Home > Croatian Honey Cookies Recipe (Medenjaci)
September 23, 2021September 30, 2023 | SJ
Written by our local expert SJ
Sarah-Jane has lived in Croatia for 10+ years. SJ, as she is known, has been traveling the Balkans & beyond since 2000. She now shares her passion for traveling with her husband & kids.
Who doesn’t love cookies? Come on, we all love to munch away to our heart’s content, and medenjaci is the ideal choice! Basically, medenjaci are a honey-flavored cookie that hails from Croatia, and it can be spiced with various flavors, according to whatever you like.
The main spices are cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and of course, honey. You can ice these if you like, and you’ll see them in bakeries with various designed and colored icing on them. Medenjaci are quite the Christmas staple around the Balkans.
These cookies are ideal for a special occasion, perhaps a birthday, or simply for baking with the kids. The recipe below will make a large batch, around 40-50 cookies.
Croatian Honey Cookies Recipe (Medenjaci)
Medenjaci are quite the Christmas staple around the Balkans. Here is the perfect Croatian honey cookies recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- A pinch of salt
- 3 cups all-purpose plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Dusting
- 1 cup icing sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F)
- Take a large baking tray and line it with parchment, set aside until you’re ready to use it
- Take a medium-sized saucepan, and melt the honey and the butter until they’re syrupy and totally combined – set to one side
- Take a large bowl and mix together your spices and the flour, as well as the baking soda
- In a separate bowl (large), add the eggs and the sugar and whisk together until smooth
- Add the honey and butter combination to the eggs and combine once more
- Now add the flour and spice mix
- Mix together using your hands to create a dough – it will be a little messy at first!
- Once the dough has formed a ball, wrap it in cling film and put into the fridge for around 1-2 hours
- Remove the dough from the fridge and separate it into balls, around the size of a walnut
- Place them on the baking tray and press down, to form a flat circle
- Bake in the oven for around 8-10 minutes, until they begin to turn a nice golden color
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool
- If you are going to ice your cookies, place the icing sugar in a mixing bowl and add a tablespoon of water, mixing until smooth
- Add another tablespoon of water and mix together again
- Once the cookies have cooled down, dip them into the icing mixture, or create your own pretty pattern!
- Place to one side to let the icing completely set
- Enjoy!
Notes
You can keep medenjaci for around 4-5 days, or you can just devour them in one go!
You can keep medenjaci for around 4-5 days, or you can just devour them in one go!
Hello – thank you for sharing your Croatian recipes. I would like to know if you have heard of a Croatian cookie that is topped with a walnut and soaked in a honey/mixture after baking. I experienced this cookie while at a coffee shop and was told it was a Croatian cookie. Have you heard of this type of cookie in Croatia? Thanks again! Ann
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Hmm, I do not know of a Croatian one like that (though I have only lived here 7 years). I do know a Greek one that sounds like that though – Melomakarona. Could that have been it?
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This sounds like Hurmasice. More of a Bosnian one.
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Ohhhhh good thinking Ivana.
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I’m baffled as to why you would want to disable copy/pasting or viewing source, while still providing print functionality. I can obviously copy and paste from there, but with the added benefit of disliking this website for making me jump through hoops to do it.
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I am baffled, why you need to copy and paste – just print the recipe off or save it for later. It is weird that you are so desperate for copy and paste that you’d bother to comment about it.
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