Chocolate Melomakarona: Greek Chocolate & Honey Cookies

• Preheat the oven to 180° C (356° F) fan.

For the syrup:

• Place a pot over medium to high heat. Add the water, granulated sugar, cinnamon sticks, and lemon slices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the honey, stir, and set the syrup aside to cool completely.

For the cookie dough:

• Place the olive oil, sunflower oil, cognac, orange juice, and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly with a hand whisk.
• Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and orange zest in another large bowl. Mix thoroughly.
• Gradually add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Carefully mix by hand until it turns into a nice cookie dough. DO NOT over-mix, or else the oils will start to seep out of the dough.
• Shape the cookie dough into 30 g/1 oz round balls and then flatten them a little to give them the traditional melomakarona cookie appearance. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• With a fork, pierce small holes on the surface of each cookie. This will help the cookies bake faster and soak up the syrup easier.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and crunchy.
• When ready, remove from the oven and immediately dip the hot Melomakarona cookies in the syrup for 10 seconds. Transfer to a platter with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with ground walnuts.
• Serve as they are or coat with chocolate ganache.

For the chocolate ganache coating:

• Place a pot over medium to low heat, add the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from heat and immediately add the chocolate couverture. Mix thoroughly until the ganache is smooth and shiny and set it aside to cool for 1-2 minutes.
• Dip the Melomakarona cookies into the chocolate ganache until completely coated. Transfer to a baking pan lined with parchment paper and leave until the ganache has hardened and then serve.

Enjoy!