Laiik Makes Greek Food: Koulourakia
This month's Greek recipe is koulourakia, just like our yiayia used to make. Traditionally, these cookies are made during Greek Easter, but in all honesty we had them pretty much all year round. While recipes vary between yiayiades, koulourakia tend to share a common traditional characteristic — a braided or twisted shape, a form that symbolizes the suppression of evil spirits. That's right, koulourakia are good for your body and your soul ;).
So grab your Greek sandals, head to the market for ingredients and come make Greek food with us!
Execution time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 1.3 cups of unsalted butter, or about 2.5 sticks
- 1.5 cups of sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla powder
- 3 eggs - medium
- ½ cup of orange juice
- Zest from 2 oranges
- 1.7 fl oz cognac
- 8 cups of all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup of full fat milk
- Salt
Execution
- Preheat your oven to 340 DegF.
- In a mixer, blend the room-temperature butter with the sugar and vanilla powder for approximately 7-10 mins, or until the mixture has a fluffy consistency.
- Remove the mixer bowl, and add the 2 eggs, the orange juice, the cognac and the zest from two oranges.
- Continue blending in the mixer for another 5 minutes
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix using a spoon.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the ingredients in the mixer along with the milk and salt - continue mixing until homogeneous.
- Remove from the mixer, and add the remaining flour, using a spoon to mix the ingredients evenly
- Then remove the dough, and knead briefly
- Allow the dough to sit for 5 minutes
- Pinch 1-2 inch dough balls, roll out and then twist into braids, or any other shape that you like
- Glaze with a whole egg mix diluted with water
- Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown
