Koulourakia

Koulouria are a traditional Greek cookie made for Easter and shared in a basket with red coloured eggs. Perfect for dunking in coffee, they are light as a feather, buttery, and sweet. Easily double the recipe to share with family and friends.

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Beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add in the sugar and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Add the egg yolks and beat until ribbon stage is reached. Add the ammonia and beat until incorporated. Cover with a cloth and let the eggs rest for 2 hours, beating them for a few seconds every 15 minutes.

After 2 hours, beat the eggs while you melt the butter. Add the cognac, vanilla powder and half the melted butter to the eggs. Pour the egg mixture into the flour and blend with your hands. Pour the remaining butter onto your hands as you are mixing the dough to keep it from sticking to your hands.

Once all the butter is incorporated, dust the surface with flour and cover with a plastic wrap. The dough is a bit runny. Don’t worry about this as you will be kneading it to form the cookies. Take a bit of the dough into your palm and knead it from one hand to the other until the dough is smooth. Once smooth, use your palms to roll the dough into a cylinder shape. Place the cylinder on a non-stick surface, and using both your hands, roll the cylinder outwards. Once the cylinder is thin and long, you can shape it into various shapes.

Circle Braid: Fold the dough cylinder in half and twist. Take one end of the twisted cylinder and wrap it around until it forms a circle shape. Twist: Fold the cylinder dough in half and twist. Braid: Cut the cylinder in three equal lengths. Form an upside down “V” with two pieces and place the third down the center. Place the left piece over the center and then the right piece over the piece just moved over. Continue until you reach the end. S-Shape: Towards opposite directions, turn in each end of the cylinder towards the inside.

Brush the top of the egg with a yolk mixed with 1 tsp milk. Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven until golden brown (time depends on the size of the cookie – on average 15 minutes).