Holiday Cookies 1: Koulourakia – Greek Butter Cookies

Every year around the holidays, my family and I get into the festive mood by baking sweets and cookies. Not only is it fun to bake, but it’s also the perfect addition to a gift basket or a thank you card during the holiday season. We always bake some just to have in the house, so that, like my mom always says, we can invite people over for coffee without having to worry about what to serve them. If you’ve ever had dinner with a Greek family, you know exactly what I mean. Whenever we have anyone over, my mom practically cooks a feast and we end up having leftovers for days. This year, we did exactly that. We made many holiday foods and desserts some of which include: koulourakia, kourambiedes, melomakarona, baklava, chocolate truffles, and some cinnamon sugar cookies! Whenever I hear these words, I immediately think of Christmas, the holidays, and the house filled with mouthwatering aromas. I think of my family and I sitting by the fireplace drinking hot tea and sharing wonderful stories. Every year these cookies bring back so many memories that I decided I had to share them with you. 

First on my list, were the koulourakia. This is a basic butter cookie, but I make it extra special with my cookie press. I made different shapes with different fillings and toppings. These are so easy and so much fun to make, and yet I managed to waste 3 hours trying to make the shapes perfect and to get the cookies to look beautiful. 

Ingredients:

1 lb or 4 sticks butter (Kerrygold butter works best)

The zest of one orange and lemon

2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of baking soda
4 eggs

6-7 cups of flour (This always depends. It seems like every year we make these, we use a different amount of flour. Just make sure the dough is soft enough that you can roll in your hands and put into the cookie press without having it stick to the sides)  

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups sugar

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat the butter and sugar together for a few minutes until creamy.

Add eggs, vanilla, and zest. Slowly add the flour, trying not to beat it too much (the more you beat it together the harder the cookies will become). Once all of the ingredients are incorporated well, take the dough out and place it on the counter you are working on. 

Begin to take small portions of it and roll them in your hands, big enough to fit into the metal tube of the cookie press. Then pick the shape of the cookie you want, and fasten together the cookie press.

This time, I tried a few different cookies and put many different toppings on them. I really like to try different things so I used: raspberry marmalade, chocolate chips, sliced almonds, toasted coconut shavings, nutella, and brown sugar. You can also use different colored sprinkles to make them more festive.

Press the cookies out onto a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 15 minutes. Again, this depends on how big the shapes are and what color you want them to be. I usually want them to get a light brown color, which means a little more time. The most important thing is to check on the cookies every so often just to make sure they don’t burn. 

After that, it’s time to eat! These cookies are perfect for any occasion, and most importantly they taste delicious. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!