Koulourakia Paschalina: Easter cookies

By Katerina’s Kouzina

The most important religious holiday of the year in Greece is almost here: Easter! At midnight fireworks start the Easter Sunday full of dancing, singing and especially: eating! Since Greek Orthodox Easter – due to a different calendar – usually falls one to five weeks after Catholic (Protestant) Easter, this year we celebrate Easter Sunday next week.

The Holy Week leading up to Easter is filled with traditions. Of course many of them have to do with food. When I was young on Tuesday in the Holy Week my family house always smelled heavenly. This is the day that my mother baked the traditional Easter cookies: Koulourakia Pasgalina. There was simply no Easter without them.

My mother taught me how to make these cookies and I am very happy to share this recipe with you. Koulourakia Pasgalina are best enjoyed warm and fresh out of the oven, but even cooled down it’s hard not to eat them all at once.

Next week all over Greece people will be baking these delicious cookies. I hope you will make them for your Easter party!

See how it’s done…