Romantic Orange and Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Valentine's day is here and it is a good occasion to remind yourself of the importance of love. Irrespective if you're a fan of the occasion or not, it's always great to bake or cook something special for your other half, your family, your friends or just for yourself to enjoy! 

My Valentine's special this year is a simple, cute and romantic sugar cookie perfumed with orange and vanilla for a mouth watering sensation. The cookies are delicious on their own, but if you fill them with a jam like the one I used then you've got a perfect Valentine dinner dessert or a lovely and romantic gift item. 

The recipe is really simple and requires few ingredients. 

For the dough you need:

• 200 g butter at room temperature
• 130 g powdered sugar (add more sugar if you just want plain cookies with no filling)
• 1 egg (about 50 g) room temperature
• zest of one orange
• the seeds of one vanilla pod
• 350-400 g of flour (the quantity well depend on how the butter absorbs the flour)
• dash of salt

First, cream the butter, orange zest, salt, vanilla and the sugar for a couple of minutes until the butter feels light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat again for a couple of minutes until well incorporated.
Slowly add the flower to incorporate to the wet mix. Don't over mix the dough, you just want it to come together. 

Knead  the dough gently to incorporate all the ingredients until the dough is no longer sticky. If it feels too wet and sticky add some flour. Leave the dough on the counter for few minutes, uncovered. 

Place the dough between 2 baking papers and roll out to 5 mm thickness. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or over night for better results.

Take the dough out of the fridge and cut the cookies using the molds you like. I used a 10 cm round cookie cutter. I got about 16 cookies and I cut out a heart shape in 8 of them.  

Refrigerate for an additional 30 min so that the cookies hold their shape while baking.

Bake the cookies in a preheated oven (180C) for 10 to 15 min. The baking time depends on the thickness and the size of the cookies. You just want them to have a light golden color. 

Let the cookies cool completely then fill them with the red jam of your choice. You might want to try this one!

Happy valentine´s day, and remember: always bake with love and passion! 

Melamakarona, a Special Greek Christmas Cookie

On my trips back home from Spain, I used to travel via Athens. During December, the meal served on Greek airlines would include a typical Christmas Greek dessert. I was never sure what the Greeks called this special cookie but I was always sure of its taste! After some fiddling around, I managed to know what this sweet cookie was: melamakarona, the Greek honey cookie.

These yummy cookies feature the best of warm and Christmas flavors: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oranges and honey.

The name of the dessert reminded me of a famous Levantine dessert: maakaroun. However, maakarouns are made on the feast of the Epiphany. Moreover, alhough they are shaped similarly, maakarouns are fried while melomakaronas are baked.

If you enjoy trying recipes from all over the world, then you should add this recipe to your book of baking. During December, I get a bit more active in trying out various recipes from all over the world and I will leave the links at the end of the post of some of what I tried.

Now let´s make some melomakaronas. For 25 to 28 pieces you need:

• 250 g flour
• 50 g fine semolina
• 50 g brown sugar
• 1/2 or 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp of baking soda and 1/8 tsp of baking powder
• dash of salt
• zest of half an orange
• 100 g mild olive oil
• 100 g orange juice
• 5 to 10 g brandy

For the syrup:

• 150 g water
• 200 g sugar
• 100 g honey
• 2 to 3 cloves
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• one thick slice of orange

First, start by making the syrup. In a sauce pan, combine all the ingredients but the honey . Put on a gentle flame and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the sugar dissolves completely, add the honey and simmer again for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To make the cookies, combine the wet ingredients: olive oil, orange juice and brandy and stir.In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients and mix well. Now add the wet ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a soft and manageable dough.

Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

Now take about 20 g of the dough, shape into a ball or sausage shape and gently pass it over a grater to create the shape of the melomakarona. Place the shaped cookies over a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven dip them in the cool syrup. Remove from the syrup and place them on a rack to let them drain. Once they cool sprinkle some chopped walnuts and  you are done!

The cookies can be served alone or with a warm cup of tea or dark coffee. They are deeply scented by all those wonderful spices, honey and oranges and go so well these hot comforting beverages.

With every bite I took into the melamakarona, I was transported to a different spot in Greece, a country that I love dearly and visited many times. Now it's up you to travel the world through sweets, and if you're short on ideas, why not travel to Greece like I did? I promise, you will enjoy every moment of it! 

To check other christmas recipes click on the following links: here, here, here, here and here