In a mixing bowl, add the olive oil, orange juice, sugar, and spices. Stir well with a hand whisk for the sugar to dissolve. In a separate bowl, a small one, add the brandy and soda and stir to dissolve. Then pour this in the bowl with the other ingredients.
Add the semolina as well, and whisk for everything to combine thoroughly.
In a different bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Then start to incorporate it into the mixture as well. At this point, you will need to do the mixing by hand.
Once all the flour is incorporated into the mixture, you should end up with a soft dough that doesn't stick on your hands. If it still leaves fragments on your hands add a little bit more flour.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 356°F.
Lay a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray.
Take small pieces of the dough (about 1 tablespoon) and squeeze in your palms to remove any air from within the dough. Shape into a round ball, and then give that ball an oval, egg shape. Press it a bit flatten it.
Proceed on making cookies like these and lay them on the baking tray leaving some space in between.
Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes. Or until they get a very light brown color all over.
Dip the cookies in batches in the syrup (that has reached room temperature) right as they get out of the oven. They need to be really hot in order to absorb the syrup properly and get nice and soft. Give them a few turns inside the syrup (using two forks to help you out) until they feel soft when you press them between your fingers.
Transfer cookies on a cooling rack to drain excess syrup. Let the cookies reach room temperature before coating them with chocolate.