Lenten Filled Cookies

Name: Lenten Filled Cookies (Skaltsounia)
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: ¼ cup granulated sugar; ⅓ cup olive oil; 3 tablespoons brandy; Zest of 1 orange; ½-1 cup fresh orange juice; 3 cups all-purpose flour; ½ cup golden raisins; 1 teaspoon baking powder; Zest of ½ lemon; Zests of ½ orange and ½ lemon; Zests of ½ orange and ½ lemon; ⅓ cup coarsely ground almonds; ⅓ cup coarsely ground walnuts; 2 tablespoons brandy; 1 tablespoon orange juice; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon ground cloves; Confectioners’ sugar

Skaltsounia

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Foods of Greece

By Aglaia Kremezi

Published 1993

About

These delicious half-circle shaped cookies, covered with confectioners’ sugar and filled with dried fruits and nuts, are sold in all Greek bakeries during the forty days of Lent preceding Easter.

The following recipe comes from Crete, where these cookies are also called stafidota (with golden raisins).

Ingredients

Pastry

¼ cup granulated sugar
½-1 cup fresh orange juice
Zest of

Europe
Greece
Dessert
Cookies
Vegetarian
Easter
Mediterranean

Method

In a bowl, dissolve the sugar in ½ cup orange juice, then mix with the orange zest, brandy, and olive oil. Add the baking powder, lemon zest, and flour little by little to form a soft dough, adding a little more orange juice if needed. Let it rest while you prepare the filling.

In another bowl,