Experiments in the Baking Arts: Koulourakia

Today, my friends and I are basically being decadent and watching Titus Andronicus all night. Since I had today off, I decided to bake some Greco-Roman munchies.

Challenge: Others are bringing the sweets, so some savory would do nicely; make them vegan-friendly, since 1/3 of those involved are vegan.


Solution:


Koulourakia cookies from PlektaByHari1946

Koulourakia.

I followed the above recipe but my dough turned out a bit crumbly, more so than pictured there. In fact, I wasn't able to properly fold the "dough logs" as pictured; I instead criss-crossed two shorter "dough logs" over each other. If you follow the above recipe, I'd recommend:

1) Over-stirring the wet ingredients. I think that may have been part of my problem; the shortening was still clumping in places.

2) Keeping water on hand when you go to roll and bake them (in case the dough ends up crumbly anyway).

3) Having someone around to taste test. :) When I bake cookies, it's usually my dad.

4) Adding some of your favorite spices for a bit of flavor. I think vanilla, cinnamon, or nutmeg would work really well in this recipe. PlektaByHari uses orange and vanilla.

They're soft and savory and ripe for dunking in about anything you please. Tonight, we dine in hell! dunk ours in sangria. Alcohol makes everything better, so I'm not too worried about whether or not I pass the taste test. I still want to perfect this cookie recipe, though—I shall document my further experiments here!