Greek Honey-Soaked Biscuits (Finikia)
These biscuits are made with semolina and flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and orange. After baking, they're dipped in a lovely honey syrup infused with cinnamon and lemon. Those who love Mediterranean flavours will love these!
Ingredients
Serves: 60
- 110g butter, softened
- 100g caster sugar
- grated zest of 1 orange
- 125ml corn or rapeseed oil
- 300g plain flour
- 250g semolina
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 125ml orange juice
- 250ml water
- 200g caster sugar
- 175g honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 60g finely chopped walnuts
Method
Prep:45min ›
Cook:25min ›
Ready in:1hr10min
- Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease baking trays.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, caster sugar and orange zest. Gradually mix in the oil and beat until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, semolina, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves; beat into the fluffy mixture alternately with the orange juice. As the mixture thickens, turn out onto a floured board and knead into a firm dough. Pinch off tablespoonfuls of dough and form them into balls or ovals. Place cookies 5cm apart onto the prepared trays.
- Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Cool on baking trays until room temperature.
- To make the syrup: In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, caster sugar, honey, cinnamon stick and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. While the mixture is boiling hot, dip the biscuits in one at a time, making sure to cover them completely. Place them on a wire rack to dry and sprinkle with walnuts. Place greaseproof paper under the rack to catch the drips. Keep finished biscuits in a sealed container at room temperature.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(13)
Reviews in English (9)
Excellent recipe. Please be aware that Finikia are not meant to be crunchy cookies. The cookies are best when they absorb every bit of the flavorful syrup. TIP: Top warm cookies with COOL syrup OR Top cool cookies with WARM syrup The best way to finish these is to place cookies into a large baking pan-just large enough to fit all of the ccookies. The pan should have sides. I use a 13 x 9" pan. Place the cookies in the pan, pour syrup over all and allow them to absorb. Syrup should come 1/3 up the side of the pan. (The same rule applies when making Baklava) It will take at least 1 hour to absorb. Store them in this pan covered with foil, then gently remove to serve. This will keep them very moist! Opa! - 27 Nov 2010 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
Fabulous recipe (although I think I've seen it elsewhere on the web, too). Finikia is an awesome cookie with a soft texture made interesting by the semolina flour. I'm so glad I can make them at home, since I don't have access to a lot of Greek bakeries. Just make sure you don't boil the syrup too long or you'll end up with a candy coating on the cookies. Fresh-squeezed orang juice greatly improves the cookie's flavor, too. - 09 Jul 2001 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
Very good recipie. Tastes just like my mothers. Make sure your syrup isnt TOO hot otherwide the cookies tend to fall apart, and instead of just dunking them in and pulling them right out, my mom always let them simmer for maybe 2-3 seconds....also the cookies are much better after they sit for a day or so and the moisture from the syrup penetrates evenly. The person that said they are dry probably ate them right away. - 12 Dec 2008 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)