Melomacarona

Directions

Put the olive oil, butter, beer, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until they are thoroughly blended.

Sift about one cup of flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend into the mixture.

Add the semolina, a cup at a time, into the mixture.

Add the enough of the remaining flour, a cup at a time, until you get a rather firm dough (you may need a bit more or less than the amount mentioned in the ingredients list).

Use your hands to do the mixing, as an electric mixer will be useless after the first two or three cup of flour have been added.

Roll the dough into cylinders, about two inches long and one inch in diameter, flatten them with your hands, and place them on cookie sheets greased with a little olive oil.

Bake at 350℉ (180℃). for half an hour.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for about half an hour.

Make the syrup: mix the sugar, honey and water, and bring them to a boil.

Cook on low heat for three minutes and skim off the foam that forms on top.

Pour the hot syrup over the cookies, sprinkle them with the chopped walnuts and let them soak overnight.

NOTES: * Traditional greek Christmas cookies soaked in honey syrup -- This is one of the two kinds of confection that are traditionally consumed in large quantities in Greece during the holiday season (the other is kourabiedes).

I suppose the name translates to something like “honey macaroons", except that they are not really macaroons.

I got the recipe from a greek cookbook.

• You can use flour instead of semolina, but only as a last resort, as you won’t be able to get that wonderful grainy texture which you get if you use semolina.

• The amounts given here are for only half a recipe.