Ladokouloura

Beautiful Ladokouloura are a traditional olive oil cookie, that is naturally vegan and perfect for the Greek Orthodox Lent.

These are so delicious and so easy to make, you will want to make them often!

The traditional aromatics are cinnamon, orange, cognac. Because I was out of cognac, and had a different Greek liqueur made of kumquats from Kerkyra (Corfu), Greece, I used this instead. I also added a cardamom, a splash of rose water and a little bit of vanilla.

My beautiful friend Lia, a native of Kerkyra brought me a small bottle as a gift on her recent visit. Growing up in NY, I had many friends from this island and this special kumquat liqueur is a staple in their homes, and is often offered to guests.

I coated them with sesame seeds that I toasted in a frying pan to bring out their flavor. This added a lovely nuttiness to the cookie.

I will put it to you this way. We finished the batch little by little in a day! This recipe gave me 35 cookies, using the standard small cookie scoop.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Juice & zest of 1 orange
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
a shot of cognac
1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Optional aromatics

1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rose water

Replace the cognac with kumquat liqueur

Directions:

Whisk together all of the wet ingredients, aromatics & sugar. Add the baking soda & salt. Stir in the flour a cup at a time. Knead it into dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.

While the dough rests, toast the sesame seeds in a pan on medium, while gently stirring till golden. Remove them from the heat to stop the cooking and place them in a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out each cookie on to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Roll each one into a ball and coat the top with the sesame seeds. Gently press it down.

I made little donut holes in them by inserting a finger into the center to create a hole. You can shape them however you want.. there aren’t any rules!

Bake for 30 minutes. If you have two pans in at a time, switch them half way through.

Let them cool and enjoy this tasty Greek treat with a little coffee or tea!

Kali Oreksi!