Easter Biscuits (Koulourakia)
Happy Orthodox Easter!!
This heavenly recipe arrived earlier in the week from Effie in Adelaide, just in time for Easter Sunday. Effie’s mum has always baked a big batch in preparation for Easter, and the smell of freshly baked biscuits lets everyone know that the festivities are on their way. These days Effie bakes Koulourakia with her youngest son.
Personally, I have always loved these biscuits, so I made a big batch this morning for my family to enjoy!!
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Recipe
Makes around 40 biscuits
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup (275g) caster sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) milk, warmed
6 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 – 4 cups (375-500g) self raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg yolks, whisked
Sesame seeds (optional)
Method
1) Pre-heat oven to 180C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
2) Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer/hand beater on slow until pale and creamy.
3) Add egg yolks one at a time and ensure they are mixed well.
4) Meanwhile, in a separate bowl beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
5) Add vanilla to butter and sugar mix and combine well.
6) Combine baking powder and flour together and set aside.
7) To the butter and sugar mix alternately fold in milk, egg whites and flour until a soft but still slightly sticky dough forms (the amount of flour can vary but around 3 – 4 cups can be used). Check the consistency of the dough before adding more flour (a tablespoon at a time), and when you can pick a bit into your hands and roll it into a small ball without it sticking to your fingers, it’s ready to shape!
8) Â On a lightly floured surface roll 1 tablespoon of the dough into a 20cm log and shape into swirly ‘S’ shapes, bows, plaits or snails.
9) Place on baking tray and brush with egg yolk, the egg coating will give your biscuits a lovely gloss. If using sesame seeds, add a light sprinkling.
10) Bake for around 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden, but not brown.
11) Cool slightly on baking tray, then move to cooling rack to cool completely.
12) Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.
Tip:Â Eggs and butter at room temperature beat better!
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Paraskevi
Hi, just like to know how many eggs do you put in the mixture to make the dough? I only put 2 eggs as shown to separate them. Did you mean the two eggs whisked were meant for the coating? I mixed up with the meaning. So I must have done a mistake with making the dough because of the number of eggs I put which weren’t enough. I’d give it a try anyway again for another dose. Please let me know anyway. It would’ve been best if you labelled the meaning of the two different egg listing when telling the ingrediants for using them accordingly to where it was supposed to be used, just like the explanation during the process. Cos people can get mixed up.
Paraskevi
Although I did mix two egg yolks for the coating anyway, but I only used 2 whole eggs in the mixture to make the dough, even though I followed the procedure correctly in separating the egg whites to put them along with the other ingredients.