Baking biscuits is one of the best time spent in the kitchen, everybody likes biscuits and there are so many opportunities to eat them. These biscuits from Cyprus, one of the few biscuits Mrs Amalia's baked are absolute worth to try and they are so simple to prepare, absolutely delicious and they remain quite a long time fresh, that is also the reason that the recipe is quite large, it is namely good for 120 biscuits! But don't worry, as they are irresistible they will disappear from the cookie jar in no time! Here in Cyprus they are called "Koulourakia" literally translated as - little rings - and they used to be baked preferably before the Easter holidays. Now a days they are also baked at any other occasion. Filled with a home made jelly-like-marmalade as Mosfilo jam makes them a very special cookie. Also nice to give as a present in a nice cookie or glass jar!
Ingredients
6 eggs
300 gr icing sugar sifted
350 gr shortening
3 full teaspoons Baking Powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar
half an orange peel grated fine
1000 - 1100 gr plain flour (00)
cookie press with several cookie shape-disks.
Method
Melt slightly the bottom of the solid shortening au bain Marie so it is easier to spoon it out of the tin.
This dough can also be prepared by hand as it was traditionally done by Mrs. Amalia.
Add the eggs and the sugar in a large mixer bowl and mix well, add all other ingredients except the flour and mix.
Add the flour.
The dough is ready for use, it does not stick on the hands and it should be soft on the touch.
The Koulourakia are prepared with the help of a cookie press, place the desired shape-disk in the lid of the press and fill the tube with dough, then screw the lid on.
Move the handle of the press a few times up and down for the air to come out and the dough to get up to the shape-disk in the lid. Move the handle 1 to 2 times up and down for the desired thickness of the biscuit. Try to have them all, more or less the same size.
Refill the tube with dough and press cookies until the oven dish used is full of biscuits.
Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C.
Bake the biscuits for 17-20 minutes. Actually they are baked until light brown, but I always bake them a few minutes longer so that they are slightly more brown and crunchier.
In the meantime, change the cookie shape in the lid and press cookies onto another oven dish.
Place the biscuits on a large plate or serving tray to cool down.
While the other tray with cookies is baking, start with spreading some jam onto one biscuit and place another one on top of it, press slightly and place on a plate. Finish all the biscuits.
The best jam to use is a jelly kind of jam like the "Mosfilo jam" (see blog post 13.09.2018)
Enjoy - Καλή όρεξη!!