Finikia Smyrneika (Φοινίκια Σμυρνέικα)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •rimmed baking tray, about 35x25cm
• •box grater for shaping the ridged surface
• •small saucepan, 18cm
• •slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Put the sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and orange peel in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 4 minutes. Take it off the heat, stir in the honey and lemon juice, and let the syrup cool while you make the finikia. Warm cookies into cool syrup, that is the rule here.

2. 2

   Mix the filling

   Stir the chopped walnuts with the sugar, cinnamon, clove, and 1 tablespoon orange juice. The mixture should be damp enough to hold in small pinches, not wet. If the walnuts are chopped too large, the cookies split open, so keep them fine.

3. 3

   Start the dough

   Heat the oven to 180C. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, semolina, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk the olive oil, orange juice, sugar, brandy, and orange zest until the sugar begins to dissolve. Stir the baking soda into the liquid bowl; it will foam lightly.

4. 4

   Finish gently

   Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold with your hand or a spoon only until no dry flour shows. The dough should be soft, oily, and easy to shape, not sticky. If it slumps badly, add the extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time, but don't make it stiff.

   Once flour meets oil and orange juice, stop as soon as the dough comes together. Overworked finikia lose their tender, sandy bite.
5. 5

   Shape and fill

   Take about 32g dough for each cookie. Flatten it in your palm into an oval, place 1 teaspoon walnut filling in the center, then close the dough around it and roll gently into a short date shape. Press the top lightly against the coarse side of a box grater or mark it with a fork, then set it seam-side down on the baking tray.

6. 6

   Bake until set

   Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, until the finikia are deep golden at the edges and firm when lifted. They should not be pale. Let them stand on the tray for 5 minutes so they settle without breaking.

7. 7

   Syrup the cookies

   Working in batches, lower the warm finikia into the cool syrup for 35 to 45 seconds, turning once. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and set them on a tray. They should drink syrup but keep their shape. If they sit too long, they become heavy and soft all the way through.

8. 8

   Finish and rest

   Sprinkle the tops with the finely chopped walnuts while the surface is still tacky. Let the finikia rest at least 3 hours before serving, and overnight if you can. The syrup moves through the crumb and the filling settles into the cookie. Good olive oil, and patience.

Chef Tips

• •Use olive oil you would cook with happily, not a harsh one you bought only for frying. These cookies have no butter to hide behind. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones.
• •The dough should feel softer than biscuit dough and firmer than cake batter. If it cracks a little while you shape, press it closed with warm hands. If it cracks everywhere, it is too dry.
• •Finikia keep well in a tin for 10 to 12 days. Layer them with parchment and don't refrigerate them; cold dulls the honey and hardens the crumb.
• •Serve them with Greek coffee after Christmas lunch, or put them beside kourabiedes and diples on the holiday tray. The filled shape is the Smyrna clue.

Advance Preparation

• •The syrup can be made 1 day ahead and kept covered at room temperature.
• •The walnuts for the filling and finishing can be chopped 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• •Finikia are better after an overnight rest, so make them the day before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)