Koulourakia (Greek Easter Cookies)
Koulourakia are a crispy, orange-scented Greek Easter Cookies that are the perfect treat with coffee or tea.
Greek Easter Cookies
If Italian biscotti were to have a dainty, Greek cousin, it would be koulourakia.
These finger-sized, Greek cookies are traditionally made on Holy Saturday, so that they are ready to be eaten come Easter Sunday morning.
Crispy on the outside, but tender on the inside, these cookies are buttery, with a hint of orange essence. And, they're so small that you don't feel bad reaching for another... and another to go with your morning coffee or afternoon tea.
They're seriously addictive, with a crunch that is oh-so satisfying.
Koulourakia
The name koulourakia (pronounced kou-lou-RA-keeah) translates to "little koulouria".
Koulouria (whose name comes from its round shape) are sweet, bready rings that can be served at dinner or as a street food.
Koulourakia, on the other hand are a much smaller, butter cookie that are hand rolled and shaped into fun twisted designs.
They traditionally have an egg glaze and are topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
A Substitute For Baking Ammonia
A Substitute For Baking AmmoniaTraditional recipes for koulourakia call for baking ammonia, which isn't all that common in kitchens nowadays, particularly in the States.
Baker's ammonia (or ammonium bicarbonate) is your classic, old fashioned leavener. (NOT to be confused with regular, household ammonia. Which is a cleaner. And is poisonous.)
Baker's ammonia was the primary leavening agent before the invention of baking soda and baking powder in the 19th century. It smells quite potent, so today, it is mostly used in baked goods that don't have much moisture, like crackers and cookies. (The drier the end product, the less smell lingers.) That's perfect because it tends to produce a lighter, crunchier end result than baking powder or baking soda.
The best substitue for baking ammonia is double acting baking powder, which can be used as a direct, 1:1, substitute.
If you don't have double acting baking powder, regular baking powder can be substituted as well. But, you will need to double the amount of baking ammonia called for in the recipe (2 teaspoon regular baking powder = 1 teaspoon baking ammonia).
For our recipe below, you don't have to worry about the math. We wrote the recipe to use the more common regular baking powder.
You're welcome!
Making Our Koulourakia Recipe
Typical recipes for koulourakia make A LOT of cookies. That's ok though, because they're small, and they really don't last that long.
Our recipe is a bit on the smaller end, but it still will give you around 60 little, finger cookies.
Since there is a lot of rolling and shaping that goes into even a small batch, these cookies are a fun recipe to make with helpers. So, grab the kids or grab some friends, and start rolling some dough!
Koulourakia Dough
The dough for these Greek Easter cookies should be soft and pliable, but not sticky. Depending on the humidity of the day, you may need to add a bit more flour to the dough to get just the perfect consistency.
After mixing, we chill our dough for 30 minutes, just to make it a bit easier to roll. You shouldn't need too much flour as your roll and shape your koulourakia, just enough that is doesn't stick.
Shaping The Greek Easter Cookies
Shaping The Greek Easter CookiesKoulourakia can be shaped into rings, braids, scrolled "S" shapes, or hairpin twists, like we did for ours today.
Feel free to get as creative as you like when shaping your koulourakia. No matter the shape, they will be delicious!
Koulourakia (Greek Easter Cookies)
Ingredients
- ½ c unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ c sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ c milk, warmed to 80F
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 orange, zested
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 ½ c unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water (for the glaze)
- Sesame seeds (to top)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, and beat until lightly colored. Add the milk, vanilla, orange zest, and baking powder. Mixing as you add.
- Add the flour, a little at a time, while mixing, until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill 30 min.
- While your dough is resting, preheat your oven to 350F
- Once the dough has rested, dip your fingers in a little flour and pinch off a 1 inch ball of dough. Roll the ball into a 7 inch rope on a lightly floured surface. Fold the rope in half and twist the two strands together to form the cookie. Continue with the remaining dough.
- Place the shaped cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
- Brush each cookie with the egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water). Sprinkle the cookies with sesame seeds, if desired
- Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes, rotating your baking sheet halfway through baking time for more even cooking. Cookies are done when they are lightly golden.
- Let the koulourakia cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
- (This recipe makes a lot of koulourakia) so, if you need to, just cover any excess dough while your first batch bakes, so it doesn’t dry out.)
Notes
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I am Greek and your recipe looks good (the cookies in the photo look good too) but the pronunciation is kou-lou-RA-keeah. Also when substituting baking ammonia for baking powder, you double the baking POWDER, not the baking ammonia as stated above. The recipe reads correct, but the explanation seemed a little confusing to me. Thank you!
Hi Anastasia. Thank you for the pronunciation guide and for noting that our conversion is unclear. We will get that clarified.
Thank you for this recipe. Mine came out perfect! I did refrigerate overnight and cut down on the baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon after reading the comments. I was in a Greek Restaurant and I saw these cookies for sale so I decided to try to make some. I am so glad I found your recipe. I need to make cookies for a bake sale and wanted to make something that would stay fresh so I could bake ahead of the day of the bake sale. I think these definitely are what I will bake a bunch of. Mine are not quite as perfect as the ones at the Greek Restaurant but they are very nice looking and very yummy. Thank you very much!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipe. When I made the cookies I notice my cookies were lighter almost like a sugar cookie. When I’ve had others that people made, they were heavier more dense. Do you know what I could’ve done wrong?
Hi Wendy. When we've had these they have been lighter, not really dense. So this recipe does make cookies that are on the lighter side. To make them more dense, I would decrease the baking powder to 1 tsp and see how you like that texture.
Can you freeze these cookies?
Hi Mary. While we haven't tried freezing them, I would think they would freeze quite well.
Can you use almond milk instead?
Hi Claire. While I haven't tested it for this one, from my experience working with almond milk in other recipes, it should work just fine.
Can you make the dough ahead of time (and store in the fridge)?
Hi Laura. That should work just fine. You may just need to let the dough warm a bit on the counter before shaping.
My husband wants me to make his favorite cookies as a child he is Greek itian
Hope he enjoys them!
They look very yummy but would I be able to use a gluten free all purpose flour or white whole wheat pastry flour?
Hi Tia. Using a 1:1 GF all purpose should work. Enjoy!
We drink skim milk in our house. Can I use this for this recipe or do you recommend a different kind?
Hi Shannon. Skim milk will be fine in these cookies. Enjoy!
I have a recipe that calls for maskiha
Mastic gum?
Do I add this to the recipe?
Hi Jane. You can find more about mastic gum in our article on Cypriot flaounes (https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/flaounes-greek-easter-cheese-bread/). But, if you have a recipe that tells you to add it to these cookies, I would not be surprised. I bet it would be tasty!
My dough was very sticky so I used more flour. When baking my dough cracked on top, did I use too much flour??
Possibly. Was your dough still sticky after chilling? Before chilling, the dough will be a bit sticky, but after chilling it should roll out nicely.
@Shana,
My dough was very sticky too and I ended up adding a lot more flour. The result was a cookie that tasted more like flour and had lost a lot of the flavor. Perhaps I will let it chill longer in the future.
Hi Karen. Did you find that your dough was still sticky after chilling?
Hi, if I want to use the ammonia, how much do I use in this recipe?
Hi Jen. Use half the amount of baking powder called for. (And omit the baking powder.) Enjoy!
Hello! Thank you for the recipe 🙂 I noticed this says it yields 60 cookies but in the little slider bar, it says 30 people so I'm just curious - do the baseline amounts make 30 or 60 cookies?
Hi Christina. Yes, the recipe yields around 60 cookies. We just figured a 2 cookie serving size, since they are smaller cookies. Enjoy!
I’m Greek and this is one of the best recipes I have discovered for kouloria. Thank you for sharing this is my new go to for these cookies!
We're so glad you enjoyed them!