Melomakarona Recipe - does this look right?

[paharo45]

I found my family's melomakarona recipe and the card is badly damaged in the spot where the ingredients are. This is what it says - does it look right or did I misinterpret what it said? This is just the cookie recipe. The syrup part wasn't damaged.

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup fine semolina
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon clove
• Orange zest (couldn't read amount)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Metaxa

Is there really all that oil?

 

[LMegois]

I found my family's melomakarona recipe and the card is badly damaged in the spot where the ingredients are. This is what it says - does it look right or did I misinterpret what it said? This is just the cookie recipe. The syrup part wasn't damaged.

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup fine semolina
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon clove
• Orange zest (couldn't read amount)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Metaxa

Is there really all that oil?

My friend and I cranked out over 800 melomakarona ( we used a special cookie press ) at Church last year before Christmas . Anyway, your ingredients are fine but here is what we do different : 1) no vegetable oil ! It's a seed oil and bad for you. We added good butter in it's place ; 2) we added all-spice to the cinnamon and ground clove but I would add more of each...it's a spice cookie , let the spices shine ! ; 3) Metaxa is fine but bourbon goes better with the spices and orange ; 4) orange zest amount , depends on your taste and 5) finally , make sure you do the syrup right ... room temp cookies in hot syrup or the opposite but easier to do the former. Don't be afraid to taste the batter and add to it .

 

[k_tsoukalas]

My friend and I cranked out over 800 melomakarona ( we used a special cookie press ) at Church last year before Christmas . Anyway, your ingredients are fine but here is what we do different : 1) no vegetable oil ! It's a seed oil and bad for you. We added good butter in it's place ; 2) we added all-spice to the cinnamon and ground clove but I would add more of each...it's a spice cookie , let the spices shine ! ; 3) Metaxa is fine but bourbon goes better with the spices and orange ; 4) orange zest amount , depends on your taste and 5) finally , make sure you do the syrup right ... room temp cookies in hot syrup or the opposite but easier to do the former. Don't be afraid to taste the batter and add to it .

That's a lot of melomakarona! A lot of my family recipes say vegetable oil as well. We've been in the US for a few generations and when they first got here olive oil was so expensive. It's not anymore. I've been slowly changing the recipes to be olive oil not vegetable oil. Your feedback from Paharo's recipe is validating this is the right thing to do!

My thoughts on the recipe itself:

Yes, the oil amounts in your recipe look correct for melomakarona but I'd also change to olive oil! These traditional Greek cookies are known for their rich, moist texture, which comes from the generous use of oil instead of butter. Combining olive oil and vegetable oil is also quite common—it balances the flavor and ensures the dough is soft and easy to shape.