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
Traditional 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
Koulourakia 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.
What do I do with the sugar...?
You never finished telling us what to do with it?
Hi Briana. I'm not sure what you are referring to. Step 1 instructs you to cream the butter and the sugar. Can you clarify your confusion?
I am trying to order koulourakia off of your website but there is no place to do so. I ordered once before and had no problem. What' up?
Thanks for your inquiry Carter, but you must be mistaken. We’ve never sold koulourakia, we simply give you the recipe you need to make your own.
Great recipe my Koulourakia turned out perfect!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Toula!
Can I use bleached flour? That's all I have at home and I am trying to stay away from the stores.
Yes, you can. We just prefer unbleached. Enjoy!
Fantastic recipe, better than the one in my greek cookbook
Glad you enjoyed the cookies Carol!
I just made a batch with my 3 year old! My 1st time making Koulourakia! Perfect & delicious. The house smells like Easter! 🙂 Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Sarah these turned out great ! Very similar to my moms. I wanted to try this recipe out because it didn’t require bakers ammonia. I did have to add more flour but overall good recipe Thank You!
Thanks Voula! We’re so glad you enjoyed the Easter cookies!
Excellent recipe!
Glad you enjoyed the easter cookies Stella!
I added 3 tablespoons of orange juice and it was soooooo muddy that they could not be eaten 🙁 I added also flour to make it thicker, but still it was like a batter for cakes. I would not recommend this recipe.
Hi Vicky. I believe you may have misread the recipe. It doen’t call for the use of orange juice at all, only the zest. If you put 3 Tbsp of orange juice into the dough, it would most definitely be soupy. Hopefully you have a chance to give these a try again per the actual recipe, you may actually enjoy them!
Vicky I have been making this recipe since December 2018. I have used orange juice in place of water. These have never come out muddy, they came out wonderful for holidays. I was proud to share these gems and I will be bringing a plate of these this Easter to family’s house. You must carefully follow the recipe or it will not come out right. I hope u give it another chance and try it. Best of luck Vicky
Your Koulourakia recipe sounds great. My grandmothers recipe is similar, but she also used brandy. Someone told be about the baking ammonia last year and so I bought some. Whew! What a smell. I think I read that this is what is used for smelling salts. The cookies I made last year were very good, but I think I used the ammonia and the baking powder. They were a little firm. In your recipe, would I I only use 1 tsp if the baking ammonia instead of the baking powder?
Hi Marie. How interesting! While we haven't tried making these cookies with the baking ammonia, based on the math, 1 tsp should be what is needed to substitute from the baking powder we call for. If you give it a try, definitely stop back by and let us know how they turn out for you!
This recipe is awesome, I made them again! This time I did not forget baking powder. I don't recommend leaving that out, they came out much better this time! Little one still won't eat them but I'm not complaining that he isn't a sweets type of guy! I will be very proud to bring this to my cookie swap this evening and I printed this recipe to share!
So glad you're enjoying them Josie! Enjoy your cookie swap!
This recipe is so great and I wanted to add that I only had lemon and made lemon cookie for a friend for Easter (giving them early, tomorrow) but I do prefer the traditional orange flavor. In a pinch lemon is just as delicious but not traditional. But it’s still great though. My son is now almost 3.5, he loves these now. Now my youngest son is 13 months! He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to food so he enjoyed a couple as well. Looking forward to making the traditional orange ones on Saturday with my son!
Thanks for sharing lemon works too Josie. We're so glad you and your family love them!
These came out really good despite the fact that I FORGOT to add baking powder! I don't know how that slipped the process but it did and they're still very good. I have a cookie swap coming up at the end of this week and I wanted to test these babies first and they are worthy! Lightly sweet, although my 13 month old hates sweets (yay) so he did not like these!
So glad you enjoyed these Josie! It's so easy to forget an ingredient, particularly when you're baking with a 13 month old around! Enjoy your cookie swap!
in stead of orange juice I use brandy, or metaxa or any type of whiskey
That would be delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Came out very tasty but only 40 cookies. Will need to increase proportions next time 😉 x
So glad you enjoyed them! These cookies do go fast!
Very happy with this recipe. Came out perfect! The only change I made was to add 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice to the egg glaze instead of water.
We're glad you enjoyed the cookies Christy! Adding orange to the glaze sounds like a wonderful idea!