Keto Koulourakia -The famous Greek Easter Cookies
Keto Koulourakia turned out much better than the original version. We both were surprised. Not only that they have better flavour, but they also have a much better texture. Of course, the reason for this is the absence of gluten and starch. Never have we been more satisfied with the ketonisation as with this recipe!
Koulourakia (Greek: κουλουράκια) are legendary Greek Easter cookies. But their history goes far back into the Greek timeline. As you might already know, ancient Greeks worshipped their Gods with food! For every ritual, a specific cake was prepared. This is why the shape of Koulourakia has a deeper meaning. In particular, ancient Greeks believed that knitting the dough in certain shapes could keep the evil spirits and demons away from the household!
Ketonians use much more butter!
Even though the traditional Koulourakia are butter-based cookies, typically hand-shaped, with egg glaze on top, as a Ketonian I don’t like them. The original recipe calls for almost a kilo of wheat flour! I am sorry to say this – yuck! Even before we went Keto, recipes that included too much wheat flour were always our least favourite. It all ends up dry, tough, crumbly and choking. Apollonas actually grew up in the bakery since his father is a baker. And guess what, he told me, these are far more superior to any Koulourakia he ever tried growing up in Greece.
The mighty ketonisation fixed this problem
I can proudly say that this Keto version tastes better and has a much better texture than the original ones. As you know, when gluten hardens, it can break your teeth ;). Well, our Keto Koulourakia doesn’t get hard and crumbly, even after 2-3 days!
In fact, during the ancient Greek and Roman times, the wealthy families chefs made cookies with almond or sesame flour. They did not use even Zea! Those were Proto-Ketonians, I would say. 😉 Unfortunately, modern society has almond flour 20 times more expensive than wheat flour, and modern Greek Koulourakia became quite unhealthy! However, our Ketonisation brought Keto Koulourakia back to the level of nutritiousness and deliciousness!
Outstanding Keto macros
I got asked on Twitter, how in the world did I make them so low in carbs. Well, obviously, they contain more butter and eggs than they contain flour. That’s the beauty of Keto baking! You really don’t need a whole kilo of flour to make a nice and rollable dough: Take our Tiropita dough as an example.
Shall we step into Keto kitchen and be masterful with Keto Koulourakia?
Keto Koulourakia
Ingredients
- 4 medium whole eggs free-range
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp stevia or monk fruit blend
- 1/2 tsp citric acid you can use 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp gingerbread spice mixture (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, anise, black pepper, allspice)
- 2 tsp lemon zest organic
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp natural rum flavouring you can use dark rum
- 200g 1 cup melted butter grass-fed
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 tbsp almond flour
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp psyllium powder
Egg Wash
- 1 large yolk free-range
- 1 micro scoop 100% stevia extract
Instructions
- Beat the eggs with the sweetener, salt, citric acid, gingerbread spices mixture, lemon zest, vanilla extract and rum flavouring.
- Melt the butter and start adding it to the eggs slowly while mixing at medium speed. Increase the speed of your mixer to maximum and add baking soda. Mix for 3 more minutes.
- Change your mixer's wire whisk with a dough hook. Start adding almond flour spoon by spoon while mixing. Now add coconut flour and psyllium powder.
- Let the mixer work the dough for 5 minutes. It will thicken and you will be able to work it with your hands. Remove it from the mixing bowl and wrap it with plastic foil. Place the dough in the refrigerator for an hour. (Ideally, you'll leave it more than one hour to chill because then it will be much easier to create Koulourakia)
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and grease your hands with coconut oil. Start making balls from the dough in the size of a large walnut. Roll these balls into long cylinders and then wrap one side around the other to create a twist. (see the video instruction) This amount can easily make 25 cookies, approximately 6cm (1 inch) long. Place the cookies on the parchment paper and make sure there's some space in between them because they will grow.
- whisk the egg yolk with powdered stevia extract and then use this mixture to eggwash the cookies. Place them in the oven at 150ºC and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let the cookies totally cool down and they will not stick to the parchment paper. Keep them at room temperature and enjoy within 5 days. If you want them to last longer, you can keep them in a cookie jar in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
Could it be made into pastry? Looks great!!
I LOVE koulourakia! Efkaristo for this recipe! I have a few questions. What is a “micro” scoop of stevia? Do you know that in grams or measured spoon size? Also, is the lemon zest dried or fresh from the peel of a lemon? And last, do you make your gingerbread spice or is there one already made up? Thanks in advance!
Hi Kate,
Thanks for your comment. A Micro scoop that comes with 100% Stevia sweetener is usually 10mg. You can use dried or fresh lemon zest, it’s up to your liking 🙂 We usually mix up our own Gingerbread spice by combining ground Ceylon cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, ginger, fennel seeds, nutmeg.
Thank you for the recipe, you’re brillant.
Thanks very much for the positive vibe Roberto!
Hi, So excited to try these out!
if using a monk fruit sweetener like lakanto, how much do we use? It’s ratio is 1:1 with sugar, you’re using stevia, so I imagine I would need to use more than 4 tbsp.
Hello, and thank you for your comment. With that product (1:1 to sugar), you might need more sweetener, so maybe double…
Easter is coming soon – do you think this could be modified to use no almond flour? Unfortunately it’s really expensive, so I’ve been looking for recipes using coconut (or other keto-friendly flour). Thanks!
Hello,
unfortunately, this recipe is a bit difficult because you need to get the dough which can be rolled and shaped into koulurakia. If you replace almond flour, it might have a different consistency. But, you can try with a small amount and see what happens. You can try with sesame flour.
Thank you for the recipe! So excited!! What are the measurements for the gingerbread spice mixture? Equal of each, then mixed together and then measure out 1/2 tsp for the recipe?
Hi DS, You can play with the spice mix according to your liking. We used a ready gingerbread mix of spices!
OMG! I just found your website! I found you by searching for Keto Koulourakia just out of curiosity – not thinking I’d find anything. I almost burst into tears when I saw your website! (And I’m Greek, so you know I don’t mean that figuratively, I LITERALLY almost started crying!)
I look forward to trying ALL of your recipes! 🎉🎊🎈🍾 👏💃🕺🏿🥳
Να είστε καλά, κούκλα!!
Hello Gerasime, we are excited and happy to read your comment! If you have Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account, make sure you follow us and stay in touch. We also have a Greek community group where you can exchange Keto experience and chat about subjects known only to Greeks. 😉 Wishing you all the best!!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ketomediterranean
Ok. What did I do wrong? They didn’t hold their shape in the oven. They melted together in the oven, almost creating one big, soft, cake-like Koulouri. No crispness whatsoever, though the edges did brown, so I could leave them in any longer.
Even while rolling them they were difficult to work with, I felt like I was trying to shape pieces of butter.
Dear Gerasime, did you see the video for this recipe? For us, these amounts were enough to make a thick dough. If your psyllium was not strong enough, you might have needed to add more of it to make a thick consistency of the dough. Also, you could have added more coconut flour. This recipe is a bit tricky and it requires a top-quality light type of psyllium. I am sure after you baked it, you could have cut some cookies with a knife. 🙂
^ Correction, I meant to type that I could NOT leaven in any longer.
Τι έχω; Τι είναι λάθος με μένα; 🤦♂️ I meant to write, “I could not leave them in any longer.” Πω πω!!