Greek Easter is a big deal, people. There is so much food prepared for Easter that it will probably take us 10 years to cover it all. Since we have to dive in somewhere, let’s start with Koulouria, shall we? 

Koulouria are traditional Greek Easter cookies. When our family makes Koulouria, they really go all in. All hands are required on deck because the original recipe is massive.  10 eggs. 15 cups of flour. 15 dozen cookies. Since most people don’t need to make enough Koulouria to feed an army, we halved all of the ingredients in the recipe below to make a more reasonable amount.

Another challenge with this recipe is how things were measured.  For example, this is how Mom usually measures sugar when she makes koulouria.

I’m not kidding. Luckily for you, we took the time to re-measure everything using standard measuring cups and measuring spoons. You’re welcome.

Finally, Koulouria call for two ingredients that can’t be found in American supermakets: baker’s ammonia and powdered vanilla. Both can be found at your local Greek market or can be purchased online here and here.

Okay, are you ready?

Separate eggs, placing whites in a medium mixing bowl and yolks in a large mixing bowl.

Add salt to egg whites and beat until soft peaks form. (Hi Theia Toula!) Set aside.

Add sugar to egg yolks and beat very well. At first it will look like the consistency of scrambled eggs, but after about 5 minutes it will start to look more creamy and become slightly lighter in color.

Continue beating and add oil, followed by shortening, and baker’s ammonia.

Add baking soda to warmed milk and pour into batter. Add vanilla and mix well.

Fold reserved whites into batter.

Add flour to batter a little at a time and combine well. Use your hands or a stand mixer with hook attachment.

Beat 2 egg yolks with a little water in a small bowl.

Lightly oil your work surface.  Grab about 1 cup of dough and roll it out into a log shape. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Roll each piece out into a small “rope” and shape into circles or twists.

Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg yolk. Greek coffee, anyone?

Bake in lower third of the oven for about 10 minutes, then move to the top third of the oven for 10 more minutes.

Cookies are done when they are golden brown. Happy Easter everyone!

Koulouria (makes about 7 dozen)

Source: Athena Merianos & Toula Costopoulos

5 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks for brushing on cookies before baking

1/8  teaspoon salt

1.5 cup sugar

3/4 cup warmed milk

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baker’s ammonia

1/4 teaspoon powdered vanilla

7.5 cups sifted flour (sift first, then measure)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Separate eggs, placing whites in a medium bowl and yolks in a large mixing bowl. Add salt to egg whites and beat until soft peaks form. Set aside.

Add flour and baking powder in medium bowl and set aside.

Add sugar to yolks and beat very well, for at least 5 minutes or until creamy and slightly lighter in color.  Continue beating and add oil, followed by shortening, and baker’s ammonia. Add baking soda to warmed milk and pour into batter. Add vanilla and mix well.

Fold reserved whites into batter.  Add flour to batter a little at a time and combine well. Use your hands or a stand mixer with hook attachment.

Beat 2 egg yolks with a little water in a small bowl.

Lightly oil your work surface.  Grab about 1 cup’s worth of dough and roll it out into a log shape. Cut into about 1 inch pieces.  Roll each piece out into a small “rope” and shape into circles or twists. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg yolk.  Bake in lower third of the over for about 10 minutes, then move to the top third of the oven for 10 more minutes.  Cookies are done when they are golden brown.

© kouzina cousins. April 2014.

Original article: Koulouria (Greek Easter Cookies).

Melomacarouna are a popular Greek cookie often enjoyed at Christmas.  They are crumbly spice cookies that have been soaked in warm honey and then sprinkled with finely chopped walnuts. The recipe for this cookie is the perfect example of why we started this project to document family recipes.  This is what my mother’s recipe for Melomacarouna looks like:

Thanks to six years of Greek school, I can decipher most of this.  There are lots of good things here, actually. Real measurements in “κούπες” (cups),  “κουταλιές της σούπας” (tablespoons) and “κουταλιτσες” (teaspoons).  You can see she has adjusted the recipe over the years, eliminating eggs and honey from the cookie dough and adding a bit more sugar. Some of the measurements are a little fuzzy, like the lines about “λίγη” (a little) cinnamon and clove, but nothing too difficult to overcome.  That is what I thought, until I flipped the notecard over and realized there are no instructions about what to do with the ingredients, and then further realized there is no mention of flour AT ALL.  When I asked my Mom how much flour to use she said “όσο παίρνει” (as much as it takes).  Umm, okay…obviously we had some work to do here. She still scoffs at our need to measure things, but I think she’s getting used to it. Here’s what I learned (exact measurements are listed in detail in the full recipe):

To start with you will need: flour, vegetable oil, shortening, orange juice, cognac, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and sugar.  Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the oil, shortening, orange juice, baking soda, sugar and cognac and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. I love this giant stainless steel bowl. Does every Greek mother have a few of these?  They always cook in such large quantities that normal sized mixing bowls just don’t cut it.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time.  After adding about 3/4 of the flour mixture you will need to use your hands because the dough will become too thick for the mixer. If you cut this recipe in half you might be able to use a stand mixer.  And you will still have a lot of cookies.

The cookies are done when they are a golden amber color. Let the cookies cool completely before moving on to the next step.

Bring honey and water to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat off and skim off any white foam that may have formed on the surface of the honey.

Drop 5 or 6 cookies into the warmed honey. The cookies will float to the top.  Turn the cookies over gently to be sure the honey is soaked in on all sides. After about 1 minute, remove the cookies from the honey using a slotted spoon. Repeat until all cookies are drenched in honey.

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Let cool before serving.

Melomacarouna  (Spice cookies dipped in honey)

Source: Athena Merianos and Toula Costopoulos

Makes about 6 dozen cookies

Original article: Melomacarouna.