Greek Easter Cookies (Koulouria)

Greek Easter Cookies (koulourakia)

Bake: 15 -20 min

Prep: 15-20 min

Makes: 50 cookies

 

Greek Easter cookies have a long history dating back to the Minoan civilization in Crete. Made into a winding, twisting cookie in honor of the snake with its venom healing powers including drugs made to treat high blood pressure.

 

Ingredients

1 cup butter

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs (reserve 1 yolk for glazing)

Sesame seeds

1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar together and then add eggs, one at a time (reserving one egg yolk for glazing). Beat until well combined. Mix in all wet ingredients.  Combine all dry ingredients and add to the mixture and beat well.  The dough should be soft but not sticky. Add more flour if necessary.  Roll a walnut-sized piece of dough constantly towards you on wax paper into a rope about 5 inches long and make various shapes including circles, S and twists.  Place each cookie on a baking sheet with ½” spacing as they can spread. Mix a bit of water or milk into an egg yolk or whole egg and glaze the top of each cookie.  Before the glaze dries, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350o for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.









There are many, many versions of koulourakia floating around with many different, wonderfully subtle flavorings.  Even my French husband who has ancestors from Smyrna (present day Izmir)  has a version of these cookies that his family to this day, like the Greeks, traditionally bakes at Easter.  The recipe book contains no less than four versions of koulourakia and I ended up making three of the four recipes.  Two had identical ingredients but in different quantities so I chose to make the smaller quantity version, called Koulourakia II.  I shared the second batch, Koulourakia I, with church members and they liked it so much they requested more so I made a third version, Yia Yia’s Koulourakia which they thought was great, too.  That recipe required some modification because I was pretty sure from experience that adding 14 eggs and 14 tsp baking powder to 8 cups of flour was not going to give a desirable outcome.

The differences in the recipes are mainly in the types of fat used, ranging from pure butter to a mixture of oil and vegetable shortening.  Butter or butter plus margarine gave a crisp cookie while using vegetable oil and shortening resulted in a softer cookie.  I suppose that olive oil was the predominant fat in Greece so using oil might actually get you closer to an authentic recipe.  The flavorings include vanilla, orange, lemon, whiskey, cinnamon and nuts, all of which enticed people to eat more than one cookie. 

I prefer the Koulourakia II recipe because it is simple and gives a crisp cookie but I reccomend using cinnamon, nuts, orange and vanilla as described in Koulourakia I or just lemon and vanilla.  Regardless of the recipe used, the amount of flour is approximate and should be adjusted to give a very soft but not sticky dough.  To roll it into shapes, follow the video!  Rolling the dough constantly towards you on a piece of weighted down wax paper as shown in the video works very well.



Katey Demonstrating How to Twist Koulouria 
into the Perfect Shape






Koulouria I

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking time: 15-20 minutes

Yield: 150 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

¼ cup vegetable shortening 

¾ cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

3 eggs, plus 1 egg for glazing

½ cup orange juice

2 tsp vanilla

1 shot glass of whiskey

1 box cake flour (e.g. Softasilk) or all-purpose flour (32 oz., approximately 6 cups)

3 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

½ cup nuts, finely ground

Sesame seeds

 

Koulouria II

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking time: 15-20 minutes

Yield: 50 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

½ cup sugar

2 eggs (reserve 1 yolk for glazing)

1 tbs orange or lemon juice

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

Sesame seeds

 

Koulouraria III (Yia Yia’s)

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking time: 15-20 minutes

Yield: 200 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups butter

½ cup margarine

1 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs, plus 1 egg for glazing

4 tsp vanilla

½ can evaporated milk

2 tsp baking powder

½  tsp baking soda

8 cups flour

Sesame seeds

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together and then add eggs, one at a time. Beat until well combined. Mix in all wet ingredients.  Combine all dry ingredients and add to the mixture and beat well.  The dough should be soft but not sticky. Add more flour if necessary.  Roll a walnut-sized piece of dough constantly towards you on wax paper into a rope about 5 inches long and make various shapes including circles, S and twists.  Place each cookie on a baking sheet with ½” spacing as they can spread. Mix a bit of water or milk into an egg yolk or whole egg and glaze the top of each cookie.  Before the glaze dries, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350o for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Julie’s Gluten Free Koulourakia

(Greek Easter Cookies)

 

·       1 ½ lbs sweet butter

·       1 ½ cup sugar

·       3 tsp vanilla ( I also include ½ tsp Almond extract)

·       3 eggs

·       6 cups G.F.  flour (Bob’s Red Hill 1 to 1 Baking Flour)

·       3 tsp. baking powder

·       ½ tsp baking soda

·       1 egg for egg wash

 

·       Preheat oven to 400

·       Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

·       Add in eggs and vanilla beat well

·       Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl

·       Slowly add dry ingredients to liquids

·       Chill dough in refrigerator for an hour

·       Using a baking pad roll out logs about 8” long, form into twists

·       Brush with egg wash (add 1 tsp of water to egg)

·       Cook until golden brown (about 15 to 20 Minutes)

·       Allow to cool before packaging

 

 

Julie’s Gluten Free Koulourakia

(Greek Easter Cookies)

 

·       1 ½ lbs sweet butter

·       1 ½ cup sugar

·       3 tsp vanilla (I also include 1/2 teaspoon of Almond extract)

·       3 eggs

·       6 cups G.F.  flour (Bob’s Red Hill 1 to 1 Baking Flour)

·       3 tsp. baking powder

·       ½ tsp baking soda

·       1 egg for egg wash

 

·       Preheat oven to 400

·       Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

·       Add in eggs and vanilla beat well

·       Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl

·       Slowly add dry ingredients to liquids

·       Chill dough in refrigerator for an hour

·       Using a baking pad roll out logs about 8” long, form into twists

·       Brush with egg wash (add 1 tsp of water to egg)

·       Cook until golden brown (about 15 to 20 Minutes)

·       Allow to cool before packaging


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