Let's make some Koulourakia - Part 2 of my Greek Easter Recipe Series

These are a staple for Greek Easter in every Greek home. These "koulourakia", as they are called, are a very delicious butter cookie with an orange and lemon infused flavor. These crisp on the outside and tender and fluffy in the inside cookies are traditionally baked on Holy Saturday to be eaten on Easter Sunday; because these cookies are made with butter and other rich ingredients they are the ideal cookie for Easter as most are fasting and would not ordinarily be able to eat these delicious koulourakia! We didn't traditionally fast growing up except on Holy Saturday and my mom would usually bake these during the week at some point so by the time Easter came we had easily eaten at least half!!

Ingredients

4 sticks of unsalted Butter (room temperature)

1/3 cup Crisco shortening

2 cups sugar

1 egg

2 egg yolks

3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup orange juice (no pulp)

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. orange extract

2 tbsp. lemon zest

3 tbsp. orange zest

Flour (add it 1/2 cup at a time until you get a consistency that is doughy but still light and fluffy) - I hesitate to put an amount because it can differ with every batch.

Directions

In a mixer mix the butter, shortening and sugar until you get a very light and and fluffy mixture. Start adding the eggs then the milk and orange juice then the baking powder and soda. At this point I would remove it from the mixer and start adding the flour by hand 1/2 cup at a time. The desired consistency of the cookie dough at this point needs to be light and fluffy and that the dough no longer sticks to your fingers. I will usually at this point even if it sticks slightly to my fingers will stop adding flour and will pop the mixture into the fridge for 5-10 minutes to let the butter cool and harden the mixture a little. At this point it should no longer stick and you've managed to keep the mixture light and fluffy. This is key, too much flour will make these cookies hard! You should be able to roll the dough between your hands without it falling apart.

These cookies will puff up and will double in size so it's very important to keep this in mind when you are both shaping them and placing them on the cookie tray, be sure that they are at least 1 inch apart from each other. Below are some pictures that shows how you can shape them (a lot easier than explaining it in writing)!! Keep in mind that these are about a little over the length of your index finger (the finished already shaped cookie on the right).

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on the largest cookie sheet you have so that you won't need to bake too many batches, this recipe makes a whole lot of cookies!! Once you shaped the cookies and they are ready for the oven. Pop the dough mixture back in the fridge just to harden the butter once again.

Preheat oven to 350 F and pop the first batch in. Keep an eye on them especially this first batch and especially if it's the first time you're making these. The key is not just in the dough but baking time as well, in getting these cookies to be crisp on the outside and tender soft in the inside. I start with 12 minutes baking time and will check them at that point - I will look through the oven door and will not open the door so that the cookies do not drop. If they still look white in color you're not there yet. At the 15 minute mark if they gained a bit of color now it's safe to open the oven door to take a closer look...I will usually lift a corner of the parchment paper to take a look under one of the cookies, if the underneath is a light golden color and the cookies have also taken a golden color (just like in the first picture) then they are ready! Take them out! Transfer them to a cookie rack to cool and start with the next batch until you're done! Good Luck!! Let me know how they turn out!