I have memories, more like images, of my being very little and her taking me to the neighbourhood’s bakery to make Easter cookies with other grandmas and children. And I remember the smell of vanilla amongst the voices and laughs of all the women who thought of this as a social event! Me kneading awful shapes of cookies like braids and rods. And the happiness of the fruits of our efforts when the trays would come out of the oven and teasing and commenting on each other’s recipes! I also remember myself playing in the back yard with the rest of the children while the cookies were being baked; the backyard with the flower pots.
So this is a recipe we use for Easter cookies that we call Koulourakia. They are a part of our tradition to make them before Easter. I know, I know, it's not Easter anymore, but hey they are cookies!!!! So, recipe of my grandmother's daughter, my mom's:
Ingredients: 10 eggs, 400 gr of sugar, 1 small glass of orange juice or milk, 250 gr of fresh butter in room temperature, 20 gr of ammonia, c. 900gr of all purpose flour, 8 gr of vanilla powder
In a deep bowl you put the sugar and the butter and mix well with a blender. While it mixes, you add the eggs one by one. In the milk, which is in room temperature, you add the ammonia and then pour the milk in the mixture. You continue mixing in lower speed. You add the vanilla. Once the mixture is homogenised, you add the flour slowly. Towards the end you use your hands to kneed the cookies. You shape them in whichever shape is of your preference.
You bake in the 160C for 15-20 min.
For dyeing the eggs: You boil the eggs and let them get cool. In ½ cup of warm water, you dissolve the colour. In a deep bowl you put one litre of cold water and also pour the coloured water and toss. You add one shot of vinegar. You put the eggs in the coloured water and leave them for 10-15’. You take them out, let them rest and polish them with a napkin soaked in olive oil.
Enjoy!