Kouroulakia - Greek Easter Cookies

My friend Maria has been sharing her mom's cookies with me for years. They are so good for breakfast with coffee, or better yet, dipped in coffee. I finally made my own batch and now I bounce out of bed in the morning.

Kouroulakia - Greek Easter Cookies

Helena Christofilis

1 ½ cups butter, softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

4 eggs (separated 2 and 2)

2 T orange juice

3 t vanilla

5 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ t baking powder

¾ t baking soda

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add 2 eggs and beat well. Beat in orange juice and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. (They said this actually wasn’t necessary.)

Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls. Roll each into a 6 inch rope. Fold in half and twist twice. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. (I used parchment paper.)

In a small bowl, beat the remaining 2 eggs to make an egg wash. Brush over formed cookies. Bake at 350 for 7-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

Yeilds about 6 ½ dozen. (I got 4 dozen out of my batch but I made mine too big. Next time I will make them smaller.)