize melomakarona was another term until I wanted to learn how to bake them myself.
According to wikipedia, finikia are slightly different, stating the cookie isn't dipped in a honey-syrup is instead rolled in a mixture of walnuts and spices, which may be true in some areas! This was not the case in my experience. I still use the two names interchangeably, though I've started referring to these cookies more as melomakarona than finikia, mainly because I don't want to be a lazy Greek-American. 😉
Each year I've made these, I tinkered with the recipe. They were always "pretty good," but never quite how I remembered them. That is, not until this year. Back in the day, I baked more with vegetable and canola oils, and I always ended up overworking the dough, which resulted in tougher cookies. Then I switched to a combination of extra light olive oil and butter, which was better, but I still had the problem of overworking that damn dough (also adding too much flour) and missing that familiar taste. This year, I found the magic combo. After talking with my mom recently and learning that authentically, these cookies are made with extra virgin olive oil, I went for it. I also made sure not to overwork the dough, so I made this by hand. I had a really good feeling about it when I tasted the raw dough because I could taste a hint of what was missing every other time I made it. The end result was just like what I remembered growing up, eating these delicious cookies at family Christmas gatherings. <3
How to Make Melomakarona/Finikia
Making these cookies is fairly easy, but it's a bit time consuming! For one thing, because this is a holiday cookie, the yield of the recipe is pretty large. It makes about 68 cookies. Yes, you read that number right. Because it's the season of giving and nothing expresses love and friendship quite like a home-baked good, so that your friend, family member, or loved one can also share the experience of not being able to fit into their pants anymore.
What makes this recipe time consuming other than the volume of cookies, is the shaping of the cookies, the dipping of the cookies (they have to be soaked in honey for a couple minutes and you have to work in batches), and the cooling of the cookies. You know when you make something like chocolate chip cookies and you're so excited when they come out of the oven, you dive right in? And they're delicious and gooey and amazing? Yeah, you can't really do that with these. I know, it's heart-breaking, but hear me out.
What makes these cookies really shine is the honey syrup. And to make these just right, you have to soak hot cookies right out of the oven in the syrup. Adding hot cookies to the syrup is crucial as that will help the cookies absorb that delicious honey. I suggest waiting at least three hours before serving or eating. Waiting overnight is even better. Trust me on this. Every time I eat one of these cookies shortly after dipping them, they just don't taste right and I end up second guessing the recipe. Then I wait a few hours, try again, and sigh in relief.
If you want to speed up the time on making these cookies, I suggest a cookie party! Celebrating the holidays is all about being surrounded by ones you love. And being in the kitchen together baking tasty cookies like these? Makes celebrating even better. The best part: these cookies will keep for weeks and weeks. Store in an airtight container and leave them at room temperature.
That's all for today. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to do some yoga, followed by eating some finikia. I mean, melomakarona! 😉
What's your favorite holiday cookie? Let me know in the comments! I loooove talking about cookies.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Kitchen Tools Used:
- 2 Large Bowls (I used my pyrex 4-qt bowl and 4-qt stainless steel bowl)
- Whisk
- Silicone Spatula
- Baking Sheet(s)
- Large Baking Dish
- Wax Paper
📖 Recipe
Melomakarona / Finikia (Honey-Dipped Cookies)
Ingredients
For the melomakarona/finikia
- 6 ½ cups (870 grams) all-purpose flour, see notes*
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups (485 grams) extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup brandy
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- zest from 1 orange
- ⅔ cup orange juice, see notes*
- ¾ cup (160 grams) sugar
For the syrup
- 1 ¼ cup (300 grams) sugar
- 1 ¼ cup (16 ounces) honey
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 strip of lemon rind
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
For the walnut topping
- 1 heaping cup (135 grams) walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Making the syrup
- Add the sugar, honey, water, lemon rind, lemon juice, cloves, and cinnamon stick to a medium saucepan. Place on the stove over medium heat for ten minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Making the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In one large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a second large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, brandy, vanilla extract, orange juice, orange zest, and sugar until well combined.
- Continue whisking the wet ingredients while gradually adding in the flour mixture, about one cup at a time, adding the next cup as soon as the former is blended in (be careful not to overwork the dough). After mixing in two or three cups of flour, swap out the whisk for a silicone spatula or wooden spoon.
- Once you've incorporated all of the flour, the dough will be smooth, soft, and a little greasy.
- Hand-roll two tablespoons of dough (~27-30 grams or the size of a walnut) into an oval shape (a good baseline is two inches in length).
- An optional step is to create a pattern on the cookie by either rolling it down a grater or take the back of a fork and press it lightly against the length of the cookie (if doing the latter, you can also press the fork cross-wise for a cross-hatch pattern).
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet one inch apart and bake for 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly golden. Due to the volume of the recipe, you may have to bake in batches.
- While the cookies are baking, combine the walnuts and ground cinnamon for the topping and set aside, then prepare your cookie and syrup assembly station!
- Grab a large baking pan and line it with wax paper (this allows for easier cleanup and prevents the honey-dipped cookies from sticking to the pan).
- At your station, you should have an empty space reserved for the baked cookies, the syrup, the wax paper-lined pan, and walnut topping.
- When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and immediately add hot cookies to the cool syrup face-down (5-7 at a time depending on the size of your pan), for one minute. Flip the cookies and let soak an additional minute.* Using a slotted spoon, move the cookies to the wax-lined pan. Sprinkle with the walnut topping.
- Repeat these steps as each batch comes out of the oven.
- Once the cookies have completely cooled, they can be transferred to a platter to serve (it's traditional to stack the platter high with melomakarona. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature and will keep up to 5 weeks.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If measuring flour by volume, it's important to be precise! Be sure to use the scoop and level method.
- If a juicer is available to you, use that for the orange you zested. Freshly squeezed juice is always a great bet and it allows you to use the whole ingredient!
- Adding warm/hot cookies to cool syrup will allow them to better absorb the syrup.
HOW TO PRONOUNCE MELOMAKARONA AND FINIKIA
- Melomakarona (meh-loh-mah-KAH-roh-nah)
- Finikia (fih-KNEE-kya)
HOW TO STORE THEM
- Either cover the pan with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container. Store at room temperature. They will keep up to five weeks.
HOW TO GIFT THEM
- Just like with kourabiedes, it's fashionable for a Greek to place a melomakarono into a cupcake liner before packaging in an airtight container for gifting/bringing to a holiday gathering (honestly, I also sometimes line them all in cupcake liners after they've cooled for easy gift-prepping). Plus, it's easier and less messy for folks to grab and eat!
Update Notes: This post was originally published on and was republished on December 20th, 2020 with new and improved recipe instructions and photography. Here are a couple of original photos for this post!
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Hi Marissa! These look lovely! My personal favorite cookie is pecan shortbread, dipped on one end in dark chocolate. Wishing you and Jason happy holidays! And don't forget to overeat and wear stretchy pants! 🙂
Hi Dorothy! Thank you! That cookie sounds amaaaazing, though I'm a sucker for many things dipped in chocolate, especially shortbread cookies. We have our stretchy pants ready to go. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
These look and sound fantastic! My grandma is Greek but very few recipes have trickled down to us grandkids, sadly. I love that you have so many on your site and I can't wait to try them! And, I completely relate with overworking dough. Its a struggle I have yet to overcome. Why must dough be so damn finicky?
Thanks so much, Christy - I hope you like the recipes! The struggle is real! I still have so much to learn when it comes to working with dough; I find it intimidating sometimes. 🙂
I didn't see the butter Ami in the recipe. I think my mom used equal amounts but I can't find her Nouna's recipe.
My favorites! My mom isn't near enough to make them for us, so I'm very excited to try this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh-- my understanding has always been that they are "Finikia" because they are actually Phoenician cookies. (*shrug*)
Thanks, Samo - I hope you love it. 😀
Very interesting about the name; it makes sense!
Hi Marissa, can these cookies or the dough be frozen?
Hi Jean! You can freeze the cookies after baking, but not after they have been dipped in the honey mixture. If you do freeze them, let them come to room temperature before dipping into the honey. You'll also want to dip the cookies into hot honey as opposed to cool in the original recipe because the temperature contrast will allow the cookies to soak up that delicious honey. 😀
Can the dough be frozen?
Hi there! Apologies for not being able to respond sooner. I've never tried freezing the dough myself, but the prepared cookies themselves can be frozen in airtight containers with wax or parchment paper in between to prevent them from sticking together. They should keep for many months that way – I hope this helps!
Hi Marissa!
These cookies came out perfect! My grandmother, a Lithuanian Jew -( nowhere near Greece!) used to make these cookies every year for Rosh Hashana, and after she passed away no one could find her recipe for them. She called them finukias (but now I think that must have just been her accent). My mom found a recipe a few years ago for finikia and thought it must be the same thing. My grandmother must have found the recipe in a magazine or cookbook... we'll never know! But none of us got around to trying it.
This year I was determined. I arranged all my cooking to make sure I would have time and a clean counter to make these. I found your recipe. They came out perfect.
Eating these on Rosh Hashana morning was like going back in time, sitting in her kitchen with a cup of tea and these amazing cookies.
Thank you so much!
Hi Ayelet!
What a lovely story! I'm so, so glad you found my recipe and that they brought back fond memories. My mother has some of my late grandmother's recipes, but hasn't been able to find them all (including her recipe for the finikia)! She was an amazing baker and whenever I eat cookies that she used to make, they always bring me back to her kitchen too. <3
I hope you had a wonderful Rosh Hashana; Happy New Year to you and yours!
Your friend is wrong. Finekia came out as the name before Melonacaroona... Finikia originated in Smyrni, Asia Minor and everyone originally called them Finikia. When they got to the rest of us Greece they eventually started calling them the melonacarona or honey macaroons. As Asia minor was on the spice route most other traditional Greek sweet recipes did not have all the other cinnamon, cloves. ...such recipes were from Greeks of Smyrni and Constantinople.
I am Greek & have an old Greek cookbook that had a finikia recipe in it and in the recipe it added 3 tablespoons of cinnamon to it which sounds like too much but turned out to be absolutely delicious they were so easy to make I lost the cookbook during a move and can't find that recipe is there anyway that you can help me and find a recipe that has that I sure would appreciate it and I'm positive that your recipe is delicious
The ONLY way to be completely accurate when measuring flour is to weigh it, period. If you bake much, a good quality digital scale won't break the bank, but it will certainly improve your results. and I say this as a retired pastry chef. We weighed everything, even liquids.
You can also weigh soda and spices, and your digital scale should display in both pounds, ounces, kilos and grams. It should also have a "tare" feature which will allow you to zero out the scale so you don't get the bowl's weight, and also you can measure more than one ingredient at a time into a container of dry ingredients.
I'm saddened everytime I find a recipe measuring in cups, and not just because cups are defined differently in different countries. There's just too much variation in the quantity involved.
It also means there's a really good chance I won't take the time to convert cups to weight-based measurements.
Us pastry chefs, eh.
Can I cut this recipe in half. We are only two older people.
Hi Elizabeth! I don't see why not. I've only made these for the holidays and always make a big batch myself, but making a smaller amount sounds like a great idea too. 😀
Γεια σας!
Your recipe sounds really good. I made melomakarona for the first time in ages a few days ago, but the recipe book didn't call for enough flour, so I had to end up adding a lot more. But I also did a couple of things differently: 1) I used all whole-grain sprouted spelt flour and 2) I used coconut oil instead of olive oil. Incidentally, I also used Really Raw Honey in the syrup and didn't boil it, but just got it warm enough for the honey to dissolve. Anyway, they were pretty decent, but I've bookmarked your recipe so that if I get a chance to make these again, I want to try your version. I think it's very intriguing that you use all extra-virgin olive oil.
Even though my γιαγιά used to make melomakarona every year for Christmas, I had never even heard of phoenikia until just a few days ago. My father hadn't heard of the term either. I guess you learn something new every day! 🙂
Yiassou, Sam!
I'm really intrigued by the use of coconut oil in the recipe you tried. I love exploring different ways to try tasty recipes. If you end up making this version, I'd love to know your thoughts on it!
I wonder if it's a New England or Boston thing where people would interchangeably say melomakarona or finikia. I almost always called them finikia growing up, but these days I tend to call them melomakarona. 😀
Hi, Marissa,
It's been a few years, but I've stopped by again. 😉
Now I'm on to using einkorn flour, which is an ancient wheat—in fact the only wheat in the world that's not hybridized. 😲 I made a fraction of your recipe using freshly ground sprouted whole-grain einkorn, and with both 1) olive oil and (separate batch) 2) coconut oil.
Your recipe is very good, and adapted well to using 100% whole-grain einkorn (i.e., no white flour at all). It also turned out equally well with either olive oil or coconut oil, so I'd say just use whichever one you have on hand. 😏
You wrote:
"I wonder if it's a New England or Boston thing where people would interchangeably say melomakarona or finikia."
Maybe it's mostly what part of Greece someone grew up in. My grandmother was from the village of Kandila in Arcadia, and she only called them μελομακάρονα. 😄
Incidentally, part of the name of "melomakarona" comes from "makaria," which was apparently an ancient Greek barley porridge. So, I wonder if Greeks used to make these cookies with barley flour? If I make these again, I may try using about 25% whole-grain sprouted barley flour (along with the whole-grain einkorn) and see what the results are like.
Well, I hope you find this feedback helpful.
Γεια χαρά! 🤠
My favorite Christmas cookie. Finikia are stuffed melomakarona and made with oil, no eggs. I personally like using half corn oil for crispness and half light olive oil. We enjoy them year round without the syrup, delicious me sketo cafe.
These are amazing and totally foolproof. While baking I had so many disruptions-husband wanting help, GSP catching a baby bird that needed rescuing, kids back from friends and 4 dog doorbell chaos in the kitchen. And yet everything worked perfectly👍🏼
Thank you for your recipe which I will try. I made a batch on the weekend but my recipe has half oil, half butter. I also make a mixture of chopped walnuts, cinnamon, orange juice and honey and put a teaspoon in the middle of each biscuit. I have always known them as Finikia but when I was living in Greece they were always melomakarona but they were familiar with the term Finikia.
I make these, but in my book its called Greek Honey shortbread. I'm not Greek but my ex husband was and his aunty always made these, they were the best, but she would also have the walnuts inside hers too.
this recipe that I have taste the same as hers. and I will give you the recipe. also the mixture is like a wet feel and not as thick as yours. but they turn out great.
2. 3/4 cups of plain flour,
1 teaspoon of baking powder,
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda,
280ml or 1/2 pint of olive oil,
60g of sugar,
140ml / 1/4 of pint of brandy,
4 tablespoons of orange juice,
1 tablespoon of grated orange rind,
60g / 4oz of chopped Walnuts,
1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
The Syrup:
1 cup of honey,
120g / 4oz of sugar,
1 cup of water.
Method: Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350F . Sift flour, baking powder and soda together in a separate bowl and put to the side. In another bowl Combine oil, sugar, brandy, orange juice, rind in a large bowl or food processor. Gradually add the dry ingredients, running the machine in short burst ( I do mine with a wooden spoon no machine) work it until the mixture comes together.
Grease and flour your baking paper, flour your hands and shape the shortbread mixture into ovals about 3 inches long. place well apart on baking sheets and cook for 20 mins cool on the baking sheet.
Mix the syrup ingredients together and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 5 mins to thicken and allow to cool. dip the cooled shortbread into the syrup and then dip and sprinkle one side into the nuts and cinnamon.
notes: if the mixture is overworked and becomes to soft to shape place into the fridge to chill till it firms up or when cooking it will spread a bit. for freezing do not dip the biscuits in syrup wrap well and store up to 2 months. I hope you try this one. all the best from Eileen in Australia.
Thanks for sharing, Eileen! I've had similar versions with the walnuts inside too; they were very tasty. I'll have to give this recipe a try the next time I want to do some baking. <3
Can you leave out the brandy or substitute it with something else.
Hi Grace! Sorry for such a delayed reply. You can substitute the brandy with more juice if you'd like to skip the liqueur altogether!
what is the cause of fragile cookies that fall apart in you hand?
Hi Dan and Nancy! I'm not entirely sure how to answer your question, though it's possible the cookie might have been over-baked if it was falling apart.
Thanks for the recipe! The dough tastes like m y Mom's. although she never used Olive Oil, it was always Corn/Crisco, I have a problem getting the size right, but as long as they taste good, who cares!! <y nly issue was I ran out of syrup at the end and I only got 50 cookies. Thanks for a great Recipe and I grew up only knowing them as Finikia and my Mom was from Saloniki and my Dad too
Thanks so much for the feedback, Kathy! I just adjusted the ingredients amount for the syrup and updated the total cookie amount too. I think I may have had my sizing suggestions wrong for the 68 because the last two times I've made them, I end up with 55-60 myself. I'll narrow that down eventually. 😂 Merry Christmas to you and yours! <3
I love this! Thanks so much for commenting and sharing, Alaina. <3 These are my favorite too!
Hii.. My name is moiz I live in Israel 88 of age.I am looking for a traditional sweet made only of sugar and water.,the name is like DULSE BLANKO or SHAROPE .After the sugar is melted and very hot ,it was my turn to mix by hand with a heavy piece of iron until it begin to take an apparence of white cream.There was inside also lemon juice and vanile. Please I need the exact receipt to make it for my grand childrens.Thank you a lot.
Hi Marissa,
Can I use this exact recipe, but instead of all purpose flour, use gluten free flour, cups4cups flour?
Thank you,
Athena
Hi Athena!
I never made these with gluten-free flour, so I'm not sure of the outcome, though I'm curious and may experiment at some point! If you have attempted this already, I'd love to know how it came out <3