Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

Karen Mintzias
2 tb Dry or cake yeast
1/2 c Warm water
2 c Milk; warm
3 tb Sugar; -OR-
5 tb Sugar; if making Koulourakia
3 tb Butter, margarine or oil
3/4 ts Salt
7 c All-purpose flour; unsifted
1 Egg

--------------------------TOPPING-------------------------------
1 Egg yolk
1/4 c Sesame seeds

Melt yeast in warm water. Set aside. Bring milk to
boil. Add sugar, butter and salt. Allow milk to cool
slightly.

Put flour in a large bowl leaving about a tablespoon
of it in the measuring cup for hands and make a hole
in the center. Pour liquid into it. Add yeast and
egg. Start mixing with spoon or paddle, pushing flour
from all sides into center. Dough will be sticky
until flour is absorbed. Begin kneading dough in the
bowl and then transfer it to a lightly floured board.
Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic,
about 20 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with towel
dampened with hot water. Set aside in a warm place to
rise until bulk has doubled, about 4 hours.

Punch down in the middle. Knead for a few minutes and
shape into a round loaf or into individual rolls (see
below). Using fingers, rub top with egg yolk and
sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in greased baking
pans. Let rise once more, uncovered, in a warm place,
approximately 1 hour.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 F for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven; allow to cool 10 minutes before
removing bread from pan.

To Shape Traditional KOULOURA: Divide dough into 3
long ropes. Braid together. Place braid in a greased
tube pan or a large round baking pan. Stretch dough to
make ends meet. Use egg yolk to stick ends together.

To Shape KOULOURAKIA Rolls: Pinch off pieces of
dough. Roll on board with the palms of your hands to
make a rope 6" long. Twist it into a hairpin, coil
the ends around each other and stick the tips together
with a dab of egg yolk. Or coil it like a snake,
round and round; or roll into small round balls using
the palms of your hands. Do not flatten or press down
as you roll.

Source: The Complete Greek Cookbook - by Theresa Karas
Yianilos Avenel Books, New York

Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

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