40 pieces
50 minutes
15 minutes
Medium
Greek cookies with orange taste as good as they look, and our version use grounded almond flakes rather than the traditional sesame seeds. These cookies are made in a variety of shapes and are hard in texture on the outside and crumble (softer texture) on the inside.
The addition of orange zest and juice adds a distinct and fresh flavour. These cookies are perfect with a cup of coffee or tea and will have everyone wanting just one more.
The secret to these delights is to ensure you mix the butter and sugar on high speed and to allow the mixing process to continue until the mixture resembles fluffy whipped cream texture. This normally takes up to 10 minutes.
ingredients for greek cookies
- 250 grams butter at room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup almond slices (ground)
- 1 tablespoon vanillin sugar (vanilla sugar)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
- 2 – 3 cups self-rising flour (sifted)
- zest of 1 orange
- Juice of 1 orange
- 4 eggs
Instructions for greek cookies
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C and before baking, reduce the oven to 180°C.
- Add butter to your mixing bowl and set the mixer to high speed, mixing for 5 minutes.
- Set mixer to low speed and proceed to add sugar, setting mixer to high speed – mixing both the sugar and butter for 10 minutes (sugar needs to dissolve).
- Zest of 1 orange including the juice of 1 orange (set aside for a later step).
- Separate 3 egg yolks and whites adding the 3 egg yolks to the mixture, mixing for 5 minutes.
- Add the zest of 1 orange to the mixture, mixing for 5 minutes.
- Setting mixer to low speed, add 1 tablespoon vanillin sugar (vanilla sugar) continuing mixing process at high speed for a further 5 minutes.
- whisk the egg whites, ensuring thick texture.
- In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of baking powder to 1 cup of plain flour (sifted).
- Stop the mixing process, gently folding through the egg whites.
- Slowly add the orange juice, the plain flour, baking powder mix and self-rising flour whilst slowly folding through.
- Continue this process until the mixture combines together, the final product should be a little oily and not stick together.
- Cut dough into small pieces and roll into desired shapes. Refer to our video for a detailed demonstration.
- Place baking paper on baking tray and gently lay the dough pieces on it.
- Lightly beat 1 whole egg and coat the dough pieces.
- Grind the almond flakes, sprinkling on-top of lightly coated dough pieces (repeating this process).
- Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until cookies have a golden tint, allowing cookies to cool down for 10 minutes.
Tip for greek cookies
Cookies (Koulourakia) should be stored in a sealed container, doing so retains freshness.