Greek pastries include baklava, spanakopita, and tsoureki, often made with phyllo dough, nuts, and honey. Biscotti, melomakarona, and koulourakia are also popular, as well as fried treats like loukoumades and tei. Many are served with coffee or as holiday treats.
A common type of Greek pastry is baklava, which is made from phyllo dough and topped with nuts, honey, and orange essence. Greek desserts can be served with every meal, including custard-filled bougatsa for breakfast and spinach-and-feta cheese-filled spanakopita for lunch. There are also several types of Greek pastries traditionally made for the holidays, including tsoureki and koulourakia.
Greek pastries include many types of biscuits and often use butter instead of the more traditional olive oil. Biscotti is a crunchy anise-flavored biscuit with nuts or chocolate. It is baked twice to dry out the biscuits, and the longer it is baked, the harder the biscuit becomes. Melomakarona features a common Greek flavor derived from cinnamon, nuts and honey. What sets the dough apart from the rest is that the biscuits are dipped in a mixture of honey and syrup before serving. Anisette toast is made with biscuits and is typically enjoyed dipped in coffee.
Also common among Greek sweets is tsoureki, a traditional braided Easter bread served in Greece. It is often decorated by inserting red-dyed eggs into braids. Koulourakia is also a traditional Easter treat. The ring-shaped butter cookies have a hint of vanilla flavor and are topped with an egg glaze and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
The nuts and sweet honey add flavor to the baklava, which is made up of multiple layers of phyllo dough. Spanakopita is also made with phyllo dough. The dough is cut into triangles, then filled with onions, spinach and feta cheese. Other Greek pastas made with layers of buttered phyllo include tyropitas. The triangular and semi-circular shapes are typically filled with a mixture of egg and cheese.
Many Greek sweets are baked. Kourambiedes is made with an almond-infused dough. It is cooked and then dusted with icing sugar. Bougatsa is made with phyllo dough and filled with custard and baked. It is served hot, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Some types of Greek sweets are fried in oil. Loukoumades are cinnamon and honey pancakes. They are made with yeast and take about two hours to rise and then deep-fried. They are served hot, seasoned with honey and cinnamon. Tei are also known as sweet, fried bow knots. They are cut into triangles and fried, then drizzled with honey syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon and walnuts.
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