Greek Christmas Filled Cookies

Cookies/Finikia/Melomakarona, a recipe from the East full of aromas and memories of lost homelands! Stuffed, traditional, Lenten and syrupy cookies.
The syruping is done in a saucepan and while the syrup is kept warm on a very low heat.
We prepare Finikia, which are consumed during the Lenten days before Christmas but also as a sweet delicacy for Christmas and New Year's Day along with the other Christmas desserts of the Twelve Days, such as Melomakarona, Kourabiedes, hills of fried honeyed Diples fragrant and fluffy Vasilopites! And even Isli, Christmas Bread, Kouloures, New Year's Loukoumades, Pancakes and other local sweets, festive, symbolic and ritual, that are prepared in every corner of Greece.
Yours!

Merry Christmas 2024! 🎄
Happy Holidays!

work: 1h:00′

time: 1h:30′

easy:

Fried Cheese Pies

Fried Cheese Pies, with excellent cheeses, are super tasty and easy to make. Like saying 3 in one!
I choose a lovely fresh country market sheet to wrap these triangular cheesecakes and enhance the flavor & their convenience for when I want a quick and easy snack for all hours of the day or for a larger production for several people…
Ideally and very often they become our favorites at a Sunday brunch, along with other delicacies Savory and Sweets.
Of course, they are loved by our family, they all love them bathed in Greek thyme honey.
Yours!

work: 45′

time: 45′

very easy:

Cake with Yogurt, Olive Oil & Jam

A very fluffy cake, very special without many eggs, with yogurt and olive oil. It is one of the cakes that have the name "Sponge Cake" (without referring to the well-known sponge cake, which has other ingredients and a different way of making it), for the reason that it is really so soft & fluffy.
On its surface is added extra yogurt and jam - any jam we like - which, by stirring them lightly with a toothpick, partially sinks into the interior of the cake during baking and makes it delicious and moist. Try this easy & perfectly fluffy cake.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Greek Easter Cookies

Easter Cookies/ Biscuits -and not only Easter- with a different approach but with all the aromas of Greek Easter, such as Chios Mastic, Mahlepi, Kakoule (Cardamom) and the aroma of orange.
Light, tasty, soft, digestible and special. They are made very easily with their wonderfully velvety dough, which is given by the addition of pure yogurt and the light corn oil. They are relatively sweet with a little sugar added because our opinion is that this is how a cookie should be in order for a savory platter of cheeses and cold cuts to accompany our drink.

Happy Easter!

work: 1h:20′

time: 2h:30′

easy:

Little Aubergine Pies with Homemade Kourou Dough

A Kourou Dough -Yogurt Dough- so pliable & velvety, which you will love for the comfort of its management. The pies are filled with whatever stuffing we like. Wonderful Aubergine Pies were made here, very tasty & fluffy and where the tender, grated, biscuit dough competes equally with the wonderfully delicious stuffing with eggplant and Greek cheeses, such as Gruyère & kasseri or emmental. The blue poppy seed gives them an extra click of flavor.
A suggestion for a snack for the morning coffee but also for a beer or… why not, with an easy drink and fruity wine, iced & dry Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie -the most popular variety of Italy- on our summer terrace with dear friends.
Cheers!

work: 1h:00′

time: 1h:30′

easy:

Fresh Apricot Clafoutis

It's apricot time and I'm happy. I really love these round, juicy fruits, with the color of the sunset and the velvety skin. Few other fruits, when ripe, have such a creamy texture and strong aroma that I like to smell them with deep breaths, as if I had to store it in my memory.
I realize that there are several apricot recipes on the blog which means I always put them first when it came time… If we share the same enthusiasm came the right recipe for this year, so you can enjoy them uniquely in a delicious Clafoutis.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:20′

easy:

Yogurt Apple Cake

Mother was, is and will be special to the child, the teenager, the adult and today is nothing more than an opportunity to honor her and show her how much we love her.
Mother, mother, mom. Three words that enclose respect, beauty, tenderness, love and are always the most important presence in human life. An insurmountable bond that was praised more than any other, the mother was the source of inspiration for thousands of artists.
In the first verses of a poem dedicated to the mother we read:

• «I was awakened at dawn by an aura, a breath,
• on the cheek fluttered my mother's kiss
• Her caress filled me with love and affection
• and back I became a child again.
• With a kiss and a wish and her smile,
• As soon as I woke up I saw my sun on her face »…

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Feta Cheese Soufflé Pie in Rolls

Delicious & very special Cheese pie. Suitable for every hour of the day, as a main course, appetizer, snack or lunch!
The main ingredient that we will need to make this cheese pie, is of course the Greek feta, which is the favorite ingredient in all types of Greek pie recipes.
To prepare this cheese pie/ soufflé recipe, the feta is crumbled and rolled into rolls with many pastry sheets and all together sprinkled with a mixture of milk, egg, cream and soft drink soda, which will give this pie volume, fluffy texture and more. Taste.
Bake until puffed and golden.
The Pie is absolutely delicious!

work: 45′

time: 1h:30′

medium:

Greek Halva

This here, Semolina Halva is young, handsome and scandalous, without question or hesitation, he also has a caramelized taste like an extra bonus in the suitcase with his dowry. There is a little secret about him and it is about the technique of his preparation. It will be revealed to you later, reading the article or enjoying it, if you make it!
Forget the well-known 1 2 3 4 etc. of the ingredients here arithmetic changes, it's not like when we were kids and they taught us our first sweets… Confectionery is an evolving art, it's very special and strict, I would say, even if it concerns the simplest of sweets. Sometimes the simple does not mean simplistic, the depthless approach to the real.
Its ingredients, thanks to which it becomes very light and aromatic, apart from the well-known semolina, are nuts, cinnamon, juice and orange zest as well as orange spoon sweet chopped!
Yours

work: 45′

time: 2h:45′

easy:

Lemon Cake with Spoon Sweet

Juicy and particularly fluffy, slightly sweet, with intense flavors of lemon and yogurt. The sour cherry spoon sweet came into the cake but also adorned it externally, placing it around the top like a crown of precious gems.
If traditional Greek spoon sweets are so popular that your cabinets and kitchen cabinets overflow, it's time to put them in cakes or other sweet treats so you can enjoy them in another dimension - in the role of a coworker rather than a protagonist - and at the same time create room in the cellar for your next sweet or savory creations in beautiful jars…

Yours!

work: 15′

time: 1h:10′

very easy:

Yogurt Cookies

Yogurt Biscuits are delicious little butterless sweets, with vanilla pudding mix and of course Greek yogurt. They are easy to make and you can enjoy them for breakfast or as a snack. They are ideal for milk, coffee or a cup of good aromatic tea because they are soft, tender, velvety - almost infantile - and very tasty, with a seductive vanilla & lemon aroma.
Their preparation is very simple: we only need a bowl and a spoon and in a few minutes the dough will be ready to be baked… another reason to prepare it right away!
If you're looking for other biscuit recipes or other breakfast cakes, don't miss the cookie options and easy sweets of Kitchen Stories!
Yours!

work: 10′

time: 30′

very easy:

Starbucks Coffee Cake

A nice coffee like these delicious fragrances, which we drink at the unique Starbucks, to accompany the excellent in concept and simplicity Starbucks Cake! If you haven't tried it in its place, make it and enjoy it at your home, alone or with friends, matters little. This is where Coffee and Cake count.
And for you students, I have prepared this cake for you, so you can make it at the beginning of the week and have a little slice every day -if you are in the mood- without feeling guilty, along with your morning coffee. I promise you, you'll go out on your way to school with the most happy and satisfied smile on your lips.
This recipe is a small recipe for almost a lot. For single or small families.
What I love about this cake, besides being extremely fast to prepare, is that it's a clever idea of what a wonderful cake/snack means, exactly! Fairly rich, with crumbly crumbs, soft, fluffy and soft in texture. I could eat this cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner…
Yours!

work: 15′

time: 1h:00′

very easy:

Crostata without Butter with Ricotta & Peach Jam

I wanted to try this type of dough, which contains light oil instead of butter. Although not really an Orthodox preparation compared to the rules of pastry, it is a great and easy way to make a dough very quickly. Mix everything in a bowl, work with the wire or spoon and then finish the process with a quick kneading on the kitchen work surface.
This shortens the time needed to make a sweet tart dough, as it does not need to rest in the fridge and can be used immediately even when there are a hundred degrees in the house due to the summer heat.
We open a sheet of handmade dough that is easily inserted into the tart dish, fills up and at one point we have our tart ready to get into the oven.
Sweet Tart without butter, filled with anthotyro -ricotta cheese- & Peach Jam, made by us in a very short time and with less sugar. Light Peach Jam recipe☯ at the end of the article. The dough sheet is so wonderful, with biscuit texture, crumbly, that it will surprise you with its taste and texture. It can also be used in savory tarts by removing sugar.
Hmmm, remember to make some cookies with this dough…
Yours, the Peach Jam Tart!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

medium:

Classic Vanilla Bundt Cake

Vanilla Cake & Chocolate, a real Bundt Cake robust, solid, tough, heavy, liquid cake that has nothing to do with fluffy, airy, ethereal cakes, but it is wonderful and you will allow me, for excitement, to offer you with many praises.
Delicate, infused, and tender, this golden cake is simple. Baked in a Bundt pan is just as good to serve with fresh fruit, ice cream, whatever you like or just itself, sprinkled with powdered sugar as much as you like.

PS. If you like you can make it like a Santa Claus Christmas Cake. Remove the cocoa and place it in a flat, round shape pan.🎄
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:30′

easy:

Aubergines with Feta

The days at the beginning of November, in the city we live in, are this year very beautiful, mild, sunny, the vegetables at their best and all-weather or greenhouse aubergines are everywhere. Did you want a super easy and super tasty oily food, with the presence of eggplant predominantly? Follow the steps of the recipe and make this dish that we are sure you will enjoy!
I do not de-bitter Aubergines for many years. I think this process is not necessary and taste is not improving. The truth is that over time the varieties have changed, de-bitter would be much more important than it is now. Salt helps aubergines to eliminate their metallic taste, as well as part of their juices and nothing beyond that. It is more important to choose from the market aubergines without many spores, which are tasteless and hard and change their taste.
Yours!

work: 40′

time: 1h:10′

easy:

Maple Muesli Biscuits

Without eggs, butter, or milk! Dietary and healthy. Muesli biscuits, with chocolate drops, cranberries, and maple syrup, delicious ingredients for a delicious taste full of flavor. There is also a basic parameter, the unnecessary food processor, with a spoon mixing the ingredients and making cookies soft and crumbly.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 35′

very easy:

Classic Cupcakes with Cheese Frosting

Traditional Cupcakes are always a delicious, sweet treat. Small personal pockets that children - and not only - love. They are adorned with a cream cheese glaze, making them lighter in flavor with a very fresh, cool texture.
Exercise your creativity and decorate it with everything that suits your mood and imagination. Today's proposal has kept blue shades, but you can choose any other color range of your choice.
Yours!

work: 15′

time: 30′

very easy:

Koulourakia: Cypriot Easter Cookies

These Easter Cookies are traditional Cypriot Easter buns, which although Lenten are traditionally made on Good Friday.
They are flavored with oriental spices but also with Chios mastic and their aromas resemble those of Easter Tsoureki. They are ideally suited to our coffee and we certainly have more than one.
Daktylies is a type of long shaped-bread, which is separated into smaller parallel pieces, in order to be cut off easier and evenly. The ingredients used for daktylies are flour, leaven, water, sesame seeds and aniseed. Many housewives in the countryside continue the tradition and bake daktylies for the needs of the family.
Yours!

work: 45′

time: 3h:30′

medium:

All-in-One Chocolate Cake

Juicy Chocolates with very much cocoa, a lot of coffee and very sweet wine!
Delightful and with super-chocolate coating is a timeless delight and ideal for chocolate mania. If you belong to this class, this very simple and easy cake process is a perfect chocolate cake, with creamy gentle chocolate garnish from above.
It's surprisingly easy to do and you'll make it in less than an hour.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Gingerbread Bundt Cake

It is not a simple Cake, it is a festive, spicy and very aromatic Cake. As you prepare it and its aromas flood your kitchen you will automatically have the desire, the mood to sing the carols softly, whatever Christmas carols come to your mind even if you are particularly dissonant.
It is a cake with molasses, with sweets ginger and lots of spices, filled with the inside of it with fluffy cheese cream. Outwardly a candied sugar cloud is all it takes to let its perfumes overflow and disperse in our palate.

Happy New Year
Health, Love, Happiness to everybody

work: 20′

time: 1h:10′

easy: