Cypriot Flaounes are tasty Greek cheese pastries that are commonly eaten during the Easter season. The use of traditional Green spices give these Easter breads a flavor unlike anything you have tasted!

What are Cypriot Flaounes?

Flaounes (singular flaouna) are a cheese bread/pastry from Cyprus, an island off the coast of Greece. (While technically not a part of Greece, their culture and cuisine is very heavily Greek, hence our classification of this pastry as a “Greek” dish.)

Small, 3 inch, triangle flaounes, called flaouniteses or flaounoudes, can be found year round and are eaten as a snack or appetizer.

Larger versions are made during Holy Week, in preparation for Easter.

These breads are filled with a cheese mixture and seasoned with two unique Greek spices – mastic and mahlepi (mahlab) – as well as mint.

This combination of unique local spices and local cheese makes these pastries quite the treat.

But, if you want a taste of Easter in Cyprus without a trip to the island for ingredients, read on. We’ve got you covered!

What is mastic gum?

Mastic gum or resin, also called masticha, is hardened sap harvested from a small evergreen tree, called a mastic.

This tree is found mainly on the Greek island of Chios.

Mastic resin typically comes in small pellets, called ‘tears’, and needs to be ground to a powder before using. It is often used in baked goods, drinks, and even ice-cream.

You can find mastic gum online or at Greek food stores.

What does mastic gum taste like?

Mastic resin tastes similar to what you would expect, knowing it is sap from an evergreen tree: slightly sweet and piney in flavor.

We found the flavor to also be a bit reminiscent of licorice. But it was very light in flavor overall.

What can I use instead of mastic?

With its unique piney flavor, there really aren’t any good substitutes for mastic.

However, some people suggest substituting vanilla, which would add a nod to its slight sweetness, but wouldn’t quite capture the other notes.

If we didn’t have it on hand, we would just omit it in this recipe.

What is Greek Mahlepi?

Mahlepi (also called mahleb or mahlab) is made from the small pits of wild St. Lucy’s cherries.

The pits are often sold whole, but can also be found pre-ground.

Mahlepi is used in Greek cooking and baking (particularly in breads), and is also used in other Middle Eastern dishes.

You can find mahlepi online or in Greek food stores.

What does mahlab taste like?

Mahlab has a nutty and sweet flavor and fragrance. (You will definitely notice its fragrance as these flaounes are cooking.)

What can I use instead of mahlab?

If you don’t have mahlab, we would substitute it with almond extract (at half the called for amount) and cardamom (at 1/4 the called-for amount) or a pinch of anise.

An Easter pastry

Traditionally, milk and eggs were not eaten during the fasting season of Lenten before Easter. In order to preserve the milk that was not being drunk, they made cheese. (The eggs were simply stored in a cool place.)

As you can imagine, by the end of the 40 days of Lent, they had a lot of eggs and cheese to use up!

Hence, these pastries and other Greek Easter foods featuring those ingredients.

What cheese do I use to make flaouna?

Traditionally, flaounes are made with the local Cypriot goat’s milk cheese called paphitiko.

As these pastries gained popularity in other parts of Greece, other cheeses began to be used, like halloumi.

And, as they gained further world-wide renown, in areas that Greek cheese was hard to come by, mild cheddar and Romano became popular substitutes.

What does halloumi cheese taste like?

Halloumi cheese is a very unique cheese. It is soft, salty, and slightly squeaky.

In texture, it is similar to fresh white cheddar cheese curds or a very fresh mozzarella.

In flavor, it is mild, but a bit salty. Kind of reminiscent of feta or Romano, on the salt level, however less intense because of the mild flavor and soft nature.

What cheese is similar to halloumi?

Luckily, nowadays it is possible to find halloumi if you look for it in places with a good international cheese selection.

(We found some at World Market. And, Trader Joe’s also carries it seasonally.)

However, it can be expensive and sometimes hard to find. So, if you need a substitute for halloumi cheese a mild white cheddar or white cheddar cheese curds would get you close to the texture. Blending that with a little pressed feta or romano, for flavor, could do the trick.

Or, you could try a fresh mozzarella and add some extra salt.

How to Make Flaounes

These Easter pastries are a bit labor intensive to make, which is why they are often a family affair, made on Holy Thursday or Good Friday in preparation for Easter.

The filling should be made a day before making the flaounes, to let the flavors of the spices really infuse the cheese before it is baked.

The day you want to make your cheese breads, call all hands on deck!

• Mix the dough and let it rise
• Roll the dough thin.
• Cut the dough. (It can be cut into squares, triangles, or circles, depending on your preference.)
• Brush the cut pieces with egg wash.
• Dunk the washed side in sesame seeds.
• Place filling on the clean side.
• Fold up the sides of the dough around the filling to create a little boat. Pinch the corners of the dough together to seal the filling in. (Leaving a little filling peaking through at the center of the pastry.)
• Brush the exposed filing with a little more egg wash.
• Bake!

Leftover dough pieces can be made into koulourakia, which might be why these are a popular Easter cookie.

Our Greek Easter Flaounes Recipe

For our recipe for flaounes, we used half halloumi cheese and half mild, white cheddar. White cheddar is easy to find and less expensive than halloumi, but blending the two cheeses still gives a good flavor.

We were fortunate to be gifted some mahlepi and mastic from family after a trip they took to Greece.

If you can get your hands on some of these spices, they will take your Greek Easter baking experience to a new level.

However, if you can’t, don’t let that stop you from making these Easter breads. They are a fun treat and quite tasty even with some substitutions.