Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Add melted butter, oil, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer or with a whisk until combined. Mix in orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, and ground cloves.
1 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups oil, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups orange juice, zest from 2 oranges, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp ground cloves
In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking power, and baking soda. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, a cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. NOTE: You many not need to use all of the flour. Once the dough is easy to handle and holds its shape, stop adding flour.
10 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda
Shape cookies, by rolling out dough and using a cookie cutter to cut out cookies, or shape into 2-inch ovals. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake 30-40 minutes, depending on size of cookies, or until golden brown.
While cookies are baking, prepare the syrup. Add sugar, honey, water, orange rind, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves into a large heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Remove and discard the rind, cinnamon stick, and cloves just before you are ready to soak the cookies.
4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 cup honey, 3 cups water, rind from 1 orange, 2 cinnamon sticks, 8-10 whole cloves
When ready, remove cookies from oven, and immediately place in warm syrup. Work in batches of 6-8 cookies at a time and allow to soak about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove cookies from syrup and transfer them onto a tray or platter.
To make the walnut topping, pulse the walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer walnuts to a bowl and add sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Mix to combine. Sprinkle cookies with walnut mixture and enjoy!
2 cups walnuts, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves