Koulourakia

 
Happy Easter, everyone! In celebration of this special time of year, I baked a batch of koulourakia, a traditional Greek Easter cookie. Hand-rolled with just a touch of sweetness, these elegant little butter cookies go perfect with tea or coffee. As my husband explained it, they can be shaped into just about anything: circles, eights, braided ropes, etc. They were a lot of fun to make, but I imagine that braiding 7 dozen of these cookies by myself would be time-consuming! Thankfully my husband and father-in-law agreed to pitch in and help.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of a Greek church cookbook that belongs to my mom-in-law. The sesame seeds are optional.

Enjoy and happy baking!

Koulourakia

1 1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
5 1/2 C sifted flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 T water
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy in electric beater. Beat in eggs and flavoring. Add half the sifted dry ingredients, and mix well. Add water to mixture, together with remaining flour. Knead slightly. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into pencil-thin strips, about 6 inches long, fold in half and twist into a rope. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes about 7 dozen.

Choco-Vanilla Ice Cream Sammies

So I started with a batch of chocolate wafers and ended up with a stack of ice cream sandwiches--Choco-Vanilla Ice Cream Sammies, to be precise!

One afternoon, I was bored and looking for something I could bake with the ingredients I had right around me. Thank goodness for this lovely little recipe from Joy of Baking! As I sliced through the dough and began placing these petite, albeit plain, chocolate cookies on baking sheets, I wondered how I could jazz things up a bit. Then I remembered there was vanilla ice cream in the freezer and rainbow sprinkles on the shelf--perfect!

After the cookies were cooled (and after taste-tasting a few samples), I halved the batch and used a small ice cream scoop to add 1 1/2 scoops of ice cream on top of one half of the wafers. I then sandwiched the ice cream between another wafer and gently pressed down so everything would stick together. I left some of the ice cream sammies as is, but decided to shake some sprinkles onto a few of them for that extra dose of fun. All in all, they were a great treat and one that I hope will reappear in the summertime!