Little did I know when house sitting in Pelopennese, Greece,  I would get involved in baking Christmas cookies!

I have been told ever so often that the Greeks were the first to use olive oil for Christmas baking! I say these delicious cookies are in a league of their own!

Greek Christmas sweets are plentiful with the ingredients symbolic of prosperity and hope for the coming year: walnuts, almonds, and dried fruits communicate wishes for the coming year, while white powdered sugar is the hope-conveying cover on numerous holiday cookies.

Honey is drizzled over mountains of dough fritters – made in olive oil, of course!

Apparently Neapoli, Pelopennese, was the birthplace of this classic Christmas cookie.

Greek Christmas Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

For the syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1⁄2 / 120ml water
1 medium cinnamon stick
1 inch strip lemon zest

For the cookies:
3-31⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, as needed
1 scant teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup / 240 ml extra virgin Greek olive oil
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon baking sod
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 cup / 120 ml fresh orange or lemon juice
1⁄4 cup / 60 ml brandy
1 cup chopped walnuts
Grated zest of 1 orange

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 325 F.

SYRUP:
Bring the sugar, honey and water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan.
Add the cinnamon and lemon zest and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Let cool completely.

COOKIES:
Sift together 3 cups of the flour, the baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the olive oil with the sugar until creamy. Stir the baking soda into the citrus juice and add to the oil-and-sugar mixture. Add the brandy, walnuts and grated zest, and continue mixing vigorously until combined.

Slowly add the flour to the mixture, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon until a stiff dough forms.

Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets.

One at a time, break off pieces of dough the size of an unshelled walnut and shape into small, oblong mounds. Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets and bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and submerge in the cooled syrup to soak for a few minutes. Drain on racks.

Optional: Sprinkle with walnuts

More Cookies To Try This Holiday:

18 Cookie Exchange Recipes Your Friends Will Love

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes With Few Ingredients

5-Ingredient Chewy Coconut Macaroons Recipe

Snickerdoodle Snickers Cookies Recipe

Quick and Easy Sour Cream Cookies Recipe

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Mantacados were first mentioned by Juan de la Mata, 1747. Today ‘Sierra Casa Salinas’ in Tudela (Pamplona) is the oldest known Mantacados bakery run for 6 generations by the Salinas Casado family.

These traditional Spanish crumble cakes or “mantecados” crumble very easily. In fact, they are so soft, they will literally melt in your mouth. Light and with a delicate anise flavor, words will not do them justice.

You’ll have to make them to see why they are a Spanish favorite and why no Spanish home is without “mantecados” at Christmas!

Mantecados Recipe – Traditional Spanish Crumble Cakes Ingredients

2 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
1 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
2 shot glasses of anise (see note below for substitute)
1 lemon peel, grated
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
7 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg white, beaten for glaze

Substitution Note: Anise-flavored liqueur can be purchased at most liquor stores and some gourmet supermarkets. If you cannot find it in your area, substitute 2 shot glasses of vodka and 1 1/2 tsp of anise extract.

Mantecados Recipe – Traditional Spanish Crumble Cakes Directions

In a very large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the vegetable shortening with the oil. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolks, anise, lemon peel, juice and cinnamon and mix together.

Add flour and baking soda to mixture, a cup at a time. Be sure to mix well. Dough should be very smooth and soft.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Using a teaspoon, scoop out a dollop of dough. Form balls about the size of walnuts, using your hands. If dough is too sticky to roll into balls, mix in additional flour (from 1/4 to 1/2 cup). Place balls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Lightly press down on each ball to flatten slightly.

Using the beaten egg white, brush on the top of each cookie.

Bake cookies until they begin to turn light brown on the bottom edges – about 15-20 minutes.

Let the cookies cool 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet, as they are very delicate.
For variation top with icing sugar, sprinkle nuts on or glaze with food coloring.

***Pin Spanish Crumble Cakes Recipe To Pinterest***

More Cake Recipes:

How To Make Easy Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Apple Cheesecake

Twist On A Red Velvet Layer Cake Recipe

Salted Margarita Cupcakes Recipe

Please welcome Paula from the soon to be published site Love & Gingerbread to the blog. Love & Gingerbread is set to go live on Oct 15. It is all about European Christmas’ and I can’t wait. I convinced Paula to share a few sneak peaks from her site with us. She shared an European Brown Gingerbread and now she brings us a recipe for Chestnut Tortelli Cookies, also known as Baby Jesus’ Pillows.

Now, over to Paula.

Having met Deb I learned about her yearning for Italy. Living in Munich means Italy is never far, means as well there will be plenty of pictures from Italy, Italian Christmas Markets and well, no Italian Christmas would be complete without one or more traditional desserts!

I love chestnuts. I love picking them and I love Italian chestnut fairs. Find yourself in Italy in Autumn and make sure you visit one. The chestnut fairs (sagre) offer everything from caldarroste (roasted chestnut kiosks), to castagnaccio (cake made from chestnuts, pine nuts and raisins), chestnut flour, chestnut marmalade, Christmas chestnut tortelli and even ravioli pasta.

Autumn in Italy is an enchanting promise and opens the pre-Christmas season.

Chestnut Tortelli Cookies Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cold water
10 ounces peeled, cooked fresh or canned chestnuts
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons rum or brandy
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate or mini chocolate chips
Confectioner’s sugar for coating

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor.
• Add the butter and pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs form.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and water.
• Add to the flour mixture and pulse until a dough starts to form.
• Remove the dough, shape into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.
• Let rest for 30 minutes. The dough can also be refrigerated for up to 48 hours.
• Combine the chestnuts, sugar, cocoa, and rum, and cinnamon in a food processor.
• Process until finely chopped and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the chocolate.
• Preheat the oven to 375-degrees F.
• Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
• Roll out each piece about 1/8-inch thick.
• With a biscuit cutter, cut out 2-1/2 inch rounds.
• Place a teaspoon of the filling on one half of each round.
• Moisten the edge of the round with a little water, fold the round in half and pinch the edges to seal.
• Place the tortelli on the baking sheets.
• Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.
• As the tortelli come out of the oven, transfer them to a bowl filled with the confectioner’s sugar.
• Roll them in the sugar and then transfer to wire racks.

How much thought have you put into your tree?

You could decorate the average tree with a hodgepodge of ornaments or you could make your tree memorable and envy-inducing by creating a fantastic themed tree that will be unlike any other.

Check out these impressive themed Christmas trees and prepare to be inspired.

THEMED CHRISTMAS TREE IDEAS

 

Sock Monkeys make this tree a ton of fun.

PIN THEMED CHRISTMAS TREE IDEAS TO PINTEREST